It was a routine sleepy Sunday morning on the 24th of December 2023, with the winter chill forcing one to stay in bed. But the date indicated that it was Christmas Eve and the quintessential Bengali has to go through the usual drill of visiting their favorite getaway for the day, Park Street, Kolkata and gleefully feast on all of their desired dishes in one of the iconic restaurants of the area, while gasp and glance in awe at all the lights adorning the place, maybe even immerse themselves in the Christmas revelry at the Allen Park, situated at the intersection of Park Street & Camac Street, right at the heart of Kolkata. This has been a tradition with the populace of Bengal, for nearly two centuries now, since the initiation of the British colonial rule here, to indulge in Christmas celebrations at Park Street, the area famous as the hub of Christmas celebrations.

However, the morning of 24th December, 2023 sprung a surprise for the people of Bengal, specially those of Kolkata. From the look & feel of it, the day bore the promise of not being a regular wintry Sunday, gearing up for the evening celebrations. A mammoth Saffron Tide seemed to overtake the yuletide celebrating crowd. A huge congregation of Sanatani Hindus from every nook & corner of Bengal, decked up in red & white, sporting the Urdhva Pundra Tilak of the Vaishnavite Hindus, a copy of the Geeta & a conch shell in their hands merged towards the Brigade Parade Ground, located in Central Kolkata, for the much awaited Bhagwat Geeta Reading session to commemorate the Geeta Jayanti. The programme, referred to as ‘Lokkho Kanthe Geeta Path’ in Bengali, meaning ‘A Lakh Voices Reading the Geeta’, was organized by the Sant Samaj of Bengal, the Bharat Sevasram Sangh, Sanatan Sanskriti Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Sanskriti Parishad, Motilal Bharat Teerth Seva Mission and a few other Religious/Spiritual organizations. However, it goes without saying that the Bengal BJP & the RSS were the main driving forces behind the programme. The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP had personally taken stock of the programme preparations earlier on & so did Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, BJP MP & State BJP President. Though, the BJP’s stand was to aide only as volunteers, refraining from any stage presence, lest the programme assumed a political colour. The programme, nonetheless, was attended by all the state BJP leaders, Central Ministers from Bengal, MPs & MLAs, including Mr.Dilip Ghosh, the ex State BJP President & current MP from Kharagpur & Dr. Swapan Dasgupta, Rajya Sabha MP.

The session was presided over by the Shankaracharya of Dwarka Sharada Peetham, Swami Sadanand Saraswati and the occasion was also graced by the Daitapati of the Puri Jagannath Mandir, along with a few other revered hindu seers. More than a lakh Sanatanis attended and read the Geeta amidst the soothing & pious sound 20,000 odd conch shells. The inclusivity of the session was evident as it started off with the rendition of the song ‘Hey Parthasarathi, bajao bajao panchyajanya shankhya’ (Hey Parthasarathi, blow your panchyajanya conch) written by Kazi Nazrul Islam, followed by the nationalistic song ‘Dhano dhanye pushpe bhara’ by poet Dwijendralal Roy – a song which is sung as a practice in all Sangh programmes in Bengal. After that 5 Adhyayas or chapters of the Bhagwat Geeta were read by the crowd of over 1 lakh Sanatanis.

The noteworthy feature of this program is the fact that it did not require any police presence or help from the KMC, as was proudly proclaimed by Mr. Suvendu Adhikari on television. The sheer discipline and astuteness of the RSS volunteers was manifested today by the way the mammoth crowd was managed without police help. The Sanatanis’ law-abiding nature and disciplined approach is also to be credited for the same.

The zeal and the fervor of the Sanatanis was obvious and was being manifested amongst all those who could not be physically present. The Brigade was, after all, witnessing an event which was very unique in itself – a spiritual/religious gathering. Till date, the Brigade had been the happy hunting ground of the Leftists of Bengal & the place had become synonymous with them – a ground from where they would launch their tirade against our nation’s establishment & instigate our people against the same, while promising them a utopian world of equality amongst all. It was all so clichéd and avoidable, mainly because of it’s inherent lies. Not very far from the ground, the Red Road has all along been the venue of religious congregation and prayer by the largest minority community, not to speak of Park Street, in the vicinity, famous for it’s Christmas revelry. But, this was the first time that the nation’s so called majority, the Hindus could manage to find their footing at the imposing Brigade ground and conduct a spiritual/religious gathering. The implication of the same is immense in terms of history in the making as well as in forging hindu unity, which seemed to be missing since time immemorial.

Firstly, the accommodating nature & flexibility of the hindus was evident from the fact that the programme commenced with songs, pertaining to The Geeta though. It would be difficult to find any religious community permit the rendition of songs, composed by Gurudeb Rabindranath Thakur, Nazrul Islam or Dwijendralal Roy or any other poet for that matter. Their programmes are more sombre in nature.

Secondly, The Geeta as a text, not only in its stature of being the sacred text of the hindus but also as a guidebook of life and of Management Principles, needs to be popularized amongst the hindus, particularly the youth. Reading the same would help them avoid many of the vices that they are tempted to indulge in these days under the influence of the so called ‘woke’ liberalism, which is nothing less than a Deep State conspiracy to ruin our societal fabric.

Thirdly, The Geeta was one text which was thoroughly studied by our nationalist revolutionaries and spiritual leaders during our nation’s freedom struggle against the British. From Swami Vivekananda to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, all espoused the Geeta. Our nation’s youngest revolutionary, Veer Khudiram Bose had stated that The Geeta provided him with the necessary courage to face the gallows while fighting the British colonial rulers. Hence, the habit of reading the Geeta would do a world of benefit for hindu courage and grit, which is much needed in this hour when the hindus are facing the toughest challenge from their adversaries at home and abroad.

Fourthly, it was a unique show of Hindu Unity and going back to the Sanatani roots of Bengal. Even slogans were raised hailing the most powerful ruler of the Pal dynasty of Bengal, King Dharmapal.

It was not without reason that the seers who had graced the occasion today, made an appeal to our Government at the Centre to declare The Bhagwat Geeta as our National Text. Our hon’ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modiji was invited to be Chief Guest of the programme but he could not make it due to certain important engagements which he had to take care of today. However, he sent a message of encouragement expressing his support and happiness that such a programme could be organized.

Bengal and the Bengalis have constantly been identified with the Leftists and their caustic ideology, what with more than half a century of Left rule in the state (the current ruling dispensation is also a version of the Leftist ideology as is demonstrated from their policies and by their own confession on numerous occasions). Hence, such a marvellous display of Hindu Unity, wherein the Hindus from the remotest villages of Bengal wilfully gathered at the Brigade, even lodging themselves there all night, braving the cold, was quite a pleasant revelation, not only for the people of Bengal, but also for the nationalists from the rest of the country. Even the old, the infirm and the differently abled did not desist from joining in the session.

Organizing this programme was not a cakewalk for the Hindu Sants or the Sangh. Expectedly hurdles were placed in their path as the TMC government of West Bengal scheduled their much elusive TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) examination for today to eliminate some of the participants from today’s Geeta Reading Session, who would have to take the exam. Besides, there were the usual naysayers trying to create raucous on trifles forgetting the greater cause and not to speak of the continuous trolling & venom spewing by the unelectable Leftist leadership and their brainwashed followers on social media, bombarding their spaces with a myriad illogics against Geeta Reading. It is anybody’s guess why the same cabal loses their voice when similar congregations of other communities carry out with their practices on different occasions.

The most encouraging aspect of the programme was the en masse participation of the youth. The tectonic shift in demography in favour of the largest minority community of Bengal, facilitated primarily by illegal infiltrations from across the border is a major cause of alarm, giving vent to the fear that soon the hindus in Bengal might find themselves to be a religious minority. The repercussions of such a phenomenon is unthinkable for the hindu. Hence, they felt the need of forging hindu unity and creating a viable ecosystem for survival. Hence, it is imperative that the youth of Bengal embraces Hindu Nationalism and shun destructive nationalism.

 

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