One too many of 'spontaneous, public outrages' rocking West Bengal

Kolkata, Oct 7 (IANS) In 2011, when electors in West Bengal bid adieu to the Left Front government after an uninterrupted rule of about 34 years, one of the major accusations against the communists was their acts of repression and subjugation against the Opposition.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself has spoken of those days of terror on several occasions, where she has claimed to have been the target. “I could have died that day,” she would end many such renditions of ordeals. Unfortunately, the state still remains in the grips of hooligans, where many such acts are passed off as “spontaneous” and “public outrage”.

Similar words were heard when video footage surfaced on Monday, October 6, of an injured Maldaha Uttar (North Malda) MP Khagen Murmu, with blood covering his face. Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh, accompanying him, also suffered injuries, with his clothes torn.

The BJP leaders were visiting the flood-affected areas in North Bengal when they were attacked by locals at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district. The footage showed the car vandalised, its windshield shattered, and the occupants trying to flee.

On the way, Ghosh exhibited pieces of stone and sticks that smashed the window-glasses. “The manner in which our Party colleagues, including a sitting MP and MLA, were attacked in West Bengal for serving the people affected by floods and landslides is outright appalling. It highlights the insensitivity of the TMC as well as the absolutely pathetic law and order situation in the state,” posted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X.

“I wish the West Bengal Government and TMC were more focused on helping people rather than indulging in violence in such a challenging situation. I call upon BJP Karyakartas to continue working among the people and assist the ongoing rescue operations,” he urged.

Earlier, there was widespread condemnation when the 2023 Panchayat elections in West Bengal were marred by widespread violence, raising serious concerns about the state of grassroots democracy in the region. Bombs were hurled, vehicles torched, and clashes erupted between rival party workers. The violence extended to nomination days and continued through polling. At least a dozen people were reported dead on polling day, including workers from all major political parties.

Television screens and video footage on social media showed ballot boxes damaged, drowned in ponds, or set ablaze, even as reports said several ballot boxes were stolen as armed skirmishes erupted in several districts.

Political parties accused each other of orchestrating the violence, with TMC claiming its workers were being targeted, while BJP and others demanded President’s Rule on failure of law and order.

In December 2020, BJP President J.P. Nadda's convoy came under attack when he was on his way to address a public meeting in South 24 Paraganas. Several BJP leaders, including Kailash Vijayvargiya and former Mamata confidante Mukul Roy, were injured when protesters pelted stones at their vehicles at West Bengal's Diamond Harbour. Diamond Harbour is a Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Abhishek Banerjee, the Chief Minister’s nephew and TMC all-India General Secretary.

In August this year, some vehicles -- including the one being used by the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, came under attack at Khagrabari in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district. Speaking on the incident, Adhikari referred to it as a “targeted attack”.

In similar incidents, the present BJP state unit president Shamik Bhattacharya and his predecessor, Dilip Ghosh, have come under attack in separate incidents.

Amidst this violence, the state government can’t shake off its responsibilities, claiming “public outrage” since law and order is its responsibility and the Chief Minister herself is the minister for state Home Affairs too. And the TMS as an organisation can’t shrug it off as an “administrative issue”; it has to restrain the grassroots workers through its command chain.

--IANS

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