Political spirits

Sixty-six years after it was published,George Orwells Animal Farm still has bite. Ask the Left government in West Bengal,which is embroiled in a minor drama over attempted censorship. Rupchand Pal,a former CPM MP,petitioned the administration to stop a theatre group that prominently included Trinamool Congress members from performing Pashu Khamar,based on Animal Farm in Hooghlys Bansberia.

While the administration has claimed many reasons for stopping the play,from police permission to non-payment of amusement tax,the CPM leader was clearer in his objection. He claimed that this elegant,cynical allegory of Soviet communism violated the model code of conduct ahead of the election. Animal Farm is the story of a revolutions failure,each of its precepts being perverted,about the gap between heady utopian promises and how things ultimately turn out. By being so touchy,the CPM leader unwittingly invited people to observe the parallels between the satire and the situation in West Bengal.

The chief minister,however,showed better sense. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee intervened decisively,insisting that nothing should come in the way of culture,and that since 1977,the state government has been pursuing the policy of not standing in the way of any cultural programme. This is not entirely true recall how the state government created a ruckus over the screening of a documentary that was critical of its handling of Singur. It demanded explanations from the Directorate of Film Festivals for including the documentary in its festival of Indian Panorama films. But it was a quick save,nonetheless,and it drew attention to the ways in which freethinking West Bengal is nothing like Orwells dystopia. Whether or not his more thin-skinned party colleagues agree with Bhattacharjees decision,it was the only sensible thing to do.