(Continued from the article published yesterday)

Me and Kalidas Bhattacharyya began our interaction by exchanging trivial notes about each other as we started walking towards a room. I came to know that he has been a part of the RSS since 1977 and was a pracharak in the North Bengal town of Siliguri till he was named as an accused in a case. He did not divulge any details on the nature of the case and I refrained from sounding too inquisitive, so as to not raise any suspicion. But he said the trial was still going on. He was in charge of Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Hatiara, on the outskirts of Kolkata.

Over the next one hour, we sat down for an interaction which, like all others mentioned in this series, I recorded. I am reproducing some interesting parts verbatim here in a Q&A format.

I hear a lot about a group called Hindu Samhati and I often see them saying loudly that Bengalis are cowards…

You see, Bengalis are cowards as a race. I know the president of the group, Tapan Ghosh, very well. He often visits our school. A few years ago, some members of the Hindu Samhati, staying at the guesthouse of the Marwari Society, had some quarrel with the local Muslims at Gangasagar. The Muslims attacked them. It was the Sangh which rescued them. But the Sangh has its limitations and cannot do everything. Groups like Hindu Samhati are required for sure. They (Muslims) need to be beaten up. Once Tapanda asked me to provide shleter to some Hindu Samhati activists. But I booted them out because I overheard them bad-mouthing the Sangh.

I understand some miscreants have entered the Sangh.

Do you think the BJP and the Sangh have all good people? BJP is full of corrupt leaders. The party could have done well but a number of lower caste people have joined the BJP and the RSS in recent times.