People’s will only shield against political violence in Bengal, say speakers in debate

KOLKATA: Violence had been linked inextricably with politics in Bengal for more than a century and it could only be dissociated if people rejected those who used it as a tool to wrest power, said speakers at a debate titled, “In contemporary Bengal, non-violent politics is impossible”. Organized by the Calcutta Debating Circle and Calcutta Club at the latter’s premises on Friday, the debate—moderated by cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar—had politicians and social commentators crossing swords on the contentious issue.
Speaking in favour of the motion, Prof Biswanath Chakrabarty said violence had been used by political parties through decades and it’s now entrenched in society.“Neither the Trinamool nor the Left was the first to use it. It has been used since the freedom movement and post-Independence, we have seen violent agitations like the one against the hike of tram fares and the food movement in the sixties. Then, Naxalites turned it into a philosophy and ever since, every party in power and in opposition has been using it,” he said.
In purely mathematical terms, the number of violent incidents was still negligible and so it was possible to get rid of it, argued Prof Subhamay Maitra, speaking against the motion. “If you look at the numbers, violence is not as widespread as it’s being made out to be. There will be some friction in politics. While we all want everything to be peaceful, some violence can’t be ruled out. Even Vatican City has pickpockets,” he said.
CPM’s Shatarup Ghosh pointed out that violence in politics was linked to economy. “If you look at all the recent violence, including the Bogtui killings, it involved people from the same party. They are fighting over the share to which they are now entitled. A super-structure of political power and money has been created across the state that can’t be easily broken. It has always been there and we have seen it grow over years,” said Ghosh, speaking for the motion.
The state, too, patronized violence for without it, the state would collapse, said actor Kaushik Sen. “The ruling party has merely added corruption to violence. Having said that, even Left leaders, like Benoy Choudhury and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had spoken against corruption in their ranks. The CPM has fielded candidates accused of murders. But the BJP is a dangerous force for it has been targeting a particular community,” Sen said.
India was created through a series of violent incidents and on communal lines which have legitimized aggression in politics, said BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya. “Unless people, like Gopal Pantha, took up arms in 1947, many of us would have lost our ancestors. In contemporary Bengal, there’s no investment, industry or job. The youths have naturally been sucked into politics. They are being used to terrorize people,” he said.
We now live in a Bengal and India, which are different from 1947, argued Trinamool MP Saugata Roy. Speaking against the motion, Roy said he had never ever slapped anyone in his long political career. “I still survive so it’s possible to shun violence. It’s true violence has been used but those who resorted to it were rejected, like the Naxals. The Left used it in the sixties and changed their strategy to a controlled violence since the ’70s. When they took to open terror, they were shunned,” said Roy. The civil society could mobilize opinion against the BJP and help root out violence, observed Sen.
Writer and social commentator Chandril Bhattacharya said people must reject parties that used violence. “Only this can force leaders to shun violence who use it for votes. They essentially want votes, not violence,” Bhattacharya said.