Ominous dark cloud is gathering over the sky of rural Bengal I debated for a long time whether I should write this in a public forum. One part of my fearful mind says, Dont. Another part says,We need to do something. This is a very sensitive issue and I do hope my friends do not seek to find any other meaning. The next Assembly election is due in 1916. Already the preparation has started underground. Calculations are made; long range planning has been done; and the foot soldiers are being instructed on what to do to get votes. Last election was fought and won largely on the land ownership issue--Singur Nandigram!! This time, I am afraid, the battle line runs much deeper. There is conscious plan to divide two communities leading to a polarization of rural votes on the basis of religion. We, living in cities, may debate endlessly on political issues, may watch political commentators debating endlessly on trivial issues-but the election is won largely by rural vote banks. They are more numerous; city votes do not count much. How many Assembly seats are there in Calcutta and other urban pockets?? Political leaders with vested interests on either sides of the fence are playing a very dirty game. I am not saying this from reading newspapers or watching those debates on tv channels. For past few months, I am travelling extensively in deep rural areas; sometimes on foot sometimes on cycle or any other rural transport. And believe me when I say that tremendous hatred between the two communities are being generated deliberately by dishonest people seek to benefit from this polarization. Allow me to give examples. We know something sinister had happened in Khagragarh in Burdwan and police are trying to unravel a conspiracy network. people arrested in this incident belong to the minority community. On the other hand some extremist groups and groups with own vested interest (recent case of Hissar in Haryana) are also spreading their own lies half-truths. People belonging to majority community are involved here. But the point is not everyone in the minority or majority communities are involved. Only a very few individuals very low percentage of the overall population are involved. Most of us want to live our own lives, earn our daily breads by hard and honest work, take care of the needs of our families (Roti kapda and Makan) and look after the education and career needs of our children. We work all day-in IT sector, in private sector, in fields raising one crop after another and selling them in the market, watch tv serials, play cards with friends; isnt it? But a plan is afoot to do what social scientists call as Over-generalization-branding an entire community for the faults and misdeeds of a few miscreants. One group is shouting, That community is being pampered. They all are terrorists. Another group is trying to identify their own entire community with the misdeeds of a few individuals. Any attack on these few miscreants are being brandished as an attack on the entire community, an attack on the religion. I do not feel good. Bad times are coming. So that a few kings or a Queen can occupy the throne and rule the state for the next five years. In the process lakhs of innocent people will suffer. Surprisingly the students and youth of this state,, who were always on the forefront of progressive ideas, are completely ignorant of the sinister developments in their backdoor and are busy with ISL and then IPL and Freedom to kiss movement or We should be allowed to sit for exams even if we do not attend classes movement or Remove the VC movement. A very sad situation.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 08:02:41 +0000
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