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Introduction: Government and CPI-M need changed mindset
Having given his due to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for his courage in asking partymen to abide by democratic norms and not seek to prevent opposition candidates from filing nominations for panchayat polls and putting it in writing to avoid being misquoted, it is also necessary to consider what happens next. The response from Anil Biswas is extremely disappointing; he denies the basic premise on which Buddhadeb’s statement is based, lesser leaders at the district level go so far as to ask opposition candidates to come to them and they will escort them to file nominations! The Constitution asks nobody to go that far, but it does insist that the State Election Commissioner take every possible measure to enforce the law. Regrettably the present incumbent, Ajay Sinha behaves exactly like other state officials who feel they owe their jobs to the party and must bow to every dictat, however unreasonable. He echoes Anil Biswas in denying that any such malpractices have taken place. Mamata Banerjee says in 25,000 panchayats her partymen are prevented from filing nominations; we will have a better indication of numbers when nominations close and finally after the last date of withdrawal but it is already clear that malpractices are widespread and could not possibly have reached such unacceptable proportions without Alimuddin Street’s active connivance. The HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi is right to complain and ask for postponement of the polls. The CPI-M rakes up Gujarat; we have had our say on this outrage but two wrongs do not make a right. Test the proposition; are CPI-M saying that what happened in Gujarat gives them the right to do what their own head of the administration has courageously condemned?
Buddhadeb has threatened to use the administrative machinery to set things right. The sooner he does this the sooner will his authority be respected by cadres who have had it all their own way — the wrong way, also Jyoti Basu’s way — for so long. Another senior official, the Commissioner of Police sitting under the Chief Minister’s shadow behaves no better. He has been sent copies of court orders prohibiting certain activities, which interfere with law and order within a set radius of our premises. The police, under political pressure, ask for specific court orders directing them to act. Such an attitude betrays a dangerous fallacy. Orders of Court must, under the Constitution, be implemented by all agencies of the state and the police are one such agency. Is it the case of the police that they will not carry out their obligations unless specifically asked by a judge? Or is Alimuddin Street under the impression that court orders in aid of the rule of law are to be implemented by an old people’s home or a refuge for abandoned children? Refusal to obey is contempt and appropriate notice has been served. Government agencies have to be given much longer notice of contempt, although proper respect for the rule of law suggests that they get less.
Other states too see industrial unrest and violence; other states too see red-flag demonstrations and companies declaring lockouts. But because of the baggage of memories that West Bengal carries, such events in this state tend to be seen not as aberrations — as they are elsewhere — but as reinforcing long held beliefs about its unsuitability as an investment destination. It is this perception that the West Bengal government and the CPI-M in particular, need to fight. In order to do that, West Bengal needs to walk a few more miles than other states in similar situations. But it is this same lesson that the West Bengal government and Alimuddin Street refuse or find themselves unable to learn. Take another example. In the first flush of anger over the murder of Bapi Sen and the refusal of the government to crack down on the offenders, Finance Minister Asim DasGupta reacted, promising to reimburse the Rs 20,000 odd spent by the family in the hospital. Receipted bills have been with him for an excruciatingly long time. Rs 20,000 won’t break an already bankrupt government but the minister’s response now is to complain that as the family has had access to the private sector, perhaps they won’t need the money! It is this mindset of prejudice that needs to change.
The Chief Minister has his work
cut out for him.
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