In West Bengal the entry of criminality in politics has taken place long ago. But it has been mastered and perfected by the present TMC Party and government. The 2011 Assembly Elections brought about a change in the Government. People wanted a change from the thirty four years of Left Front rule. There were reasons and change was justified. The TMC Party led by Mamata Banerjee swept to power with a massive mandate. There were great expectations from the TMC Government. And why not? Mamata Banerjee appeared to be a grassroots social worker and politician. Her simplicity prior to the State elections was unmatched. She appeared as the saviour of the downtrodden. Her aggressive speeches criticizing her political opponents were impressive. She was a firebrand politician. And she was someone who had the people’s sympathy. She suffered a lot in terms of both mental and physical attack from her opponents. She had the people’s support. However, winning an election is just a first step. The Left Front in West Bengal won elections continuously for a period of thirty four years. Does that mean their performance was brilliant and they met all the expectations of the People of the State? Far from it! Bear with me for a brief look back at how they fared in some issues of major concern. At least the Left Front actually did perform for the first couple of decades when it came to power in 1977 after struggling for many years But their development work was restricted to the districts and they completely neglected the major cities. For the establishment of the ‘Panchayat’ system in West Bengal the credit certainly goes to the Left Front. Leaders like Promod Dasgupta and Benoy Chaudhury gave leadership to the party in right earnest. The introduction of land reform and ‘bargadar law’, implemented during the early days of Left Front rule certainly helped the landless peasants to a great extent. Thereafter, under the leadership of Jyoti Basu the Left Front in spite of internal rumblings, was able to stay united – which was a record of sorts. There was a certain stability with the government which was not seen earlier. Jyoti Basu was an able administrator, which was stated even by his political opponents and critics. The law and order in the state improved, especially, after the chaotic era of the Congress regime of Siddhartha Shankar Ray. However, as far as infrastructural development, industry, education and health – the state started lagging behind. Union trouble at factories made the owners close shop which was common for all sectors. Power situation including the city of Kolkata was pathetic. People got used to power cuts for hours and children got used to studying with candle lights and it became a regular practice. The reasons may be bad planning of previous governments both at the Centre and the state. The Left government, however, has to take most of the responsibility for the abysmal power situation from 1977 to the 1980’s. The state government used to shift the blame to the Centre, but they could have been more proactive in resolving the crisis. In the field of education the Left introduced Marx, Engels, Lenin, etc as compulsory text. It is good to read about world leaders, but it was observed that the Left was selective in choosing. The biggest blunder the Left made was not making English compulsory among the students in primary education. Generations lost out as English is an international medium of communication and for scientific subjects it is a must. They realized their mistake, but it was already too late. In the field of health efforts were made, but facilities were not up to standard. Although, state hospitals came up, but with limited infrastructure and there was always a scarcity of good doctors. What we see now with the functioning of the government is even more shocking. Even to most admirers of the present TMC Government! The great expectations and confidence that the people of West Bengal had in the TMC Government and in particular the caliber of the Chief Minister was practically shattered in the course of little more than two years. The old saying - ‘winning an election has nothing to do with governance’, actually is true. A comparative analysis with the previous regime would not be appropriate at this juncture, but the trends can certainly be discussed. The development work in the districts and cities seem to be rather superficial and more promises are being made which even the leaders, making them would agree - are very difficult to keep. The rhetoric from the Chief Minister and her cabinet colleagues were ideal and convincing during the election campaign, but now when actual work is to be done, somehow the commitments just remain on paper. The Chief Minister, has already announced that her government has completed ninety nine percent of the work committed in all sectors during the elections! Are the people of West Bengal so gullible as to accept this from the Chief Minister? What we find amusing is that the Chief Minister and her cabinet colleagues are always in an imaginary mode! We had the privilege of interacting with Dr Amit Mitra as Secretary General of FICCI many a times and we must say he was extremely knowledgeable on matters of business and economic progress and of the country. But now as the Finance Minister of West Bengal, his business acumen and sense seem to be lost in political activity and chaos. As far as investment in the State is concerned the Finance Minister is seen making statements that huge investments are being made. We would like to know from the Minister in which sectors investments have been made and by whom? It is observed that the government is not able to distinguish between good governance and politicking. Till such time that the government is not in a position to rise over petty politics, it would not be able to contribute positively to society. But to get back to the idea of criminalization of politics: while previous regimes cannot be said to have stayed away from exerting influence on police enough to make it an absolutely independently-functioning entity, today the police-politician-criminal nexus is almost being flaunted openly. The chief minister’s open endorsement of the likes of Manirul Islam and Anubrata Mondal, who have been caught on video urging supporters to commit crime and boasting of having committed crimes is unheard of in the state’s history. As Home Minister the Chief Minister is also the head of the police. If she endorses criminals, who will protect the victims of their crimes? In a recent incident a group of morning walkers around the Rabindra Sarovar lakes in south Calcutta were threatened when they were criticizing the government. And this threat was issued by Trinamool Member of Parliament, Kalyan Banerjee. In an article entitled ‘Walkers wither away under police glare” the Times of India had stated “Policemen in plain clothes are warning regulars at Rabindra Sarobar Lake not to speak against the Mamata Banerjee government.” How dare they try to silence people for criticizing the government for its failure in practically all spheres? It is a violation of their Constitutional rights. Every individual has the right to discuss any topic that they so desire. The government has no right whatsoever to interfere! citizens forums must immediately file cases against the administration for infringements of citizens rights of free speech & threatening citizens with dire consequences. Has the TMC government become a terrorist organization? What is happening in West Bengal?? The People shall not tolerate an autocratic rule and the persons involved for violating human rights must be punished under the law. The police force has completely become an extended arm of the Trinamool Congress. It is a fact that interference with the police has been a practice with earlier governments as well, but institutionalising and making the police force as an arm of the TMC is certainly seen happening for the first time in the state. Crimes against women have seen a steady rise under the TMC Government. It is not that such crimes did not exist earlier, but what we find now is the government is permanently in denial mode. Instead of catching the culprits and punishing them we have seen the Chief Minister stating that such incidents are ‘small matters’! Right from the Park Street to Kamduni incidents the main accused have not been caught or punished. The law and order in the state is at an all time low. The educational institutions, have seen hectic political activity encouraged by the TMC government. Less of education and more of hooliganism is the order of the day. Prior to winning the election the TMC had very specifically stated that the party and government if voted to power would not encourage politics in the educational Institutions. But, what we find now is not only politics, but political violence in various Universities and colleges. While writing this article, the news pouring in from the Jadavpur University campus is that innocent students are being lathi-charged by police! Barbaric act on the part of the government and the police, which we all must unite to condemn. The Saradha scam- the queen of all scams in the State, has horrified all in West Bengal. As long as our memory can recall, we have not seen a scam of this magnitude in West Bengal. Almost affecting over seventy lac people belonging to the financially not so fortunate strata of society and amounting to over 3000 crores and counting. The sad story is that in the 2011 Assembly elections this particular strata of society had voted for the TMC Party, and the same party was indirectly involved in looting their wealth. More and more evidence is coming in and we hope the CBI is able to nab the culprits and take the case to its logical conclusion. If the TMC Government does not mend its ways it would not be long that they would go into political oblivion! Chandra Kumar Bose is a Human Rights Activist, General Secretary of a Social Activist Organization - Indian Socialist Democratic Forum; he is the son of Amiya Nath Bose, grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose & a grand nephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He is also the Convener for The Open Platform for Netaji. (Research Institute).
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 08:42:49 +0000
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