Sukanta accuses state of collecting ‘pilgrimage tax’
The Statesman | 6 August 2025
The erstwhile state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal of targeting Hindu pilgrims with an “unauthorised tax” during one of the state’s largest religious festivals.
Sukanta Majumdar, a central minister and former state BJP president, alleged that the state government is charging devotees a fee of Rs 10 per person for collecting water from the Ganges at Baidyabati’s Nimai Tirtha Ghat before embarking on a pilgrimage to the Shiva temple in Tarakeswar. In a strongly-worded post on X, Mr Majumdar compared the fee to a “jizya” — a tax historically levied on non-Muslims during Islamic rule — and claimed it reflects the “anti-Hindu and fundamentalist mindset” of the Mamata Banerjee-led state government.
“This is not just about money,” Majumdar wrote. “This is a message to Bengali Hindus that even their religious practices are now taxable in West Bengal.”
Tens and thousands of Hindu devotees gather in Tarakeswar for the month-long Shravani Mela, an annual religious fair where pilgrims walk barefoot for miles to offer sacred Ganges water to Lord Shiva. State authorities say they have taken extensive measures to ensure the smooth conduct of the festival, deploying police forces, setting up surveillance cameras, and coordinating food, water, shelter, and medical support for the arriving devotees.
The West Bengal government has not formally responded to Majumdar’s allegations. However, several local civic volunteers and event organisers told the Press that a small fee is sometimes collected at ghats for sanitation and crowd management, especially during large-scale religious events. They insist such contributions are voluntary and not mandated by the state. The incident underscores deepening political and religious fault lines in the state, where faith and governance often collide in the public arena. It also comes amid a broader national debate over religious freedoms, state control, and the rights of faith-based communities.
Majumdar’s accusations come just when the TMC has been criticising the BJP over the safety of Bengali migrant workers in other Indian states.