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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Bengal back in ‘Animal Farm’-Prithvijit Mitra

Bengal back in ‘Animal Farm’-Prithvijit Mitra

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published Published on Apr 18, 2012   modified Modified on Apr 18, 2012

On March 15, 2011, when the Mamata Banerjee wave was at its zenith, thespians Saonli Mitra and Arpita Ghosh went to Bansberia in Hooghly to stage the anti-establishment play 'Poshu Khamar', based on George Orwell's Animal Farm. But they were turned back by local CPM MP Rupchand Pal, who feared that the play was meant to denigrate the then ruling Left Front. The public outrage against CPM's "social hegemony" was among the reasons for the Left rout in Bengal after 34 years. 

Red gave way to green in May 2011. The ghasphool (Mamata's electoral logo) came up as a symbol of liberation from the Left rule. But fast forward to April 12, 2012, and it's an unsettling deja vu. A Jadavpur University professor is arrested past midnight for forwarding a cartoon of Mamata Banerjee and her Man Friday Mukul Ray. The CID has asked Facebook for IP addresses of those who have posted morphed and "objectionable" photographs of Mamata. Trinamool men beat up rights activists as police stood by and watched. A Trinamool minister warns partymen not to marry into CPM families. The CM calls a series of gang-rapes fabricated and sees a CPM conspiracy even in crib deaths. A Union minister is sacked acrimoniously. 

The euphoria of change has been evaporating steadily over the past few months in Bengal. The people who had voted Mamata to power - and the intellectuals who were the driving force behind the change wave - had hoped her administration would be patient, open and forward-looking. They are disillusioned. 

"I fear it is time to stage Poshu Khamar again," says educationist Sunanda Sanyal, who was one of the architects of poribartan. 

The apparent volte face of the Mamata government has hurt the most those who welcomed a break from the Animal Farm - where access to university and colleges had turned into a privilege of the Left, where every institution of society, from school committees to clubs, was stunted by political dominance, and where a stifling arrogance ruled beneath the civilised demeanour of the Left. 

People thought that the Mamata Banerjee government would listen to the voice of dissent and allow opinions to flourish. The reality has been quite different, though. There's still zero tolerance for disagreements. Worse, the arrogance now is brazen without polish. 

It is unfortunate that the poribartan dream has been shattered all too soon, says Sanyal. "It seems unreal that the government has been doing the same things that the previous one did. And it hasn't taken even a year to reveal its true colours. Obviously, people are disappointed for they can't see any change. The same goondaraj continues. The same politician-muscleman-promoter nexus rules. People are still scared. And the Trinamool is making it easier for the CPM to return," Sanyal told TOI. 

The people of Bengal have been let down by the change that never happened, says Amal Mukhopadhyay, former principal of Presidency College. He accuses the "individual-centric" Trinamool of undermining democratic rights like freedom of speech. "The government should learn to take criticism in its stride rather than interpret every criticism as a conspiracy. In a democracy, opposition and dissent are inevitable. But the chief minister is not ready to accept that. Unfortunately, Mamata Banerjee is the government in Bengal and there's no one to restrain her. She has to remember that she is the first among equals and not a sovereign," he said. 

The disappointment is widespread with frustration seeping into every strata of society. While the common man is frustrated at having been denied the promised change, government officials are terrified of annoying the chief minister. Damayanti Sen's transfer after the Park Street rape case sent shockwaves. 

One of the proponents of change and human rights activist Sujato Bhadra, who was appointed by Mamata to broker peace talks with Maoists, admits that he has been disappointed with the government in the last few months. "So far as the democratic sphere is concerned, some steps of this government have been disappointing. But what has been shocking is the intolerance to criticism, even satire. This goes against the spirit of democracy," said Bhadra. 

Author Sunil Gangopadhyay is surprised by Mamata's "arrogance". "She has been unapologetic after every blunder that she made. This 'I am never wrong' attitude is unacceptable," he said. 

While Mamata was "always autocratic", it was expected that she would run her government differently, Sanyal said. "Mamata had raised slogans like 'democracy and not party-cracy' and 'change not revenge', but she has not lived up to them. This government always had the seeds of autocracy since Mamata doesn't listen to anyone. Autocracy is the first step towards fascism. We are surely heading for it," added Sanyal.

The Times of India, 18 April, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Bengal-back-in-Animal-Farm/articleshow/12710931.cms


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