DEEP HALDER
If politics is the art of the possible, Mamata Banerjee has managed to pull it off. Not too long ago, the firebrand chief minister of West Bengal had faced one of the biggest challenges of her political career, and it had seemed there was no way out for her.
The rape and murder of a 31-year-old female postgraduate trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August sparked nationwide outrage. It was directed not just at the chronic issue of violence against women, but at the alleged botched investigation by the Kolkata police and the state government’s laxity in delivering justice. From ‘reclaim the night’ marches by women across West Bengal to doctors’ strikes and protest songs like Aar Kobe? by Arijit Singh, people’s anger at the West Bengal government’s functioning was apparent. Such was the scale of the outcry that Mamata Banerjee offered to resign “for the sake of people” and to get justice for the doctor.
Four months since, the anger against Banerjee seems to be tapering off. The chief minister is getting her mojo back. Her stance on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government has, rather curiously, shown that she can turn adversities into opportunities.
An unlikely champion?
Mamata Banerjee’s critics would not have expected her to speak up on the suppression of Hindus in Bangladesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party, her principal political rival in West Bengal, has, after all, consistently accused her of Muslim appeasement in India.
Shortly after the 25 November arrest of ex-ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges in Bangladesh, Banerjee expressed her concerns about the targeting of Hindu minorities in the neighbouring country. “We do not want any religion to be harmed. I have spoken to ISKCON here. Since this concerns another country, the Central government must take relevant action,” she said, vowing to support the Narendra Modi government on the matter.
Banerjee didn’t stop at that. On 2 December, as news of attacks on Bangladeshi Hindus continued to pour in, she suggested that the United Nations peacekeeping force be deployed in Bangladesh. “Either the Prime Minister or the External Affairs Minister should engage with Bangladesh. If such incidents continue, we want to bring back our people, and I assure that they will not face any food scarcity,” she said.
Soon after, on 9 December, Banerjee had a strong message for Bangladeshi leaders who were allegedly threatening to “acquire West Bengal”. “When you come to acquire, don’t think we will sit and eat lollipops,” she said.
Pulling a fast one on BJP
Mamata Banerjee’s strong stance on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus did not just come as a surprise to her political detractors in West Bengal, but also to many India watchers in Dhaka.
Bangladeshi political journalist Sahidul Hasan Khokon told me there was a sense in his country that India’s ruling party speaks up specifically for Hindus, while Mamata Banerjee’s politics is more secular. “Many in Bangladesh were taken aback by the seeming ferocity with which Banerjee spoke up for the Bangladeshi Hindu. One would have expected BJP leaders to have spoken in such language,” Khokon said.
Even though West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has been leading state-wide protests to defend the rights of Bangladeshi Hindus, BJP supporters in Bengal expected stronger words from the Centre on the matter. “Instead, Banerjee, whose politics has been all about minority appeasement in West Bengal, seems to have pulled a fast one on the BJP by standing up for the Bangladeshi Hindu,” a BJP youth-wing leader told me on condition of anonymity.
The Opposition has been attacking the BJP government for not speaking up enough on the issue of Bangladeshi Hindus. “Why is the government silent on the atrocities on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh? The Opposition has been raising the issue in Parliament for the past few days on the injustice being meted out to the minority Hindus there, but nothing is being done by India,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray.
Senior political journalist Jaideep Mazumdar observes that West Bengal’s polity is sharply divided. One side consists of those who feel Banerjee can do no wrong – such as her party faithfuls and a sizeable portion of liberal Bhadraloks – while the other consists of those who see her as viscerally anti-Hindu. “For the latter, whether she does the Chandipath or stands by the Bangladeshi Hindu in this dark hour, Banerjee will always be a pro-minority leader,” he said. Interestingly, Mazumder said, Banerjee has not used the term Bangladeshi Hindu in her statements, instead referring to them as “minorities”.
Fresh out of the RG Kar rape and murder case that threatened her government, Mamata Banerjee could use a political issue like Hindu subjugation in Bangladesh to score some brownie points. Clearly, it’s not yet time to write her political obituary. Even though the Calcutta High Court has allowed a junior doctors’ body to hold fresh protests demanding justice for the RG Kar doctor.
source : theprint