Most people will recall how the
CPI(M) leaders of West Bengal had made fun of the Assam Movement when it
had picked up momentum. Mr Jyoti Basu, who was then the West Bengal Chief
Minister, had even gone to the extent of calling it a picnic. And even
at home, the CPI(M) (as also the other Left parties) had given the general
impression that in their concept of a utopian world, there was no room
for borders and boundaries, and that foreigners who came in hordes from
a neighbouring country ought to be welcomed with open arms on humanitarian
grounds, regardless of the fact that they were illegal migrants. It is
hardly surprising, therefore, that even today, the CPI(M) should be staunchly
opposed to the repeal of a highly discriminatory immigration law like the
IM(DT) Act. But such a stance is meant only for other States, and charity
obviously does not begin at home. This was evident from the first visit
to Assam of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as Chief Minister of West Bengal,
when he made it abundantly clear that his own State had no place for an
immigration law like the IM(DT) Act, since the Foreigners Act of 1946 was
good enough. The inherent irony in the statement was not lost on anyone
but his comrades here. No wonder, the CPI(M) leaders of Assam lost no time
in dissociating themselves from Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on the IM(DT)
Act issue. And look at the difference. Over the recent years, West Bengal
has managed to detect and deport 500,000 Bangladeshis. And no Bangladeshi
is permitted to acquire land in West Bengal any more. But that it not all.
Mr Bhattacharya and his comrades may be spouting sermons on 'secularism'
of the Congress model, but this has not stopped him from quietly beginning
a clean-up of the madrassahs in West Bengal. A detailed census of madrassahs
in the State is being carried out, and Central agencies are working in
tandem with the State machinery. What is sauce for the goose is obviously
not sauce for the gander.