Kolkatta: A huge rally was organized here in the city by Bengali Intellectuals, condemning the blasphemous Facebook post, which had reportedly made the vehicles turn on its top by itself and shops undergoing self-combustion.
The protest seems to have been spontaneous without much pre-planning and protesters arrived in huge numbers. “The total count seems to be in lakhs. It is as if the whole of Bengal has descended onto the street”, said a jubilant protester calling himself as Banglongkong Ghosh. “We will not let this happen in our name. We cannot tolerate such offensive statements being spread into the secular fabric of cyberspace.”, said Sanjita Bose, working for the Telegraph. She raised the placard which read ‘Save the Facebook from Saffron. #NotInMyName’.
Not many present at the venue exactly know what the 17-year old Hindu wrote about Islam in his Facebook post, but all were unanimous in condemning him to Hell. “He should not be protected by the rabid fascist colonialist imperialist Hindutvaist BJPist Modi.”, shouted Dubdobdab Chatterjee, “I am a Hindu. I cannot let these vile Sanghis hijack my religion and comment about other religions on Facebook.”
A person next to Dubdobdab, Saleem said, “We cannot tolerate a Kafir commenting on our great religion. Islam is the only solution. Islam will be the only religion. Hinduism is a fake religion”, for which Dubdobdab bobbed his head in laughter and hugged Saleem. When we stood there on the spot trying to understand this complexity, Dubdobdab turned to us and shouted, “What?! Can’t my minority brother vent out his frustration against Hinduism? Forgot Akhlaq? Babri Masjid?”. He then pulled me back by my shirt while we turned back and howled in our ears, “2002..”
Nearly one lakh protesters signed a letter requesting the police to handover the 17-year old Hindu extremist to the peaceful group of people who happened to be near cars that overturned itself and shops that burnt themselves. “He spoke bad of a religion and he should be punished by that religion only”, said the person behind the signature campaign.
Meanwhile, West Bengal government has sent a strict warning to cars manufacturers like Tata and Hyundai, to manufacture cars that do not topple themselves and not self-combust whenever a peaceful group crosses by.
