Unmasking the face of political violence in West Bengal

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Unmasking the face of political violence in West Bengal

Wednesday, 12 May 2021 | Avni Sablok

Unmasking the face of political violence in West Bengal

The Government's failure to address the pre- and post-poll violence shows that there is no deviation from the established pattern

The recent spurt of political violence in West Bengal following the election results, allegedly perpetrated by the ‘karyakartas’ [party workers] of Trinamool Congress (TMC), is the latest in a series of recurring events of such violence in the state.There have been allegations that the state government, run by the winning party TMC, and the police administration, have turned a blind eye to it.Is the recent political violence a deviation from established pattern of governance in West Bengal?Has the state leadership addressed the issue? Will the newly elected government be able to protect the democratic space in the state?

The history of West Bengal is replete with instances of political violence. According to a report in India Today on May 16, 2019, between 1999 and 2016, West Bengal witnessed 365 politically motivated murders.That tradition has grown from strength to strength since, irrespective of the party in power.Not long ago, the Left Front government in West Bengal chose to remain silent about instances of political violence which ultimately led to its downfall in the State Assembly elections.With the popular support of the Left Front waning in West Bengal, it did not hesitate to use police force to suppress any form of resistance. As a result, criminalization and politicization became the order of the day.Consequently, the TMC came to power by defeating the Left which ruled the state for the longest period of time.However, today, the TMC and its party workers seem to be emulating the Left approach by ignoring the recent post-poll violence.

As per facts and figures this is not the first time that the TMC has been lax in tackling violence in the state. Incidents of violence have been on the rise under the TMC pre and post elections. According to a report of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), 2019, in the pre-election period, West Bengal saw the maximum number of political murders in the country under the TMC rule. Interestingly, and as stated in the NCRB’s report, “the number is likely to increase after the state submits the revised numbers”.

Violence paved its way during the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections with TMC party workers allegedly involved in such violence. Similarly, and as reported in the media, in the run up to the recent state assembly elections,several BJP workers had been killed by the TMC workers for joining the BJP. Even prior to the elections, verbal confrontations were reported between TMC karyakartas and BJP leaders including party president JP Nadda and general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. In post- election phase,and more recently, the convoy of the minister of state for external affairs, V Murleedharan, was attacked in West Midnapore. The minister has blamed the TMC workers for the attack.

The above facts and figures testify to the criminalisation of the public domain under the patronage of the state and partisan police force in the state of West Bengal.The criminalization of politics, which has seeped in West Bengal because of the prolonged political violence, has diminished the scope of dissent and differences. The foundation of democracy is built on voice of dissent and respecting differences of views and opinions, irrespective of ideologies.

A corollary to this principle is the fact that expression of dissent and differences is both a right and duty.  While everyone enjoys the right to dissent and expression of differences in a democracy, it also enjoins on the citizens a duty to ensure that any actions to exercise these rights are peaceful in nature.In contrast, if the voice of differences is expressed through violent means, be it the party in power or in opposition, then it is the duty of the government in power to undertake all possible measures to prevent the violent acts so as to protect the very edifice of democracy.

Being the largest democracy in the world, it is also important that multiple perspectives and ideological moorings must be appreciated and accommodated. The onus also lies with the leadership, both at the central and state levels, to comprehend two basic aspects of democracy. First, democracy is a system of governance in which the supreme power is vested in the people and which is exercised by them directly or indirectly through free and fair elections held periodically. This means that any party can come to power or voted out through periodic elections. Second, it is also a system where each one gets right to express his/her views and participates in all desired activities provided these are peaceful in nature. Implied, any form of expression of dissent cannot amount to violent public actions, including over election results perpetrated by the workers of the ruling party.

The failure of the Government to address the recent pre- and post-poll violence allegedly resorted to by the ruling party workers establishes that there is no deviation from the established pattern of [mis]governance in West Bengal. Considering that the state leadership has miserably failed to address the challenge of political violence so far, the willingness of the newly elected Mamata Banerjee Government to uphold the democratic space in the state appears to be bleak.

The author is Senior Researcher with the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.

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