Choreographed Violence

Nidhu Bhusan Das

Witness the dance of violence in West Bengal. You will find it reasonable to believe it is meticulously choreographed. Since the Lokshabha polls the spate of violence continues unabated. No let up appears to be in sight. Bloodshed has been routine. Governance is virtually absent. Constitutional machinery has been rendered ineffective. Government is in place sans governance. An alarming situation prevails. Right to life has ceased to exist. We have an elaborate arrangement for democratic rule in the absence tolerance. The discourse of violence and invectives has replaced debate, dialogue and discussion. Terror looms large ahead of the Assembly polls.

The reason is obvious. We have democracy on the lip and disregard for the demos i.e., the people and their free will. We are afraid of the free and fair expression of people’s will at the hustings. So, we intimidate people, terrorize them with a view to preventing them from the expression of their free will. Yet we boast of our democracy. It is ironical, and we are not ashamed. Coercion and terror cannot be in use to the degeneration of democracy if the ruling party acts in earnest to prevent such misadventure. In fact, the ruling party is often found to use such methods to cling to power where informed and educated public opinion is sought to be relegated to insignificance and the government seeks to be the guardian of the public mind.

Our Chief Minister seems to be more loyal to the party than to the Constitution he was sworn- in to protect. He is in the habit of hurling invectives at the leader of the main opposition, the party which has thrown the toughest challenge in about three decades and a half of their rule during which the economy, education and healthcare and work culture have nosedived. Those accused in murder cases are at large, and the police cannot trace them if they belong to the ruling Marxist party. The Chief Minister is vociferous when he digs at the opposition blames it for all evils, and is tight-lipped even when his cabinet colleague is seen leading a procession of party men armed with bombs and staves.

This being the scenario, the ruler may wield power but loses authority. This is a precarious situation in the state. The rule of law is at stake when the ruler loses authority and the dictum of the Constitution that all are equal in the eye of law is not followed.