A Muslim to head a development board in a temple town. Why is that a big deal

The background

Tarakeshwar is a municipal town Bengal's Hooghly district, not far from the state Capital. According to the 2011 census, some 31,000 people live in the near-4 sq km town.

It would have been like any other small town, but for the Taraknath Mandir – a Shiva temple in Bengal's traditional Athchala style, built by a local king in 1729. The temple draws lakhs of devotees, especially in the Bengali month of Shrabon (July-August).

The temple undoubtedly is a boost for the local economy, but also stretches the resources of the town.

Banerjee announced the formation of the Tarakeshwar Development Board, with a kitty of Rs 5 crore, during a recent administrative meeting in the district. She also put Firhad 'Bobby' Hakim, her minister for urban development and municipal affairs at its head.

Naysayers?

Soon BJP leaders started crying foul.

“Mamata Banerjee is trying to destroy the sanctity of a temple. We have already decided to file a writ petition in this regard. This is in complete violation of the Temple Act of 1955 and the appointment has been made just to appease the Muslims,” Dilip Ghosh, state president of BJP, said.

Alleging the move would hurt the Hindu sentiments, he said the CM was deliberately creating an atmosphere to fan communal tension in the state.

Taking a step further, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said: “We are giving 48 hours to Mamata Banerjee to revoke her decision of appointing a Muslim leader as the head of the temple or else she should have to face legal action in this regard.”

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, BJP's ideological fountainhead, expressed worry that Banerjee was trying to protect some Muslim leaders accused in scams.

“In Bangladesh, at Sutrapur in Dhaka, the board of the Narayan temple has chosen some Muslim leaders in some key positions as the temple has been vandalised by goons. We fear Banerjee is also following the same path and will turn West Bengal into Bangladesh,” said Jishnu Bose, general secretary of RSS West Bengal.

“If a Hindu leader was appointed as head of a mosque, would Muslims allow that? Mamata is trying to divide the Hindus. I appeal to her not to divide people on religious lines,” he added.

Much hullabaloo over nothing?

The BJP and the RSS seem to be the only ones in jitters about this call. Political analysts did not seem too perturbed by the appointment and pointed out that the Board is responsible only for the development of the temple and its adjoining areas.

“I don’t think there is any problem in appointing a Muslim leader as the head of a temple development board. The Amarnath Trust is looked after by a Muslim family. Why is there a controversy over Hakim's appointment? We need to understand the difference between a temple trust and a development board,” said Samir Kumar Das, professor at Calcutta University.

Some though are worried that the newly appointed leader might involve himself in the affairs of the temple and create trouble in the future.

“We urge the state government to look into this sensitive issue seriously and not create unnecessary communal problems in the state,” said Amol Mukherjee, a senior political analyst.

Party politics

"The BJP is unnecessary trying to create religious polarisation over this issue. I have been made the chairman of the Tarakeshwar Development Board, not the chairman of the temple trust," Hakim said.

"Temple trust members look after the daily affairs of the temple. I have been entrusted to look at the overall infrastructural development of the Tarakeshwar temple and its adjoining areas ," he added.

“We believe in secularism and so there is no harm in appointing Hakim as the head of a temple,” said Partha Chatterjee, state parliamentary affairs minister.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also did not say Banerjee was trying to create communal tension. “We are not in a position to say whether appointing Hakim as the chairman might create communal tension. But we feel whatever Banerjee does is only for electoral gains and not for the welfare of the people,” CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said.

The Congress chose to withhold comments for now.