Couple hounded for changing religion

LEFT Alone Biren Bouddha and Rina

KOLKATA: Biren Bouddha and his wife Rina have been spending their nights out in the open, taking turns to sleep. Every morning, they quietly slip out of one locality and seek shelter in another. Fear grips every moment of their day.

They have been ‘exiled’ for embracing Buddhism. Neighbours in their home town, Guma in North 24-Parganas, just could not accept Rina’s not wearing the sankha and sindoor - traditional signs of the married Hindu woman. This, in a state that prides itself on its secular credentials.

Their torment started seven years ago when they converted to Buddhism along with 300 families in Guma and elsewhere. But matters reached a head on June 4 when they were beaten up and driven out of their rented house. Even police and the Panchayat refused to help.

Biren (42) belongs to the scheduled caste Nomoshudra Motua sect. Two months ago, the couple moved into Harakishore Baishnab’s house at Tajpur in Guma as tenants. On May 21, locals gheraoed them and demanded to know why they weren’t abiding by Hindu customs. Biren and Rina tried to reason with them in vain. “We were abused by everyone in the locality. We still live in fear,” said Biren.

On Monday, while Biren was away at work, a group of women stormed his home and beat up Rina. She took shelter in a neighbour’s house. At night, she slipped away through the backdoor, not knowing that Brien had also been beaten up.

The couple have been warned against returning. Biren filed a complaint at Ashoknagar PS, but has received no help so far. Ever since, the couple has been without shelter. “We spend the nights on railway platforms or under a bridge. Before sunrise, we pack up and start looking for a new place. The last few days have been a nightmare. What have we done to deserve this?” asked Rina.

Biren Bouddha and Rina’s calls for help have so far been in vain. The police have not helped and local CPM leaders even deny the couple was harassed.

CPM zonal committee member and President of Habra II Panchayat Samity Samar Chakraborty even denied that Biren and Rina have been driven away from their home. “They are trying to take advantage of their status as minorities and are disturbing the social fabric,” Chakraborty said. The officer-in-Charge of Ashoknagar police station Shankar Bhattacharya refused to comment but Superintendent of Police Parveen Kumar said a probe would be conducted into the allegations.

The couple allege that several Buddhist families are being harassed in North 24-Parganas. “Last year, a Buddhist Temple at Guma was razed by local residents. Dijen Ray, a convert to Buddhism, was beaten up.

The police did nothing to provide security,” claims Biren. What has taken them by surprise is that even so-called liberals in the area are up in arms against them. A local school teacher. Amjad Ata was among those who had threaten Biren and Rina, they say.

A BCom graduate from Chaitanya College in Habra, Biren now works as a preacher and barely manages to make ends meet. He has informed the Guma II Gram Panchayat of their plight and sought help from local CPM MLA Satyasebi Kar. “I am not aware of the incident. If this has indeed happened, then I will take steps to ensure that they return home,” said kar.

(Courtesy: The Times of India)