Sudipta, you were a budding flower nipped in the bud
by ruthless elements
Sudipta, you too had cherished umpteen dreams
of a nation being led by a compassionate dispensation
in the corridors of power in Delhi.
You dreamt an egalitarian society
where everyone is treated as equal
you always kept a flame of revolution intact in your mind
you need not worry as lakhs are there
to see that one day
your dreams would be fructified.
Red Salute to you, my friend.
In West Bengal, Mamata Banerji came to power riding the
crest of a popular wave two years back. It was a historic win since she could
bring down Left Front Government which had ruled the State for 34 years uninterrupted.
Fed up with the rule of Left Front Government of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee the
masses voted enmasse to Trinamool Congress led by (Mamata Banerji) bestowing her party with a huge mandate which
was looked upon with surprise, astonishment, embarrassment and prolific plaudits.
Since Jyoti Basu became Chief Minister of West Bengal in the
year 1977 - he too entered the Writer’s Building riding on the crest of a popular
wave - West Bengal was under the control of Left Front led by Communist Party
of India (Marxist) for more than three decades. The Left Front could enjoy
massive popular support for a long period both under Jyoti Basu and his
successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for a prolonged period till the latter went
out of his way to bring in corporates like a multinational, Salim Group of
Indonesia and Ratan Tata to set up shops in Nandigram and Singur against the
wishes of peasants and farmers who were the backbone of the Left Front for a
long time. Bhattacharjee’s overzealousness to bring to the State industrialization
at any cost resulted in the forcible evacuation of these toiling farmers from
their lands which forced them to turn against the LF govt led by the former. Before
plunging into a decision by holding consultations with the representatives of
farmers, peasants and share croppers he naturally invited the wrath of the
former and which forced them to organize large- scale protests and rallies
against the alleged move which was responded by brutal suppression unleashed by
the law and machinery under the control of the State govt, which resulted in
rivers of blood spilling down the streets both at Nandigram and Singur.
When the situation turned bad to worse the whole of Bengal
erupted in anger and protests which was whole-heartedly supported by the
writers like Mahasweta Devi, intellectuals, film personalities like Mrinal Sen
and Aparna Sen and people from all walks of life who came forward to join the deprived
ones and the farmers which was capitalized by Ms.Mamata Banerji taking up the cause
of evacuees who were evacuated from their lands where they and their children
were pulling on since generations.
It was natural that the people, the ones who worked
tirelessly for the left parties, who stood with the leftists thru thick and
thin since decades reposed their full faith in the latter who sent the leftists
to the Writer’s Building turned tables on the latter and swore to bring down
their ‘enemies’ at the first available opportunity and ensured the fall of the
govt on the day of reckoning. That moment came and they did what they ought to
have done ie, they brought down their ‘enemies’ and elevated the new found
protector to the seat of power. And that protector was Mamata Banerji who took
up their cause when they needed it badly. Unfortunately,soon after Mamata came
to power her blind opposition to (Communist Party of India[Marxist]) led her to
go on a witch-hunt against her enemy, which resulted in mass arrests
incarcerations and even murders.
Without she being aware of herself she was turning to be an
authoritarian which made her act ruthlessly against whoever indulged in innocuous
criticism.
Soon after occupying the saddle she turned against the
Communist Party of India (Maoists) who she had befriended during her movement
on the issues of Nandigram and Singur and went on a massive hunt which resulted
in the killing of a number of Maoists who were hiding in their safe havens in
West- Midnapur, Lalgrah. She saw caricatures on her as unpardonable insult to her
and displayed the audacity to arrest the caricaturists by assaulting them and
even imprisoning them for weeks. A college Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was
incarcerated for drawing a caricature on her in a social networking site.
Another instance was while addressing a rally a poor farmer
stood up and asked her, what all good measures her govt had done for the poor
farmers like him. The poor farmer had never ever imagined even in his wildest
of dreams, he would be branded as a maoist. Mamata threw tantrums and asked the
security personal to arrest him then and there and take him into custody. He was
even denied bail for him ‘crime’ of inquiring such an innocuous matter.
While addressing a group of college students with CNN IBN’s
Sagarika Ghosh acting as moderator she walked out in a huff, fretting and
fuming while facing questions by the students. Sagarika Ghosh’s effort to
pacify the lady didn’t pay off.
Of late the alleged beating up and subsequent death of
Sudipta Gupta, an SFI activist under police custody shook entire Bengal. The
State witnessed massive protests by the students and they flocked into the
streets in thousands demanding an independent enquiry. Mamata’s expected reply
was it must have been an accidental death. The cavaliar approach of a Chief
Minister to such a sensitive issue enraged the entire student community and
soon the State plunged into chaos .
Adding insult to injury was her petty remark that Sudipta’s family would be extended adequate
compensation.
On hearing such an offer Sudipta’s father and his sister got
enraged and responded angrily by saying that what they wanted was an enquiry by
an independent agency and they had even knocked on the doors of West Bengal
Governor M.K.Narayanan as they didn’t expect justice from Mamata. It was like a
slap on Mamata’s face when Sudipta’s sister told the former that Sudipta was
not the bread winner of her family. And her father mocked the Chief Minitser
asking whether she could bring back his son alive.
Within two years, Mamata’s rule is getting on the nerves of
the Bengalese if she is bent upon going on like this what would be the future
of West Bengal where luminaries like Rabindranatha Tagore and Satyajit Ray
lived?
As a repercussion to Sudipta’s alleged murder, Amit Mitra,
West Bengal’s Finance Minister was manhandled by the alleged activists of
Students Federation of India at Delhi Mamata too was heckled by them while they
came out after finishing the annual plan for the State which had a domino effect
in West Bengal resulting in massive violence allegedly by the activists of
Trinamool Congress. Now it is free for all in West Bengal.
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