HYPOCRISY AT ITS WORST 

Kajal Chaterjee

Whenever any railway disaster occurs in India(derailment of coaches killing several hundreds to bridge collapses with fatal toll around 20), labourers die in tunnel/crane related accidents or assassinated by the terrorists in apple orchards of Kashmir; instead of demanding accountability from the concerned authorities, Railway ministry, Central/ concerned state Government or Contractors - - - how bizarrely do the Opposition parties of West Bengal (under the leadership of BJP) target Mamata Banerjee and West Bengal government with the ridiculous accusation - - -  "Why Bengalis have to move to other states"! 

 

 When Gujaratis to Biharis, Punjabis to Tamils migrate to Bengal and various states of India and around the world; it bears "proof" of their talent, intelligence, knowledge, expertise, adventurism and hard work! But if Bengalis venture to Delhi Kerala Gujarat Haryana Mizoram or foreign lands; it bears testimony to Bengal's "laggardness"! What do these leaders of CPM Congress and anti-Bengali BJP talk about! 

 

  And if migration of Bengalis to other states gets interpreted as "failure" of Bengal; then on that very yardstick only,  the continuous flow of  Bengal-bound migrants from all over the country prove that states of rest of India are faring worse! If Bengal is such a "God forsaken place", will the "experts" kindly clarify the reasons behind such mass migration towards Bengal from all over India in search of education and jobs, rendering the indigenous Bengalis to absolute minorities in their own land! Rather this very development proves that despite the "national fashion" of taunting  Bengal as "Waste", it is nothing but Eldorado of India!

 

 And if Malayalis to Gujaratis, Rajasthanis to Telugu speakers, Punjabis to Biharis can flood all parts of Bengal as they are all Indians and Bengal is also part of that very country; then Bengalis also hold full right to venture to Mizoram and other parts of India as they are also not a bit lesser Indian than any other community.

 

Also the BJP leaders must remember that West Bengal is not an independent country of its own. Rather it is a mere province of the Union of India with the lion's share of power enjoyed by the Centre. So if Bengal is indeed "laggard"( if admitted for the sake of argument), it marks the drastic failure of the BJP/Narendra Modi led Indian government only! 

 

 Perhaps these "experts" on Bengal are unaware of the ultimate reality that migration is an international phenomenon being witnessed throughout the globe since the dawn of civilization! So what's the big deal if Bengalis venture beyond the state's border! Or Bengalis are meant to remain confined within the boundary of their state only; but the borders of Bengal, with its educational seats and job openings(labour market to Corporate), need to be kept open for all ! Still if they demand jobs and education for all people of Bengal within the state only; then they should also demand that all such seats posts and job openings be reserved exclusively for the sons of the soil Bengalis by imposing a total ban on outsiders from other states! 

 

On the one hand, the whole country would be allowed to seek their fortunes in Bengal and enjoy its fruits; yet it would also be demanded that all people of Bengal be provided jobs and education within the state only! How is it possible! This type of shallow superficial thought without any basis is most unfortunate and highly disgusting to put it most mildly.

 

And can it be asked why did the BJP leaders of Bengal, shedding "crocodile tears" for the Bengalis, remain mum when Bengali labourers are exterminated from the BJP-led Haryana! No condemnation is enough for the leaders of anti-Bengali BJP who always play politics with fatal deaths of Bengalis in the rest of India by awarding clean chit to the Central Government, Railways and their party-led state Governments! 

 

Also kudos to Mamata Banerjee for rightly asserting that Railways have to take responsibility for the people who died while working for them. The Government which zealously proclaims "INDIA FIRST" should also treat the labourers as Indians only laying down their precious lives for the  development of the national infrastructure i.e. the nation and immediately announce Railway/Central Government jobs for a member of each family. Also she has rightly invoked Modi's "fraud" taunt following the 2016 flyover collapse in Kolkata !  Yes, it must be asked if a flyover collapse in Kolkata/West Bengal gets dubbed as an "Act of Fraud"; what term should be reserved for river bridge collapses in Morbi(Gujarat) killing hundreds or Railway bridge disaster in Mizoram --- "Act of God"! Is the Almighty offering a signal to the electorate of the country to vote out BJP from the Centre and the states (wherever the party is in power) to prevent total collapse of India on all fronts! 

 

Last but not the least. Have the "nationalists", who are presently all "over the moon" in delight for India joining the "elite" space club, cared to shed a single drop of tear for the several labourers who have lost their lives in the railway bridge disaster in Mizoram! Don't those deceased labourers deserve to be counted as Indians in the dictionary of the "nationalists" whose zealous slogan of "My India is Greatest" seems to have no end!  Does "India'' start and end with all development/persons "elite" only with the tragedy of poor labourers and woes of their surviving family members hardly a matter of concern of the "mainstream" and so meriting no discussion at all ! Demanding accountability from the concerned authorities is obviously out of question! 

Indeed no condemnation is enough for these class-conscious "elite" for their blatant hypocrisy and pseudo-nationalism.