Fabricated protests?

BJP's 'Nabanna Abhiyan' is a thing of the past. Now is the time for a detailed investigation. Who could benefit and what was lost? After a considerable period of time, the BJP has actually made its presence felt beyond the periphery of television screens and the news media. It might comfort the esteem of the state BJP leaders but, as an Indian citizen and as a Bengali journalist, I have some questions for the BJP leadership, which I would like to put forth with a delicate sense of modesty.

Quite certainly, there have been matters of public resentment over the issues of financial scam involving Paratha Chatterjee and his accomplice, and in some other incident, the abnormal prosperity of a few TMC leaders came to notice. Perceptibly, the public wanted a change and were looking up to the BJP as an alternative that could dawn a new future for West Bengal; but is the perception still in existence? With the kind of vandalism displayed by the state BJP, will it still qualify in the minds of the public as an alternative? What would be the sound meaning of an alternative?

Beyond dialectics, it has to be admitted that West Bengal has a past of political violence. During the colonial period, Bengal had fought against British rule through armed revolts, several times. The British administration then had termed the radical nationalists as "terrorists". Possibly, the British administration had to relocate its administrative capital from Kolkata to Delhi, in the year 1911, due to the fear of nationalistic 'insurgency'. In his writings, Nirad C Chaudhuri labels Gandhiji's nationalism as "Vaishnavite" (Vaishnav cult) and the one followed by Subhash Bose as the "Shakto" (Shakti cult). The extreme discourses around the "Naxalite" idealism are also rooted in Bengal.

So, does the BJP want to carry forward this legacy of political violence? In the 60's, Bengal witnessed the assertion of the Left that resorted to the same means for usurping the power from the Congress in 1977. "Nehi Chalega" or "Cholbe Na" was the slogan in the air, and public transport being set on fire was a common scene.

While Jyoti Basu and then Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ruled Bengal for more than three decades, Mamata Banerjee rose as a prominent face of opposition. All through her movement, there had been police harassment, armed violence and shootouts. It was an era of vandalism. Bengal evidenced the valor and aggression of Mamata in that period. She kept on challenging the state authority until she took her protestations to the doorstep of 'Writer's Building'. Mamata Banerjee had to toil for several decades to eradicate the Communist regime from the hearts of Bengal; the BJP will also have to make a "Long March". How can the state BJP expect to walk over the red carpet of power so suddenly?

Being a close witness of her political struggle, I must say, the protestations undertaken by Mamata then and what the BJP has coined as a symbol of protest now, are poles apart. In the beginning, as a part of the Congress and then as the TMC Supremo, she raised her voice against the Left government. Throughout, she was the face of the protest, unlike multiple faces being projected by the BJP. The more CPI(M) wanted to finish Mamata, the fiercer she became. The solitary reason was the gradual decay of the myth about CPI(M). The harsh reality made voters turn towards Mamata, earnestly. Whenever she called a gathering or a meeting in those days, there used to be waves of public attendance. In the opinion of some, it was the media that had created her popularity. There had been whispers about a few newspapers that sculptured this public image of Mamata. Names of some news-editors were spelled, assuming that they contributed in making her a 'political phenomenon'. On this, one of the editors, with whom I had worked, and who is no more, once said, "the news media cannot pull back a name, which is on a rise in politics, similarly, one who is on the falling edge, neither could be elevated. Then what could be done? The news media could merely play the role of a catalyst, for the ones who would rise or make a downfall".

In the 'Nabanna Abhiyan', three BJP leaders made a separate gathering on three pivotal points of the city. Their modus operandi was separate from each other. As the public participation was shy, the BJP took the route of making sensations — either by blazing the police SUVs or by intercepting thug elements armed to the teeth with stones and bricks — where leaders' presence was absolutely missing. The police could identify the culprits with the help of CCTV footage. The nature of the footage clearly depicts that this movement was pre-planned but not at all spontaneous. In any political protestation, planning is a common element, but scripting the full-proof plan also needs a quotient of spontaneity.

Before I conclude, I would like to ponder over the last question. If the key agenda behind organising this protest was to highlight the corruption inside the TMC government and the CAA, then why were these missing during the protest? The violence has indeed agitated the public to such an extent that they might be saying in their consciousness, "Et Tu Brute".

It is not clear whether the top BJP leadership is content with the outcome of protest but, as a journalist having the experience of covering and observing BJP-RSS and the Sangh politics for the last 40 years, I can say, they have never supported political violence. There have been instances of communal and caste-driven violence moderated by the BJP in other states. The 'Babri' issue is also being exemplified by the opposition parties. But during the tenure of Kamal Nath as the CM of Madhya Pradesh or now in the governance of Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, did we really see this "avatar" of the BJP in opposition? Then, is there a probability that the BJP is trying to devise a completely different "Bengal Model"? Is the party trying to infiltrate inside the class pattern, where not only the elite and educated masses of Kolkata, but also the typical mob, with a subaltern badge, can be influenced towards any social deviation and be made to act like goons? Is it keeping in mind the bulls-eye — the Lok Sabha elections in 2024? Are the sequences of torching police vehicles or pelting stones at them intended to implement this special "Bengal Model"?

Then how would a renaissance be possible in the hearts of Bengalis? In the words of Rabindranath Tagore, "the pleasure to seek the non-existent is a way towards an eternal falsehood". Remorse is the word I could foster, at this time.

The 'falsehood' behind this 'Nabanna Abhijaan' would remain like an open and exposed scar, and would be difficult to remit.

Views expressed are personal