West Bengal violence: West Bengal came to the central stage in political talks in the power corridor. This time it is not just for the usual tiff between the warring sides- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), but the violent incidents that took 15 lives in a single day shaking the conscience of the people. On July 8 (Saturday), West Bengal witnessed one of the ‘black days’ despite tall promises by the administrations to conduct a peaceful election. West Bengal police and the Central forces had claimed that watertight security arrangements would be made to make it violence-free polling yet several violent incidents took place across dozens of districts during the voting in panchayat elections. The Election Commission, state police and Union Home Ministry have been engaging in preparation to deal with poll violence for months. The security arrangement also hit headlines and reached court as the state government opposed the move to deploy paramilitary forces in every district. But, on the D-day, things fall flat. It seems that miscreants had no fear of law and order. The visuals of the violent incidents tell the horror story of lawlessness in the state.
Post-violence, blame game triggered. The state government blamed the Centre, while the ruling party BJP at Centre targeted Mamata Banerjee-led government in the state. However, those who follow West Bengal political news know that this blame game has no end. It will continue till something untoward happens to trigger a fresh battle between the two (BJP and TMC).
Meanwhile, if you do a deep dive to find the core cause of the political violence in the state, you will find West Bengal politics unfortunately traditionally laced with violence. Let’s examine the major factors that don’t let Bengal politics be free from ‘violence’.
Social factor
Post-Independence, West Bengal has gone through massive unrest and social reform which by and large seeded violence in the political landscape. West Bengal was one of the states that had historically very deep-rooted feudalism which caused social unrest and made ground for the birth and bringing up of the armed rebellion led by Naxal-affiliated organizations. Parallaly, illegal immigration also affected Bengal’s society. From 1947–77, Bengal, especially Kolkata witnessed an unprecedented surge in the influx of population of migrants from Bangladesh. According to media reports, lakhs of Bengali Hindu (Bangali-speaking) refugees came from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and their numbers continued to increase till the 1980s. The presence of a large number of refugees in then Calcutta impacted Bengal politics. It was also reported that several leaders of refugees’ camps strengthened the Naxal movement which believed in armed revolution to uproot democratic government. According to their convenience, they used to support either then Congress government/Left government or the Opposition parties.
Mamata Banerjee factor
The story of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s rise progressed parallelly to modern Bengal politics. Two events are associated with Banerjee that catapulted her political career and shaped Bengal politics as well. Of course, both incidents are laced with violence.
The 21 July Martyr’s Day Rally
On July 21, 1993, 13 people were shot dead by Kolkata Police as cops opened fire on a rally organised by West Bengal Youth Congress- led by Mamata Banerjee. Then Congress youth leader Banerjee held the rally demanding Voter’s Identity Card to be made the sole required document for voting. Since the violent incident is marked as Martyr’s Day by TMC every year on July 21.
Nandigram violence
Nandigram violence incident, in which 14 people were killed in a police firing, added a black chapter to the history of Bengal politics. However, it was a turning point for state politics as the incident shook the conscience of the people which was later reflected in the next state assembly elections 2011 results. The Left government lost the election to TMC led by Banerjee after almost 30 years. Banerjee led the movement against then Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government against its decision to give land for Tata Nano project in Singur. The controversial land acquisition gave a huge leap to Banerjee’s political career. Later, Banerjee replaced Left government which was once considered invincible in Bengal.
Left politics & Naxal
Everyone knows ‘Naxal movement’ was originated from Bengal’s village called ‘Naxalbari. The village witnessed the infamous 1967 revolt which eventually lead to the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency. The Left parties always face the allegation to have a soft corner for the Naxals. The naxal movement left an impact on the following generations and the result is in front of us. Unfortunately, at the local level, political cadres never hesitate to resort to violence to weaken rivals.
BJP’s sudden rise
Traditional political players- Congress, TMC and Left unable to make a strategy to curb the growth rate of the BJP. The sudden growth of the saffron party created a lot of uneasiness on the ground. Several BJP workers have been killed in the last few years. The rise of the party in the Modi era also contributed to the reshaping of the political landscape in the state.
Post-Independence, West Bengal has seen three regimes- Congress’ rule till 1977, Left rule till 2011 and Mamta’s rule till date. Regimes kept changing but the nature of politics by and large did not change. At least the panchayat election violence tells so.