It was 2000, the abandoned village of Choto Angaria in southern Bengal had embers of a burnt down mud-house still warm and livid. We, the TV journos were looking for eyewitnesses, people to recount the killing of 14 men in mysterious circumstances. While Trinamul Congress claimed the dead to be their sympathizers extinguished by the tyrant CPIM, a counter claim was laid by Janajuddha (People's War) a group gaining ground in the area, waging ideological battle for the rights of tribals and marginalized. This People's War was different from People's War Group active in Andhra. We managed to catch hold of an eye witness finally - a frail, dark, young tribal girl, scared and running. Her family has been cautioned away from the village as the rest of villagers by "party". She had seen people with red flags surround the charred hutment a few nights before and heard an explosion followed by a devastating fire that killed those inside. Her account was laced with anguish and fear. And it said more than the authorities wanted to admit. A number of enquiries later, the issue of who died and who killd is still a mystery, or is it?
Back then ideological opposition to left by the left minded revolutionaries was on rise. I had flowed number of such meetings in undisclosed locations in parts of Midnapore and Bankura. These meetings talked of bringing about social justice, freedom from tyranny of goons and repressive Police. The approach, however, was still not violent - the battle was ideological. But then the issues discussed were potential fireballs - starvation death of tea-estate workers in north, that had already crossed 1300 by a non-governmental estimate, deprivation of tribals in south, plight of refugees in border areas and influx of immigrants eating into the precarious resources. Issues that the government or opposition should have lost sleep over, but both were in deep slumber. And thus, Bengal was having one of its first brush with extreme left uprising all over again, after 3 long decades of Naxalbari movement... But back then political quarters as well as administration was busy maintaining the stability of the state and carrying forward the Left legacy - there was hardly anything to be seen beyond red.
Today after almost half a decade of being away from following the political calculations in the state when I look at the blood bath in Bengal, the equations become more pronounced. What brought Left to power back in 70s will again push them out in the second decade of the millennium. But the matter of concern is -will Buddha try what Siddharatha Shankar Ray did and failed? Will Mamata ride on Maoist terror to break in to the weakening Red fortress? And, will the innocent lives, the tribals, their plight - the pawn in this large political game, remain undefended?
The champions of the Proletariat did some good work in some quarters - Barga - the land reforms- an investment that paid returns for long 30 years. The Red regime reinforced the political awareness in masses, specially the rural folks - voting is important and your affiliation, your identity. As I traveled in deep pockets of starvation and penury in parts of Purulia, or strife driven Murshidabad or northern districts of Malda, Kochbehar fighting erosion of banks of Ganga for ages - one thing was clear, Red was everywhere, in every nook and corner. and this presence was their strength- good, bad or ugly, they were the only one. Life began and ended with "party office". A penetration so complete it was almost unbelievable. It was an iron rule and we all know left unprotected, iron does catch rust sooner or later. In Bengal, it did.
I cannot think of a single incident when the opposition ever measured up to the ruling czars. They fed in the people's gloom - acceptance of the prevalent as destiny, one that can never be reversed. And when some whiff of change did appear, it looked too flippant, too immature and completely lacking in conviction. The empire however did start caving in - not because of attack from without but from weakening foundations within. Loss of strategist Comrade Anil Biswas in a sudden ailment was a death blow to the Left. The new leadership was busy building new grounds, almost leaving the position of strength to chance and a belief - the soil has been tended red. But the red soil was in turmoil and those who were there to ensure that the hammer and sickle prevailed were left without direction. For a centrally controlled regiment, this lack of direction was both disillusionary and devilish - they strayed and gradually went out of control.
Bengal today looks like a spent, tired and disillusioned state - sitting over a storm, that it knows will be unsettling but the calm rings of doom. The land of renaissance needs one more revolution. A sincere effort at undoing the wrong and taking some decisive steps. But again, the question is who would lead the kindly light? Somehow the emerging waves seem too shallow and those holding sail too weak. Boasting of a cultured past, the land of Nobel laureates and intellectuals, of poetry and sensitivity, Bengal today is at a crucial turn. Will it move ahead? Will it cave in? Who will decide? One would say, people will, through ballot... but isn't it already late enough and where is the choice anyway?
No comments:
Post a Comment