Poll-bound TMC puts communal pot on boil
The communal violence in West Bengal's Malda district needs to be viewed from two perspectives: law and order, and electoral politics. In neither case does the ruling Trinamool Congress come across in favourable light, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that there is no “communal tension” in the State only makes it worse. On Sunday, the Anjuman Ahle Sunnatul Jamat’s large rally, protesting Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari's allegedly derogatory remarks, become violent — with gunfights, instances of arson and assault, and attacks on private and public property. In terms of law enforcement, there is no justification for the Government's inability to control the situation. Police officials were overwhelmed when, in fact, they should have been expecting trouble. Communal tensions in West Bengal have been rising since the TMC came to power in 2011. The situation has been especially volatile in the State's Muslim-majority districts and divisions. Malda, where 51 per cent of the population in Muslim, is no exception. Moreover, the manner in which Sunday's incident erupted raises suspicions. For one, the issue at hand is stale and without local relevance — Mr Tiwari's controversial remark about Prophet Mohammed and homosexuality was made more than a month ago, in response to an equally absurd comment by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. Also, Mr Tiwari has been booked on charges of hate speech and is now behind bars. Second, the rally organiser, an otherwise little-known outfit, had ample resources to mobilise a large crowd. This would have not have been possible without the knowledge, if not the tacit support, of local Government authorities. Third, the fact that six of the nine rioters who were charged by the police were freed on bail within hours, even as the situation on the street remained tense, points to political patronage.
Add to this, the electoral arithmetic of the West Bengal Assembly election, which is scheduled for later this year, and the different pieces of the puzzle begin to fit in. Since coming to power with a historic mandate in 2011 that ended the left's three-decade long stranglehold on West Bengal politics, the TMC has gone about consolidating power by all means, fair and foul — including polarising the votebank on communal lines. In this context, Malda will be an important test case: Alongwith neighbouring Murshidabad (where 66 per cent voters are Muslims), Malda has traditionally been a Congress stronghold. For many years, the left tried but failed to take control. In 2011, the TMC won just one of the 12 Assembly seats in Malda, but this year hopes to win up to five, after defections from the left and the Congress, including the high-profile move of Congress strongman Ghani Khan Chowdhury's brother. However, a Congress-left tie-up, which is being talked about off late, will put a spanner in the works of the TMC, which is also facing a strong anti-incumbency sentiment. The BJP is also in the mix but will have to refuel the momentum of the 2014 lok Sabha election, wherein it performed remarkably well. In Malda, the BJP increased its vote-share by 15 per cent during the parliamentary poll, and the TMC fears that it might mess up its careful poll calculations this year by cornering the minority Hindu votes.