The Reds who had turned the state from West Bengal to Waste Bengal

West Bengal has suddenly come into focus on the political arena due to the death of Students Federation of India (SFI) leader, Sudipta Gupta (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/sfi-leaders-death-causes-furore/article4575257.ece), the reason primarily being SFI being a wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. CPI (M) that had so fervently used the slogan, “CPM, laal salaam!’’ to seize the  attention of the public around, especially, in West Bengal that once upon the time enjoyed the sobriquet, “Sonaar Bangla’’. Any person who has spent a major part of his life in West Bengal has heard this motto associated with the political party, CPI(M), known for its intellectual pretensions that managed to condemn the fate of West Bengal to a state of Waste Bengal. It would not be wrong to say that the state of Bengal under the political leadership of Jyoti Basu and his comrades was nothing short of a banana republic, an unstable state, in disguise. The state, which had bred the likes of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, had turned into something obnoxious, pathetic, and so vulnerable that the residents of the state had developed a feeling of antipathy and helplessness towards their own land. During the regime of CPI(M), schools were burned down so that people remained illiterate and unlettered, grants to hospitals and funds meant for infrastructure were embezzled and misappropriated, and law was practically bought and tucked away in the pockets of those who could afford and wanted to run the state as per their whims. The political party that had promised the people with a whole array of opportunities and available possibilities had, in fact, reversed the state of affairs in the state into a labyrinth of confusion and misguidance in which people got caught, stuck, and bamboozled. The political party, CPI (M), which claims to be the longest-serving democratically-elected communist government, had in the truest sense rendered Bengal into a condition of persistent vegetative state that refused to wake itself up and free itself from the fetters with which it had been confined to a state of coma and permanent disability. Bengal, practically, had nothing to look up to and no one to look up to it. The CPI (M) vandalized and destroyed the very soul of the state through committing atrocities on its people by letting loose their political goons and making blunderous decisions to suit their own interests.

                    But, there is something that they forgot. Human beings are resilient by spirit. What they need is just a chance to bounce back on their feet and a leader who could just show that all is not ended unless you decide to put down your arms. There is light at the end of the tunnel and all we need to do is not to let the light go away from our sight unless we have reached that end to make a new beginning. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) came and put to rest the pessimism that had got frozen in the minds of the people due to fear and pain. The people wanted to do away with the CPI (M), rather banish its very existence, but alas in a democracy it is not possible.

                   The CPI (M), when in power, had attempted to show to the world that it was running the state based on some idealistic policy, but in fact, they had actually brainwashed the rural and urban people with a sense of fake ego and useless principles that took West Bengal back into a stage where it was during British colonization. Mamata Banerjee's decision to stop students union elections to the universities and colleges in West Bengal, seemed not to have gone down well with the Left. The present situation, regarding campus violence, can only be understood in the historical perspective wherein the Left front had intended of building a very strong student front which will serve as their gatekeepers for their political interests.

                   The death of a student leader, no doubt, is painful in the history of student politics. Moreover, it is shameful on the Left’s part to brand an accident as a crime committed in cold murder. It is not new to the experience of the Bengalis that the Marxist party leaves no stone unturned to stir attention of the people and use it to its complete political advantage. The report of the forensic experts and the statement given by the Bengal police means nothing to the Left front, for they intend to make use of any and every incident as plausible that can bring them back to power. The death of Sudipta Gupta, is perhaps, being seen as an opportunity by CPI (M) to strengthen its roots in the minds of the Bengali people from where they have been ostracized owing to their criminal and mindless politics.

The strange reasoning of Mr. Katju

I had always learned that comparisons were made on similar, if not identical, grounds. But, honestly, I never knew what it was like comparing a fish to a bird. Strange, it may seem, but today’s society inclusive of the likes of Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India have made recent comments seeking similar judgement for two completely different cases. The cases are not only different in terms of parameters, circumstances surrounding the crime, but also the nature of the crime itself. By comparing Sanjay Dutt’s case (accused of hoarding arms and ammunition for the purpose of abetment of terrorism, but convicted of keeping in his possession, unlicensed prohibited weapons) with Commander Nanavati’s case (culpable homicide amounting to murder), Mr. Katju has shown scant knowledge of the law and disregard for our jurisdiction that has continuously laid emphasis on the principle that the law of the land has meager regard for social status and that justice is a matter of right, not of privilege. Further, Mr. Katju pointed out that through his films Sanjay Dutt had revived the memory of Mahatma Gandhi and the message of Gandhiji, an apparent reference to “Gandhigiri” in Munnabhai films. (See http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/katju-seeks-pardon-for-actor/article4536344.ece for more) But, had not Sanjay Dutt done films like Agneepath, where he had played the role of the much-hated Kanch Cheena? Can the role done a person in films be considered as enough material for judgment of his true character? Is not there a considerable difference in reel life and real life, although reel life is an exaggerated manifestation of our imagination and inspired from characters of actual life? Munnabhai was a character portrayed with the same ease and fervour as Kancha Cheena. So the plea regarding grant of mercy to a person based on his cinematic experience would not only be a mockery of reasonable behavior and travesty of equity before law but also a grave injustice and pain caused to families of victims of the blasts that rocked the country back in 1993.

The judgment has already come in too late, thus, hurting the common man’s sentiments more than ever and rooting in a feeling of vexation against the existing hierarchy in our judiciary.

It is my sincere request to Mr. Katju to stop quoting the speech of Portia in Shakespear’s Merchant of Venice as he had already done that before in a letter to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari requesting grant of pardon to Sarabjit Singh (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/justice-katju-pakistan-zardari-sarabjit-singh/1/183943.html).  

Mr. Dutt, if literate, educated, and conscientious would have surely known about the famous saying by the Father of the Nation:

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts. - Mahatma Gandhi

Sanjay Dutt, tweeting about his shoot of Policegiri, gives a feeling that he can take the people for a ride with his comments (soaked in emotions) and create a positive image for himself in the minds of the people who look upon actors as demi Gods and creations of divine intervention.