THE AUTHORITARIAN STREAK AMONG OUR RULERS

There are times we feel like there is an authoritarian streak in our blood. On certain occasions we do witness this authoritarian streak gaining an upper hand in each of us, human beings. Not only among our rulers right from the Ministers – Prime Minister included – down the Chief Ministers of States but among ordinary human beings like us surface this ‘phenomenon’, forgetting the fact that we are all living in a democratic society under a democratic government.

Why is this so? Is it part of human depravity or is it in our genes? Most probably, yes. We all know freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom to move from one part of the nation to another part of the nation – all these are coming under fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution and we believe in them too. But like a hydra rearing its tentacles emotions take control over reason sometimes, the authoritarian tendency takes control over us.

Mamata Banerji, Chief Minister of West Bengal in the true sense of that term is a simple lady who leads a straight forward life and unlike many Chief Ministers of her ilk keeps away from misusing her position to amass lakhs and lakhs of money thru backdoor. But we are sorry to make it clear that forgetting her status as Chief Minister of a State, she is prone to throw tantrums as if she were in the Opposition which overshadow her image as a true Gandhian.

Sometimes she even tends to forget her status and seriously takes even innocuous remarks very seriously and issues orders to the law and order machinery to take an innocent into custody dubbing him/her as a Maoist.

Recently while addressing a rally numbering about 70000 a poor farmer asked her an innocuous question : What have you done for the welfare of the farmers in the State?

Mamata flared up and pointing towards him ordered the police to arrest him immediately calling him a Maoist. She reportedly roared like a lioness oblivious of the surroundings.

Shiladitya Chaudhary, the innocent farmer was immediately arrested by the police, charged with non-bailable offences against him and imprisoned him. The unfortunate farmer must have been taken aback on witnessing her tantrums pointing towards him calling him a Maoist. How come she dared to order the police to get him arrested and detain him in the lock-up without verifying his antecedents, was it the authoritarian streak in her gaining the upper hand? The beleaguered farmer filed an appeal in a court of law but was denied bail - as he was charged with non-bailable offence. Later the hapless farmer filed an appeal in a higher court and was granted bail by the Magistrate, the other day.

This was not the one of its kind on her part. While she was being interviewed by CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose in front of about thousands of students, one student stood up and threw a question at her out of curiosity. Hither too she fretted and fumed, called him a Maoist and boycotted the interview midway in spite of Mrs. Ghose’s repeated entreaties.

This too was not one of its kind. This time she got arrested Ambikesh Mahapatra, a Professor of Jadhavpur University for posting a cartoon of her in social networking sites which she felt like insulting her, he was also arrested and imprisoned. The cartoon was his response to Mamata’s order banning certain English dailies and a few Bengali dailies in the West Bengal libraries. The enormity and intensity of her intolerance need no more examples now. And no more explanations.

At this moment it is quite interesting that during the rule of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee CPI(Marxist) veteran, Singur and Nandigram happened. She was in the forefront to protest against the movement of the government for forcibly evacuating farmers and sharecroppers, numbering about thousands to lead a fight against the Buddhadeb govt. It is alleged that she was joined by the Maoists in her struggle against the arbitrary evacuation of peasants, farmers and share-croppers by the government.

Consequently, she emerged victorious in her struggle against the Buddhadeb govt and riding the crest of popular wave, she emerged victorious with a thumping majority badly mauling the Leftist Front which ruled West Bengal since 1977, in the Assembly elections, Municipal elections and Parliamentary elections for the first time. The Singur, Nandigram incidents and bloodshed that followed, compelled even writers, artists and intellectuals to group under one umbrella and they joined Mamata in her fight against the Marxist govt.

With whole of Bengal behind her she was sworn in as Chief Minister and Writers Building which was occupied by the Marxists for 34 years, welcomed her for the first time. People were delighted and celebrated her victory and euphoria lasted for a fairly long period.

After occupying the saddle, she should have tried her level best to keep the masses of Bengal in good humour and bring about a chain of reforms for the welfare of those unknown millions who elevated her to the Chief Minister’s chair.

Now that she has allegedly developed a kind of megalomania as also intolerance towards criticism there is a perceptible decline in her popularity. Let good counsel prevail on her to take the people into confidence and provide good governance.