Kolkata: The West Bengal as India knew it has drastically changed in the one month since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the state Assembly elections.
With a newly presented budget that significantly slashed funds to the Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education (MAME) to the rise in violence, the minorities have been left to deal with the hostile environment in the state.
Unlike the Rs 5,713 crore budget presented by the Trinamool Congress government in 2025-26, the current Finance Minister, Swapan Dasgupta, allocated less than half of that to the Minority Department – Rs 2,165 crore.
The MAME, under the previous government, was a key department with annual funding surpassing Rs 5,000 crore the past three years. The Mamata Banerjee-led government allocated Rs 5,166.99 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 5,530.66 crore in 2024-25.
The Indian Express‘ analysis of the budget shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government slashed funds in more than one area concerning minorities. The Rs 10 crore given under the TMC government to a scheme providing housing to “destitute minority women” was removed entirely, with the BJP opting against any allocations.
Similarly, funds for the Aikyashree Scholarship, which provided financial support to economically backward students from minority communities, were reduced from Rs 741 crore in 2025-26 to Rs 250 crore in 2026-27.
The budget for the Sabooj Sathi scheme was cut down from Rs 100 crore to Rs 15.5 crore. The scheme provided free bicycles to secondary school students, including those attending madrasas. The BJP government significantly slashed funds for schemes dedicated to the development and welfare of minorities to Rs 21 crore from Rs 103 crore in 2025-2026.
“The previous government fooled minorities. Instead of sending children to madrasa, you people should push them to become doctors or engineers,” said Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in the Assembly on Tuesday, June 23.
On Monday, June 15, an elderly Muslim man died after an alleged attack by BJP workers in Kelepara village, Hooghly. The workers reportedly suspected he was a TMC supporter. Sheikh Shah Alam, aged 71, was beaten with bricks, iron rods and bamboo sticks, and when his wife and other women in the family tried to stop the attack, they too were attacked.
A fact-finding report published by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), West Bengal, on Wednesday, June 24, alleged that Alam’s death was part of the post-poll violence pattern. The organisation described it as “a serious incident of collective violence” that left villagers in fear and witnesses “hesitant to speak openly for fear of retaliation.”
Alam’s family alleged that he was dragged outside his house by the right-wing workers and later assaulted. He was rushed to the Arambagh Prafulla Chandra Sen Government Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead upon arrival.
The APCR report said the family claimed to have been subjected to intimidation, threats and extortion demands even before Alam’s death, since the Assembly elections concluded.
According to the fact-finding team, the locals reported multiple violent occurrences in Kelepara village over the last few weeks, leaving the community in fear for their security.
Witnesses recounted other incidents where groups of people targeted villagers and assaulted them with wooden objects and bamboo sticks. One such attack left 41-year-old Atlaf Mullick, a government teacher, with serious injuries and a fractured right leg. Sheik Abdul Rahim also sustained a fracture on his right leg after being attacked.
The APCR report, citing information from the local police, said a case has been registered in connection with Alam’s death and six accused have been arrested. The investigation is underway with efforts to trace the remaining accused.
Post-poll violence erupted across West Bengal after the election results, with reports of communal clashes, arson, destruction and attack on party workers. Former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier approached the Calcutta High Court claiming that the police refused to file first information reports (FIR) regarding the widespread violence. She urged the court to “protect the people of Bengal,” adding that “this is not a bulldozer state.”
