Events & Issues
New Delhi, 30 December 2021
Political
Violence
ABHORRENT
TURNS NORMAL!
By
Sagarneel Sinha
On December 19, the
election day of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) the city of Kolkata saw
incidents of violence with the Opposition parties alleging rigging by the ruling
TMC activists. The entire day saw candidates and activists accusing TMC for
forcibly not allowing polling agents of Opposition parties in several wards.
Not only this, there were also scenes of protests by CPM, BJP and Congress
activists in different parts of the city, and in some places they even
protested jointly. But TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee discounted
the allegations of malpractices as mere “drama” and claimed the voting being “peaceful.”
Let’s now take a look
at what happened on November 25,during the civic body elections in the tiny north
eastern State of Tripura. The TMC levelled allegations there, similaras accused
by CPM, BJP and Congress in the KMC
election. Should the allegations of TMC now be seen as baseless in Tripura?
Certainly not. The civic elections in Agartala and in many other urban areas
were definitely not peaceful with reports of rigging and forcible
stopping of polling agents of CPM and TMC by BJP activists. Just like
Mamata and other TMC leaders, the State BJP leaders, including Chief Minister
Biplab Deb, had then claimed elections were “peaceful” and the Opposition was
doing ‘drama’.
The events that took
place in KMC elections and Tripura civic polls were very similar. The
unfortunate reality is that such incidents of political violence are indirectly
normalised by both TMC and BJP in West Bengal and Tripura respectively. BJP
leaders talk about West Bengal when asked about Tripura, while TMC leaders
prefer to talk about Tripura instead of their State! Worse, TMC leaders choose
to say that KMC elections were less violent than the previous elections and the
civic polls of Tripura. While this can endlessly be debated by either side, it can
be said that while political violence under ruling-BJP in Tripura is a reality,
the history and situation is worse in West Bengal.
How can one forget
what happened on polling day of the 2015 Kolkata Municipal Corporation and of
other urban bodies? Scenes of widespread violence rocked the State while TMC
tried to portray everything was hunky dory and the rest was a conspiracy
hatched by the Opposition! Or how can one ignore the brutal scenes of violence
during panchayat elections of 2018 that not only rocked the entire West Bengal
but even reached the doors of the Supreme Court? In that election, deaths of Opposition
workers and supporters belonging to BJP, CPM, Congress were reported. Or the
widespread post-poll violence resulting in killings of supporters belonging to BJP, CPM, cleric
Abbas Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front (ISF) etc, this year after the return of TMC to power
for the third consecutive term?
Add to this, there
were allegations of rapes/gangrapes of women, who didn’t vote for TMC during
the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections. The alleged rape/gang rape survivors of
political violence even knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court for justice.
The Calcutta High Court not only came down heavily on Mamata Banerjee
government but ordered a CBI inquiry, which is still going on.
To be fair and is a
given that people generally prefer the ruling party in local body polls whether
in West Bengal, Tripura or in any other State and there is little doubt that the
TMC would of course win the KMC polls or that the BJP would have an edge in the
civic body polls in Tripura. However, what is critical is that in a democracy,
there is no place for political violence whether it is before polls, on the day
of polling or after the polls. Every political party has the right to contest
and every voter has the right to choose the party of his/her choice. This,
sadly is not being respected in India, boasting of being the world’s largest
democracy.
At the same time, it
is true that political violence is not a new phenomenon. West Bengal and
Tripura had seen long rules of CPM-led Left Front and largescale incidents of political
violence then. How can one forget Kerala, another State where political violence
has become a big issue? The power reins in this southern State have oscillated
between ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United
Democratic Front (UDF) in the past 40-50 years.
Often the assumption
by a section is that political violence in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura is a
legacy of the Left, particularly of CPM. However, this isn’t quite true as
there are acts of political violence in other parts of the country reflected in
the reports compiled by NCRB: these include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka which
have performed worse, and others such as Jharkhand and Maharashtra faring badly! Political
violence in Kerala was even under Congress-led UDF rule and there was a time
when widespread rigging and violence were common in Bihar during elections. Or
for that matter, let’s not forget the history of alleged political
violence by Shiv Sena with the tacit
support of then ruling party Congress--both in the State and Centre -- to wipe
out Communists in Mumbai and neighbouring areas?
Today, the Left,
particularly CPM, cannot ignore the fact that there were incidents of political
violence during their era in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, and continue in
the southern State as it sits in power. But many commentators often ignore that
political violence in West Bengal is said to be institutionalised by the
Congress, particularly during the regime of Siddhartha Shankar Ray, in the name
of suppressing the Naxal movement. While that was a pretext, the trend of
violence per se continues unabated under the TMC.
Recall the dark
period of the 1970s,when Congress ruled both in the State and the Centre, and elections were rigged in West Bengal and
attacks on the Opposition, particularly CPM, were viewed as normal. Tripura too
witnessed a similar dark period during 1988-1993, when Congress along with
Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti ruled the State. Though a significant point often
ignored is that during Manik Sarkar’s era, the violence lessened and elections by
and large were more peaceful.
The crucial point is
when it comes to political violence almost all parties stand guilty. Political
activists often indulge in such acts because they believe they would get away with
murder thanks to the blessings of the
political leadership. Instead of accusing each other, it is high time
leadership of all parties take note of the unfortunate, unhealthyand anti-democratic
events they indulge in. Strict action needs to be initiated against the
perpetrators rather than mere issuing of statements of condemnation, crying
hoarse or passing the buck. In the end, it’s the country which becomes a
victim, wherein in an era of polarisation it’s witnessing normalisation of
political violence! ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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