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Journalism of Courage
On Friday, 64-year-old Rabindranath Burman will walk to his polling booth near his village Chandgaon to cast his vote to elect the next Raiganj MP. Friday also happens to be the death anniversary of his 30-year-old son Mrityunjay. A year ago, on April 26, Mrityunjay was killed outside his home allegedly by police following a crackdown on a mob that set fire to Kaliaganj police station in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal in the wake of a girl’s death.
“That night dozens of policemen came and searched houses in our neighbourhood for a BJP leader. The commotion woke up the village and my son went outside to see what was happening. Moments later, when I came out, I saw my son’s body lying near the door,” says Rabindranath as his daughter-in-law and her six-year-old son look on, seated in front of their mud house.
Rabindranath did not cremate his son. Instead, he buried him nearby.
“I have no faith in the CID (state police) investigation. We want a CBI inquiry. We have already filed a case in the Calcutta High Court, seeking a CBI probe. But justice eludes us. I have kept the body buried hoping that one day central agencies will exhume it for another round of postmortem,” says Rabindranath.
His wife Jyotsna intervenes.
“The culprit who killed my son is roaming freely like Sheikh Shahjahan did. This TMC government never gives justice,” she says, referring to the TMC leader, who was arrested months after people in Sandeshkhali in south Bengal accused him and his aides of sexual harassment and grabbing land.
The Burmans support the BJP and say that its candidate Kartik Paul helped them a lot when Mrityunjay was killed.
“Suvendu Adhikari (Leader of Opposition in the Assembly) also came here and assured me that he will go to any extent to give me justice,” says Rabindranath.
About 50 km away, in Daribhit, Islampur, two families narrate a similar story.
The families of Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Burman have also buried their bodies in the hope that the central agencies will one day probe and exhume them.
But their wait has been long – now almost six years.
Rajesh and Tapas were killed in September 2018. Their families allege that they were killed when police fired at people protesting the recruitment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers instead of science teachers at Daribhit High School.
“The Calcutta High Court recently upheld the NIA probe into the killings, but the officials (of the Central agency) are yet to visit us,” says 55-year-old Nilkamal Sarkar, the father of Rajesh.
On supporting the BJP, Sarkar says: “It is true that the BJP always stood with our family. It would have been better if my younger son got a job. I have asked the BJP leaders for it… Mamata Banerjee thinks she is the chief minister for only TMC people.”
The BJP has been using the two incidents in their campaign. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the then BJP candidate from Raiganj, Debasree Chaudhuri, launched her campaign from the graves of Rajesh and Tapas from Daribhit.
This time too, BJP candidate Kartik Paul kickstarted his election campaign from the same place.
“Don’t call it body politics,” Paul tells The Indian Express.
“I have been with the families since the tragic incidents took place. Not as a leader but as a political worker. Our fight is on so that the two families get justice. Yes, it is a big issue for us and in the election here,” Paul adds.
Paul is pitted against TMC’s Krishna Kalyani, a businessman who won the 2021 Assembly election on a BJP ticket. He resigned as an MLA just before filing his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress, which is in alliance with the Left Front, has fielded Imran Ali Ramj alias Victor.
Exuding confidence in winning the seat for the BJP again, Paul says: “My win is a matter of time. The people of Raiganj will vote for (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. My challenge will start after the elections. I have to do a lot of work for Raiganj.”
The TMC candidate is also confident of his win and is banking on the “poor performance” of the outgoing BJP MP Debasree Chaudhuri. “After winning from Raiganj, BJP MP Debasree Chaudhuri failed to bring about any development in the constituency in the last five years. People hardly saw her in the constituency. This time, the people of Raiganj will not repeat the same mistake,” says Kalyani.
But having quit the BJP to join the TMC could turn out to be a disadvantage for Kalyani. As a local tea-stall owner Goutam Pal explains: “Krishna Kalyani joined TMC after he was elected BJP MLA. That was not right. If he was in the BJP, he would have won from Raiganj easily.”
“Victor will give a tough fight to BJP as he has strong organisation in Goalpokhar, Chakulia, and Islampur areas,” Pal adds.
Raiganj has traditionally been a stronghold of the Congress or Left Front. Deepa Dasmunsi of the Congress won the seat in 2009. Five years later, Md Selim won the seat for the CPI(M).
“TMC and BJP are the same and we are fighting against both. Here, the BJP candidate is a former TMC leader (Paul started his political career with the Congress though) and the TMC candidate is a former BJP MLA. So, people understand who is fighting against the BJP and TMC,” says Victor, who is likely to take away a chunk of minority votes from the TMC.
Whether it would benefit the BJP will only be known on June 4 when the counting of votes will take place.
