Opinion Where they were all this while

Villages,the CPM has discovered,are not mere habitational units filled with an amorphous conglomeration of people,who diligently voted for it — constituting the bulwark of the party’s famed rural bastion; where the whole-hearted acceptance of party-highhandedness in every sphere of life was enough guarantee that they would be gleeful when industry was set up on their land. That myth was busted at Singur,more violently at Nandigram,beginning an official policy of ‘restraint’,a fear of committing excess — in effect,administrative paralysis,something that was laid bare in the conspicuously minimal role of police and ground-level administration in the post-May 16 eruption of political violence (both CPM-Trinamool clashes as well as intra-CPM feuding) in several districts across the state.

The government’s popular support base was a phenomenon highly visible: at its frequent mega rallies,party workers would ensure that hordes of villagers from remotest corners would be brought to Kolkata. Thousands of men,women and children obediently queued,cogs in a vast party machinery,waving their red little flags till each one was submerged in an ocean of red,the lifeblood of the leaders’ egos as they condemned US imperialism in Iraq or South America from the dais,while the party supporter,having tucked into the free lunch,waited for an opportunity to sneak away to enjoy the sights of the city. A devoted party worker was not supposed to feel any disconnect,or falter in her/his loyalty,even if she/he had to return to a home without electricity,to a hamlet without decent roads,where the local strongman may have enriched himself enough to revel in luxuries his neighbours could only be envious of. No wonder the bewilderment then,when armed activists of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities attacked the plush residence of a zonal secretary in Dharampur in West Midnapore with pickaxes a few days ago,to bring it down to the level of the dire poverty around. No wonder the question: whence,and whither,this rage?

Bewilderment,in fact,characterised the CPM’s response ever since the verdict of the general elections was announced — the metaphoric storm,before Aila struck on May 25 with devastating force,leaving the impregnable party floundering,stuck in an awkward stupor born of a sudden recognition of the ephemeral nature of power. The familiar allegations of malpractice and nepotism marred post-cyclone aid distribution; even as the much-reviled but always spontaneous Mamata Banerjee lent a helping hand,as the state’s governor traversed marshy swamp to lend a sympathetic ear,Bhattacharjee faced the wrath of the people,with angry voices asking,“Ato din kothay chhilen?” (Where were you all this while?)

For years,political opponents had talked of the CPM’s misrule,pointing fingers at the arrogance and corruption within the party; they had cried themselves hoarse that the party’s stranglehold choked West Bengal. But then ‘we’ were 235 (Left seats in the Legislative Assembly),and ‘they’ were 30; might being usually right,the Us vs Them dichotomy entrenched the fault line that had already polarised Bengal’s society into two hostile and mutually distrustful camps.

But now that is reversed; and that violence would have been a fallout of such dramatic electoral reversal was always a possibility. After three decades,the opposition was beginning to get a hint of power,while the incumbent was struggling to keep a toehold on privileges it had long assumed to be its by right. Anxiety-ridden envy would spur the CPM on against the upstart usurper,while the latter replied in kind. But as long as the government occupies the seat of power,it cannot afford to be paralysed. It cannot afford “liberated” Lalgarhs,nor should it encourage a climate of extreme fear and uncertainty where one has to constantly keep a watch over one’s shoulder,where party allegiances can spur an endless cycle of blood feuds.

Already,the tea gardens in North Bengal,another narrative of waste and apathy,are restive,with the tribal working population dithering on the brink of a Lalgarh-style agitation. The idyll might never be restored,but the nightmare must be averted at any cost.

antara.das@expressindia.com