SHAMELESS ATTEMPT OF POLITICAL "REVENGE"
KAJAL CHATTERJEE
At first expression of "moral" support to the "march" of the "students" on 27th August protesting against the rape and murder in Kolkata! And then direct call of West Bengal Bandh on 28th August by expressing "solidarity" to the goons and lumpens in the guise of "students" - - many of whom were not only full fledged adults, but senior citizens too! And far from condemning the violence and mayhem on streets of Kolkata courtesy the "students" of various "unique" brands ("MBA" in History, "B.Tech" in Bengali, 23-year old "boy" of "Class XI") and of self-declared saffron vintage, a shameless "nationalist" party has blatantly exposed itself by calling the Bandh!
By drawing "inspiration" from the "zealous protests" by the communal brigade (staunchly against the secular legacy of "Bangaliana" as practiced by Rabindranath Tagore Kazi Nazrul Islam Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) who have achieved "stupendous success" in toppling the democratically elected secular regime of Sheikh Hasina by latching upon the excuse of "Quota" in the guise of "students"; the very same communal lot, but of different religious vintage, residing at the exact opposite pole of secular legacy of Bangaliana, are also immersed in the same undemocratic violent goal of toppling the democratically elected regime of impeccably secular Mamata Banerjee by latching on the excuse of "protests" against rape-murder of a young Doctor by taking the guise of "students"!
Simply no condemnation is enough for that "nationalist" camp (record of the "governed" states of whom are most notorious in terms of regular spine-chilling cases of gangrape and murder of women) who feel no qualms in politicising a heart-shattering tragedy to take over the reins of West Bengal through the backdoor. Instead of barbarically exploiting an universal social crime continuing since the "Dawn" of "civilisation" to create another "Bangladesh" in West Bengal; the self-declared "nationalists" may try their luck during 2026 state Assembly polls through democratic path of elections.
Though there lies no word left in the dictionary to condemn the horrendous gangrape-murder of a young Doctor in Kolkata and the real culprits must be handed highest form of punishment possible; but the ugly politicisation of such a tragedy and relentless character-assassination of West Bengal in particular by banking upon an universal social crime since the "dawn" of the "civilisation" are simply too cheap for comfort.
When the country as a whole is notorious for crimes against women; how can fingers of accusation be directed only towards West Bengal !
Also it is ridiculous to taunt Bengal by invoking it's famed Durga Puja! Hindus of all ethnicities worship the "Mother Goddess" in various forms, yet why sexual atrocities remain unabated in the country!
By which moral right can certain political parties and a section of the media dare to demand imposition of President's Rule in West Bengal ! Had the "conscientious brigade" similarly demanded imposition of President's Rule in Gujarat after innumerable women were gangraped/murdered during the 2002 pogrom! Had they demanded President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur or Uttarakhand after spine chilling horrors against women folks! Does there exist separate Constitutional provisions in this country for the same offence - - one set for the "Double engine" states, another for West Bengal !
So Bengal is being taunted by invoking it's "steep decline" in cultural social economic front from the earlier avatar of "epicenter of social Renaissance"!
Can the critics of Bengal kindly name any Indian state which acts as a "beacon of light" in cultural, social and economic front!
West Bengal /Kolkata is such a "finished" state/city at the "point of no return" that it continues to be the Eldorado of India where people from the rest of the country flock in droves for permanent settlement! Surely they do not settle in this "finished" state/city to provide "charity" to the Bengalis! Rather they do so to escape their "God-forsaken" states of origin! At least Bengal fares better than those states who have to erect "Trump Wall" overnight to hide the "unique development" of Ahmedabad from the eyes of the USA President or compel their people to venture to civil war scarred countries like Israel as manual labourers by risking their precious lives!
And as far as the cultural/social sector is concerned, the fact remains that when the ''modern'' states of the North are notorious for "honour killings", inter-caste marriage remains a very common occurrence in Bengali homes! When the "progressive" states of North/West witness violent communal pogrom/riots; Bengal remains an oasis of communal harmony. The scandals of Mosque/Church vandalism are yet to reach the shores of Bengal. In ''New India'' of ''Good Days'', Bengal happens to be one of those rarest of rare states where Dalits and Muslims are not murdered in the name of ''Gomata'', where secular rationalists are not killed for protesting against communalism, where Dalits are not beaten up or murdered for sporting moustache or riding horse! And of course the fangs of the inventors of that mythical "Love Jihad" are yet to reach the shore of Bengal! So those who dare to project "major downfall" of Bengal should instead learn to draw inspiration from the impeccable inner conscience of the state.
Yes, an exceptional picture of sanity and liberalism has got permanently established in the Bengali psyche thanks to the good effects of the Bengal Renaissance and so sole priority gets awarded to humanity here by remaining miles away from petty religious muscle-flexing.
Bengal is that land where Muslims donate their plots for construction of Durga temple, carry dead bodies of Hindu neighbours by ignoring fear of Covid-related infection and where Hindus part with land to set up graveyards, offer sehri and iftar during Ramadan to Islamic brethren !
So instead of character-assassinating the Bengal /Bengalis out of sheer hatred, frustration and political revenge, the blind critics should draw inspiration from them.