For Muslim votes, Didi brings Jamaati to power
During her first term as West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee had disappointed, if not frightened, many with her blatant minority appeasement and vote bank politics of the lowest order. As she was sworn into office for a second term, it was difficult to imagine that she could possibly stoop any lower than the already low benchmark she had set in this field. Yet, this is precisely what has happened with the appointment of Siddiqullah Chowdhury as Minister of State (with Independent Charge) for Education, library and Parliamentary Affairs. Chowdhury has been the head of the West Bengal branch of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, a pan-India organisation headquarted in New Delhi, for more than three decades, and manages a State-wide network of about a 1,000 madarssas, many of which have dubious educational records. His organisation has about 30 lakh members and he claims that he brings to the table an assured percentage of votes in the State where Muslims account for about 27 per cent of the total population. Chowdhury’s long association with the JuH notwithstanding, his past politics is also worrisome. Apart from his laundry list of demands for State dole that would in effect cater exclusively to the Muslim community and perpetuate the vile politics of minority appeasement, Chowdhury attracted national attention in 2014 when, after the Burdwan blast which unearthed an insidious plot to topple the Government of Bangladesh, he warned the investigating agencies to keep away from madarssas. Chowdhury has also been critical of the incumbent in Dhaka, no matter the fact that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been a staunch supporter and friend of India's, helaping New Delhi crackdown on militants and Islamists alike. But Chowdhury is upset that Prime Minister Hasina has gone after the razakars he calls them ‘religious leaders' who committed crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war, and has urged all parties to support the Jamaatis in Bangladesh. It doesn't take a stretch of imagination to see how a Minister like Chowdhury will impact policy-making and why this should be a matter of serious concern.
Worse still, West Bengal isn't the only State where education and other such crucial fields have suffered due to petty politicking. look at Bihar where the Government has ordered a re-test for its board examination toppers after two of them made a fool of themselves on television. One of them thought political science dealt with cooking, another couldn't answer a basic science question correctly. No surprising that cheating and proxy attendance are rampant in Bihar, as they are in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. In fact, decades ago when the Kalyan Singh Government introduced the Anti-Copying Act to make mass cheating a cognizable offense, it led to much public dissatisfaction and was promptly repealed by Mulayam Singh Yadav who had made it an election issue.