Samirul Islam, who was among the three new names announced by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday as its candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha election from West Bengal, is the president of Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, an outfit on the fringes of the party that has been working for communal harmony for the past few years. As part of this, the Mancha has organised Raksha Bandhan events in areas that have seen communal riots, involving Hindu and Muslims, roping in important civil society personalities. The group was also part of the anti-NRC/CAA movement in the state in 2019, which devolved into working for the welfare of patients, migrants and the destitute during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Before the 2021 Assembly polls, the Manch was part of a network of groups that organised campaigns against the BJP. With Islam's nomination, the Mamata Banerjee government seems to be hoping to placate civil society groups which have turned against the TMC government, especially in the aftermath of the cascading corruption probes against it. The 36-year-old also provides a readymade counter to the rise of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) and its young MLA Naushad Siddiqui among Muslim pockets of south Bengal. A chemistry professor at Dinabandhu Andrews College in Kolkata, Islam is a post-graduate from IIT-Delhi who has long been involved in social work. His organisation enjoys a lot of support among the minorities, especially in districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad, Malda, East and West Burdwan, etc. During the pandemic, Islam was also involved in highlighting the plight of migrant workers from West Bengal who were stuck in other states, as well as abroad.
