Politics in verse: Mamata Banerjee’s broadside against SIR, through poems
West Bengal CM’s collection of 26 poems, translated from Bangla, is titled SIR: 26 in ‘26. In it are poems such as Panic, Who Are They, Justice, Hatred, Doom, Mind, Crocodile Tears, and Democracy.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders said Banerjee wrote the poems between January 4 and January 9. As Mamata Banerjee prepared to address the media in New Delhi on Tuesday, she had something for the journalists present: a collection of her poems on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which she describes as the “spirit of resistance”. Originally written in Bangla, the poems have been translated into English and published as SIR: 26 in ’26 by Kolkata-based BEE Books.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders said Banerjee wrote the poems between January 4 and January 9. In the introduction, the Bengal CM writes that the state has been “reeling under what feels like an unrelenting storm” over the past few months. In an apparent reference to the Centre, she writes: “Orders have been issued by Delhi’s overlords to compress two years of work into merely two months — without regard for consequences, without compassion and without accountability.”
“I could not remain silent witnessing all this,” she adds. “It is from this spirit of resistance that these poems are born.”
The collection comprises 26 poems, with titles such as Panic, Who Are They, Justice, Hatred, Morgue, Doom, Mind, Fight, Crocodile Tears, and Democracy.
In the opening poem, Panic, Banerjee writes: “Panic in trembling — and the country shakes… will people only be left to stare at ruins?” The poem ends with the line: “Humanity — you weep, weep, weep…”
In Hatred, one of the more sharply worded poems, she asks: “Were you born in this country — tell me? Or are you fatherless, motherless, a child of nobody? What language do you speak, you who preach silence?”
“Your standard — what is it? Are you the ruler’s weighing scale, or a garland of human skulls?” the poem continues, concluding with the line: “Have you ever thought, my friend — even once — that today’s ‘you’ will be finished tomorrow.”
In another poem, Mockery, she writes: “Born in this country, yet treated like foreigners — then how did you become the ‘true citizens.’” The poem goes on to say: “You delete the names, you laugh? Let me see how long you keep laughing.”
Banerjee, who claims to have authored over 160 books, is also known for her songwriting. During last year’s Durga Puja, she released a song on X each day of the festival and also composed a theme song for a prominent north Kolkata puja, sung by minister Indranil Sen. One of her most popular compositions from earlier years, Maa Go Tumi Sarbojanin, was sung by Shreya Ghoshal. Leaders close to her claimed her income was derived solely from her book royalties. As per her 2021 West Bengal Assembly election affidavit, royalty and bank interest are among Banerjee’s sources of income.
On the latest collection, Banerjee has said the poems reflect the “harassment and suffering faced by common people due to SIR” and were written while she travelled to official engagements by helicopter.
Her continued projection of herself as an artist — through poetry, paintings and music — is often read as an attempt to assert cultural authenticity, given that she is viewed by the elite bhadralok elite as someone who does not measure up to the traditional bhadralok ideal in Bengali public life.
The final poem, Democracy, ends with the lines: “Do you hear the roar of the sea — or is it the roar of the people?” and concludes: “In the name of the ‘SIR’, the NRC goes on — a funeral prayer for democracy.”
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