Truth is the Casualty in Politics

 

Truth is the Casualty in Politics

Nidhu Bhusan Das

 

Fudging the truth is a standard practice in politics.Hitlers Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels said, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”Goebbelian prescription is almost unwaveringly followed in politics. The neologism ‘post-truth’ refers to the phenomenon those facts a less influential in shaping public opinion than appear to emotion and personal belief. Politicians indulge in cool calculations before embarking on action and play upon the emotion of the targeted audience to win support.  In the process truth gets clouded and deception creeps in.

Lying is a moral epidemic. When politics in infested with lies, we fall victim to distortion of facts, disinformation and post-truth. Diane Komp, Yale Medical School physician and best-selling author in his book “Anatomy of a Lie” probes the human soul to uncover the causes of our lies.

Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Ms Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal are exalted persons. Indian media on the first day of her official visit of India attributed to Sheikh Hasina the statement that Hindus in Bangladesh would be hundred percent safe during the ensuing Durga Puja. If this attribution is correct, the implication is that Hindus in Bangladesh are not usually safe.

In an interview with ANI, the Bangladeshi PM said, "As long as we are in power, we always give importance to the minorities and I always tell them that you are our citizens. You should own our country. Some incidents do take place at times but we take immediate action. Sometimes unwanted situations are created but you know very well it is not only Bangladesh, even in India sometimes minorities suffer." I tend to believe and would feel exalted could the contention of Sheikh Hasina been taken for granted and had she not fudge the truth which is often accepted in greater mutual interests. Diplomatic parlance is replete with euphemism.

Let us see what the state of the Hindus in Bangladesh is. Poet and columnist of Bangladesh Sohrab Hassan said: “In the country where violence is done with impunity, the religious minority can never think they are safe.” I stress the word ‘impunity’ here lies the crux of the problem.

The religious minority Hindus and their places of worship are often attacked and the community have often fallen victim to communal violence in the country of 169 million. Silent migration from the country is relentless and the Hindu population has dwindled to less than 9 percent. This year the Durga Puja was jeopardized following widespread violence by the Islamists. Such incidents are not new.  Impunity is encouraging for habitual offenders and new offenders.

A seminal book by Professor Abul Barkat of Dhaka University, Inquiry into Causes and Consequences of Deprivation of Hindu Minorities in Bangladesh through the Vested Property Act, published in 2000 shows that the largest beneficiary of Hindu property transfer in the past 35 years of Bangladeshi independence were people belonging to Awami League (the wolves-in- sheep’s clothing).They grabbed 44.2 per cent of the land. Other grabbers are affiliated with BNP (31.7%), Jatiya Party (5.8 %), Jamat-e-Islami (4.8%) and others (13.5%). The greatest appropriation of Hindu property took place immediately after independence during the first Awami League government (1972–75) and during the first period of rule of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (1976-1980). The confiscation of the land broke the economic backbone of the Hindus. So, migration of the Hindus is the natural consequence.

 

 Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee government contended in an affidavit at Calcutta High Court that no Dearness Allowance (DA) for the state Government employees is outstanding. Is it true? The High Court will decide. The opposition said it is a blatant lie. If the affidavit is based on truth, the issue of outstanding DA must be false. Should we be allowed to suffer from infodemic?

 

Lame Duck Opposition in Bengal

 

Politics of Secret Alliance in Bengal

Lame Duck Opposition in Bengal

                          Nidhu Bhusan Das

We are already familiar with the portmanteau Bengali word ‘Bijemool’, a satiric combination of the names of two political parties BJP and Trinamool Congress. Before the end of the Left Front rule in West Bengal, a reference to the fruit ‘tarmuj’ was in vogue in the political discourse in the state. Tarmuj referred to those Congress people who were perceived to be in league with the ruling Left Front. Tarmuj is deep green outside and red inside. Those congress people, though bearer of the banner of Congress, were thought to be secretly in alliance with the Left (red).People of Bengal saw many bloody street fights between the supporters of the two political outfits but it was widely believed in the bipartisan political spectrum of the time that the perpetuation of the Left rule for thirty-four years in the state was possible because of a behind-the-screen-alliance between Congress and the Left. This perception paved the way for fiery Mamata Banerjee to become a reliable opposition leader who could win the support of a major chunk of Congress people and form the Trinamool Congress. While Congress bled, Trinamool Congress gained in strength and vibrancy. Now Congress, a weakling, is in open alliance with the Left, another weakling, in the state.

The people of the state are unlikely to be inspired at the tacit alliance of the BJP, and Trinamool Congress will definitely continue to harvest the maximum electoral benefit in case the Congress-Left alliance, though difficult, cannot become the reliable alternative.

 The state BJP has, so far, been a lame duck opposition with little cohesion in the leadership and its rank and file. No comprehensive movement against the corruption being unearthed by probe agencies could be launched throughout the state, and a few Nabanna Abhijans cannot win the heart of the people. Perhaps BJP think if they can flood Kolkata with supporters from a few districts, they will win the elections and be able to unseat Trinamool Congress. This is like building castle in the air. They must have organization at the grassroots level to fight tooth and nail against the onslaughts of the ruling party, to protect their workers and supporters in rural Bengal and be in sustained movement against corruption popularizing the idea of good governance which the people of West Bengal have not seen since decades.

 The state leadership miserably failed to protect the party supporters when the post-poll violence erupted after the 2021 Assembly election results had been out. The leaders including state party President Mr. Dilip Ghosh having Z category security remained out of touch while the hapless supporters were hounded out of their hearths and homes, many were injured and killed.

BJP won 18 Loksabha seats in 2019 in the state because people spontaneously voted for the party wherever they could against the ruling party. If the party think the state unit and the then state unit president deserve credit for the spectacular performance, they may still live in a make-believe world, far away from reality.BJP in the state appears to be pompous and garrulous  without any understanding of the  needs, desires, aspirations and dream of the common people  across the demography. If they continue to live in the make-believe-world, doom and back to the irrelevance of pre-2019 days is their fate.

Unlike in other states, BJP in West Bengal cannot accommodate new people from other formations and backgrounds. The old-new conflict proved costly for them in 2021 and the same prevails as they are reluctant to learn from experience. People from other political backgrounds are scared of migrating into BJP because of the insularity of the party in the state.

If quick remedial measures are not taken having the hopes and aspirations of the common people in mind, exodus of voters from the party is the most likely consequence.