Mamata violates democratic norms
By Amulya Ganguli
There is a well-known Bengali nursery rhyme by Sukumar Ray (Satyajit Ray’s father) which bemoans the “dangerous’ laws in the land of “Shiv thakur”. Although the dig was at the draconian conditions during colonial rule, it can well be applied to Mamata Banerjee’s present tenure.
During a period of just over a year, she has expressed in an uninhabited manner a propensity to clamp in jail anyone who offends her. It is a trait which is unheard of in a democracy, being a characteristic typical of a dictatorship. But, the West Bengal chief minister seems to be unaware of the distinction between a free and a shackled society. For her, the place for anyone who shows signs of disapproval of her reign is behind bars.
It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that when a farmer asked Mamata during a recent public meeting why she was not keeping her promises, her response was: “oke dhoroon toh … ekhhuni dhoroon” (catch him … catch him at once), which was not unlike the Red Queen’s peremptory order: off with his head. The police, of course, promptly pounced on the daring interrogator and led him away, but finding that the Indian legal system does not have a penal provision for asking uncomfortable questions, let him go after a while.
But, then, the real, and far worse, part of the story began, for, reports suggest, that the police received telephone calls from Writers Building in Kolkata, asking why the man had been released. So, more serious, non-bailable charges were clamped on him, in keeping with the hoary traditions of a force which hasn’t shed its colonial habits, and the hapless questioner is now in jail. Since the incident took place in the Jungle Mahal area, it will not be difficult for the police to charge him with being a Maoist, and it will be weeks, if not months, before the lethargic judicial system pronounces on the falsity or otherwise of the accusations.
This is not the first time, of course, that Mamata has acted against those who offend her delicate sensibility. A university professor and his neighbour were similarly arrested in Kolkata a few months ago for posting a cartoon on the internet, which depicted the railway minister, Mukul Roy, describing his predecessor in the ministry, Dinesh Trivedi, as a “dushtu lok” (naughty man) to Mamata, who made Trivedi “vanish”, as in an episode in Satyajit Ray’s film, Sonar Kella. The arrests were on the grounds of putting up “derogatory” messages on the internet and other cyber crimes.
A short while later, there was another display of Mamata’s aversion to an interactive session when she stormed out of a television show on the occasion of her government’s first anniversary when some members of the audience, like the farmer in Jungle Mahal, asked uncomfortable questions. Before walking out in a huff, Mamata wanted to know whether the questioner was a Maoist or a Marxist. Fortunately, there were no arrests.
It is worth remembering that Mamata’s preference for incarcerating dissenters stands in sharp contrast to her benignity towards those of her supporters who may fall foul of the law. She displayed this maternal benevolence – after all, she represents ma, mati, manush – when she rushed to a police station to secure the release of Trinamool Congress activists who had been arrested following an act of rowdyism.
It has long been obvious that Mamata is unable to make the transition from being a rabble-rouser to a responsible politician. But, what is now clear is that there is little likelihood of her ever rising to a more mature level because she is a prisoner of an intolerant mentality, shaped by years of a lonely struggle against, first, her own former party, the Congress, which did not think much of her pugnacious politics, and then against the deadly Marxist-police combine.
That fateful experience seems to have bred a paranoia which she is unable to shed. As a result, she sees enemies in every nook and corner. Her obsession about the lurking adversaries may have accentuated by the fact that she runs a one-person party where there is no one to whom she can turn for advice. Since she is surrounded by sycophants and time-servers, they applaud even her blunders.
To make matters worse, her combative instincts, which helped her immensely in battling the Marxists, have become a hindrance in her days in power, as is evident from her decision to virtually break the alliance with the Congress in West Bengal. She has also been fighting a running battle with the centre on issues like the Teesta waters treaty with Bangladesh and the future of enclaves in the two countries. Her view apparently is that irrespective of the merits of the case, any retreat on her part will be seen as a sign of weakness. Whether it is a query from the audience or a pact with a neighbouring country, her contrarian nature will not allow a positive response. (IPA Service)