BJP's Priyanka Sharma was arrested in Bengal for sharing a meme of its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the social media. The police arrested her and allegedly harassed her for an apparently innocuous post. They wanted her to write an apology for making caricature of the so called Honorable CM (I feel sick of the liberal use of the term Honorable dime a dozen on a wholesale scale).
Making Criticism and Cartoon of political leaders is a hallmark of democracy, unless you live in Putin's Russia or Kim Jung Un's North Korea. Strangely it is happening in Bengal, the land of BHADRALOK (Gentlemen). The Eastern province of India which prides itself as a state of soft spoken, down to earth folks has also a long history of political intolerance and violence.
It can be traced back to the draconian days of Emergency in the early 1970s when Siddhartha Shankar Ray's high handed approach as the CM lead to the exile of Congress party from power for a long time. But the culture of violence didn't end. It was accentuated by the Communists who replaced the highly unpopular Congressies. The long rule (rather misrule) of the CPM lead Left Front was marked by plethora of perpetual violence.
The Communists mastered the art of scientific rigging of Election. By hook or crook their goons won't allow the folks whom they perceived as less likely to vote in their favor. During my stay in Calcutta at the time of one Election they some how sensed I might fall into that category of less inclined to vote for the Left.
Few days before the polling, one fine evening a portly guy with well oiled dark hair slimely combed backwards and well chiselled butterfly moustache approached me. Showing me his phalanx of tobacco stained teeth cajoled me - DADA, APNAKE VOTE DITE HABENA. CHUTTI ACHHE, BAADI CHOLE JAAN (Bro, you don't have to vote. Please take advantage of the Holidays. Go home). Being an outsider and not too brave of a person, I was least interested to defy the local guy who tracked me down as an outsider less likely to vote for the Left Front. So, I thought it prudent to follow his advice cum instructions not to vote in Calcutta and enjoy the day off in Odisha.
Though CMs of CPM, their top politburo members were gentlemen and intellectuals, the Left front goons caused widespread violence, killing or maiming hundreds of people at will. It took decades of street fight by the mercurial Mamata Banerjee to finally drive the Commies out of power in Bengal.
Yet the culture of violence never stopped. The Commie goons switched en mass to TMC led by Mamata Didi (elder sister) who overtly nurtured them for political purposes. Rowdism and her over the top pampering to minorities gave an opening to the Hindu Nationalist party BJP who sensed the public discontent to be recently seen as rising.
Insecure and intolerant of opposition, Mamata a street fighter of reputation has taken the Rising Bull BJP by horn. This has added heat to the already hotly contested election held at the height of hot weather in India.
Not that BJP doesn't have goons of their own, but they are new and nascent in a state where their adversaries TMC counterparts are a well entrenched formidable force. On top of it, they have the backing of the state administration. The violence has reached its pinnacle as Election Commission has suspended campaigning for the rest of last phase of the election in the state.
There goes an African proverb - When two Elephants make love or war, it's the grass which suffers. Can't imagine them making love, but Modi and Mamata both street fighters are now at war with Bengal suffering. May sanity prevails and rest of the Election be held in a free and fair manner. But knowing the political history of the state, it's a long shot pipe dream.
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