Shocked to learn that Sri Tapan Ghosh is no more. I will never forget that powerful moment when I met him in Houston in 2015. I knew I had to write about him. It was eye-opening to learn about his work in rescuing Bengali Hindu girls who were becoming victims of love-jihad. (1)
Until I met Tapan Da I'd never heard 1st-hand information about Bengali Hindu girls being kidnapped, raped & converted. Tapan Da had names of girls, kidnappers and even police stations where the crimes were reported. He was able to marshal facts to present a cogent narrative. (2)
@SwarajyaMag kindly agreed to publish my piece in 2015. I remember how happy Tapan Da was. He thanked me profusely for giving international visibility to the radical ideology that was devastating Bengal. (3) swarajyamag.com/politics/benga…
In 2017 I visited Tapan da's dilapidated house in Kolkata where the girls he had rescued were sheltered. They adored him. One of them made tea for me. We all talked about the politics of appeasement of a violent, hate-filled ideology. (4)
He spoke strongly about the need for BJP to do more in Bengal. He did not care about which party was in power - he would always speak up for Hindus who were being squeezed out by planned demographic and love jihad. His courage inspired 1000s of Hindus to speak up boldly. (5)
I hear that he was admitted to hospital with COVID infection. He never cared for his health. With the donations he received, he could easily have moved to a better house. I wondered why he lived in such a dingy place which could only be reached by going through narrow lanes. (6)
But Tapan da just didn't want anything for himself, only his cause. I worried about his safety because he spoke so much against jihad. You need security, I would tell him. But he felt it was safest for him to stay where he was. (7)
Recently, he had sent a message asking me to call him but I delayed until it is now too late. If I am feeling so heartbroken I wonder how all those girls he rescued must be feeling.(8)
