Intellectuals may skip Mamata Banerjee's rally

KOLKATA: Remember the poribartan poster of 2011 — a collage of apolitical faces that brought about historic change in Bengal? A few who opposed the change then changed sides eventually and signed up with Trinamool Congress. If Sankha Ghosh, Joy Goswami, Aparna Sen, Bibhas Chakrabarty and Kaushik Sen come under the first category who hastened the change, Arindam Sil and Subodh Sarkar are post-poribartan entrants to the Mamata family.
Those who hit the streets against the Nandigram massacre in 2007 did so on their own. It was a spontaneous outpouring. Mamata Banerjee, the Opposition leader then, reaped the benefit. But this time, chief minister Mamata Banerjee wants the intellectuals to join her protest march against the Centre’s “political vendetta” after a Supreme Court-mandated CBI probe into the Saradha scam led to the arrest of a host of Trinamool leaders.
As it happens in changed times, filmmaker and actor Arindam Sil is taking the lead in rallying Tollywood stars for the protest rally. Tourism minister Bratya Basu is entrusted with ensuring the participation of theatre personalities. Though Sil claimed that a major chunk of Tollywood would be present on Friday, he admitted that a few have opted out. “Some have got professional commitments. But the rest will be joining spontaneously. It will be a huge success,” said Sil.
Actor June Maliah, a regular at high-profile Trinamool rallies, is among the prominent dropouts. She has to attend a wedding in the family, she told TOI on Tuesday. Tollywood stars are also in a dilemma and chances are that Sil may end up with a few starlets.
The ruling party is banking less on intellectuals. Poet Joy Goswami and dramatists Manoj Mitra and Shaonli Mitra aren’t joining the rally. Luminaries seem to have moved to the back seat. Educationist Sunando Sanyal, singer Kabir Suman and painter Samir Aich were the first to break ranks with Trinamool but Mamata remained unfazed. For, she could wean away Arindam Sil and Subodh Sarkar from the Left camp.
With a combination of political doles and plum posts, Didi always tried to get even the reluctant of actors and artists to take the plunge. Dev, Moon Moon Sen, Sandhya Ray, Mithun Chakraborty and Jogen Chowdhury are now her party MPs; singer Indranil Sen, Soumitra Ray and actor Hiron are party office-bearers and actors June Maliah, Locket Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghosh are members of government-bodies.
But many among the new Trinamool family are in two minds. While the CM wants intellectuals to scale up the protests to match the rallies Kolkata held against US aggression in Vietnam, they are wary of throwing their weight behind those arrested on charges of corruption. Educationist Sugato Marjit won’t be participating in the November 28 rally. “I won’t go to the rally simply because I stay away from direct politics. I am an apolitical person. I am not denying that the ruling Trinamool is at fault in some quarters but I must also stress that such politics of pinning down an enemy state is quite common in our country. BJP is trying hard to make an entry and what better can it do but conspire against the Trinamool,” said Marjit.
Mamata has to make up for the deficit with participation from the glamour world. Sil is confident about Tollywood’s attendance. “Remember, this is not a political protest or rally. As members of the cultural world we are just protesting against this conspiracy that seems to be brewing. There is an attempt to unsettle things in the state. Through the rally, we are merely demanding restoration of peace and stability.” But will Tollywood pay heed?