Bengal is suddenly in the grip of anxiety from Siliguri to Sealdah, and it is not just the failing health of its dream girl and former matinee idol 82-year-old Suchitra Sen. The worry is consuming chief minister Mamata Banerjee as well. It was in that state of mind that she became one of the very few to visit the reclusive former beauty recouping at the hospital.
And the police – currently in the hands of a fiery feminist chief minister – surprisingly could do no more than let the victim’s family shift to Dumdum from Madhyamgram, where they had settled a year ago after having arrived from Samastipur, Bihar, to educate their only child. Dumdum did not prove to be a safe destination either. According to the victim’s father, on December 23, the girl was discovered with almost 70 degree burns at her new Dumdum home; a gang member had appeared at their residence to carry out the threat. She succumbed to her burns on December 31.
Since then, the tragic sequence of events coupled with political intrigues has got blurred; how she finally died has become a little bit of a whodunit. As is common in such cases, it was assumed that unable to cope with continuous threats, the victim had attempted self-immolation. But the victim’s taxi driver father alleged that his child had been put on fire by the accused. His daughter, the father said, was also threatened by the police and goons who asked her to return back to her native Bihar. So far, the police have failed to provide a clear cut answer. Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra’s vague replies have muddied the waters further. He has called the rape and the alleged setting on fire, as ‘separate’ incidents. There are enough indications that the state government too is going to follow the same course. Sources say two different cases could be lodged but no one is speaking clearly and loudly.
Mamata herself has not talked much but has encouraged her ‘brigade’ to do the public posturing. Admits a Trinamool party member: "Almost every political leader has raised his voice, as have intellectuals and activists. Weeks after demanding a CBI probe into the multi-crore rupee Sarada chit fund scam, intellectuals like Sunanda Sanyal, Aparna Sen, Kousik Sen, Tarun Sanyal and Samir Aich have hit the road again. This is a really tough situation for Mamata Banerjee since she came to power in May 2011.’’ Despite the early indifference, the attendant publicity which highlighted political and police callousness has shown results. Seven people have been held and the state chief secretary has claimed that the family is well protected by the police; all seven accused have been charge-sheeted.
If anything, the current rape case which rocked the state and grabbed national headlines has galvanised the moribund CPM. Since their defeat in 2011, the Left Front parties have failed to capitalize on the state government’s follies. During the last couple of years, serious public issues like the Park Street, Kamduni and Katwa rape cases, the illicit hooch tragedy that claimed 200 lives, irregularities in appointment of primary and school level teachers’ appointment and the state-created potato crisis have gone unchallenged. Their opposition has been at best a mere formality. "Neither the Left Front, nor any of their mass organizations have played the role of a genuine opposition party. They have not even spoken about the Sarada chit fund scam for the fear of some of their own people being involved,’’ points out analyst Tirthankar Acharya.
Now with Madhyamgram, the Leftists have woken up, albeit late. After the victim’s death, the CPM announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation even though the victim’s family turned down the offer. Says Mohit Randip, eminent social thinker: "As the victim’s father is a Left-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) member, Kolkata witnessed a huge rally. On other issues, the Left has been practically asleep."
Sunanda Sanyal, once a truly committed pro-paribartan (change) intellectual whose support for Mamata Banerjee proved a turning point in the 2011 assembly election, could barely hide his frustration. "The role of police in general and the attitude shown by the government is terrible.’’
In all this, Bengal’s civil society, including cricket icon Sourav Ganguly – normally not given to social commentary of any kind – have turned vocal. Demanding justice for the victim’s family, the former Indian cricket captain has criticized the government’s approach in tackling the Madhyamgram issue. It is important to remember that at the end of 2013, Ganguly was contacted by both BJP and state Congress with an offer of joining politics. So it’s quite clear that the powers arrayed against Mamata are gathering ground and strength.
Far from being repentant or sympathetic, Mamata’s battle appears to be spilling out of her state’s boundaries. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar jumped into the fray and pushed Mamata further against the wall. Kumar not just announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family, he personally contacted her father giving them assurances and every possible help if they wished to return to Samastipur.
And the police – currently in the hands of a fiery feminist chief minister – surprisingly could do no more than let the victim’s family shift to Dumdum from Madhyamgram, where they had settled a year ago after having arrived from Samastipur, Bihar, to educate their only child. Dumdum did not prove to be a safe destination either. According to the victim’s father, on December 23, the girl was discovered with almost 70 degree burns at her new Dumdum home; a gang member had appeared at their residence to carry out the threat. She succumbed to her burns on December 31.
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| Rape |
Since then, the tragic sequence of events coupled with political intrigues has got blurred; how she finally died has become a little bit of a whodunit. As is common in such cases, it was assumed that unable to cope with continuous threats, the victim had attempted self-immolation. But the victim’s taxi driver father alleged that his child had been put on fire by the accused. His daughter, the father said, was also threatened by the police and goons who asked her to return back to her native Bihar. So far, the police have failed to provide a clear cut answer. Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra’s vague replies have muddied the waters further. He has called the rape and the alleged setting on fire, as ‘separate’ incidents. There are enough indications that the state government too is going to follow the same course. Sources say two different cases could be lodged but no one is speaking clearly and loudly.
Mamata herself has not talked much but has encouraged her ‘brigade’ to do the public posturing. Admits a Trinamool party member: "Almost every political leader has raised his voice, as have intellectuals and activists. Weeks after demanding a CBI probe into the multi-crore rupee Sarada chit fund scam, intellectuals like Sunanda Sanyal, Aparna Sen, Kousik Sen, Tarun Sanyal and Samir Aich have hit the road again. This is a really tough situation for Mamata Banerjee since she came to power in May 2011.’’ Despite the early indifference, the attendant publicity which highlighted political and police callousness has shown results. Seven people have been held and the state chief secretary has claimed that the family is well protected by the police; all seven accused have been charge-sheeted.
If anything, the current rape case which rocked the state and grabbed national headlines has galvanised the moribund CPM. Since their defeat in 2011, the Left Front parties have failed to capitalize on the state government’s follies. During the last couple of years, serious public issues like the Park Street, Kamduni and Katwa rape cases, the illicit hooch tragedy that claimed 200 lives, irregularities in appointment of primary and school level teachers’ appointment and the state-created potato crisis have gone unchallenged. Their opposition has been at best a mere formality. "Neither the Left Front, nor any of their mass organizations have played the role of a genuine opposition party. They have not even spoken about the Sarada chit fund scam for the fear of some of their own people being involved,’’ points out analyst Tirthankar Acharya.
Now with Madhyamgram, the Leftists have woken up, albeit late. After the victim’s death, the CPM announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation even though the victim’s family turned down the offer. Says Mohit Randip, eminent social thinker: "As the victim’s father is a Left-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) member, Kolkata witnessed a huge rally. On other issues, the Left has been practically asleep."
Sunanda Sanyal, once a truly committed pro-paribartan (change) intellectual whose support for Mamata Banerjee proved a turning point in the 2011 assembly election, could barely hide his frustration. "The role of police in general and the attitude shown by the government is terrible.’’
In all this, Bengal’s civil society, including cricket icon Sourav Ganguly – normally not given to social commentary of any kind – have turned vocal. Demanding justice for the victim’s family, the former Indian cricket captain has criticized the government’s approach in tackling the Madhyamgram issue. It is important to remember that at the end of 2013, Ganguly was contacted by both BJP and state Congress with an offer of joining politics. So it’s quite clear that the powers arrayed against Mamata are gathering ground and strength.
Far from being repentant or sympathetic, Mamata’s battle appears to be spilling out of her state’s boundaries. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar jumped into the fray and pushed Mamata further against the wall. Kumar not just announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family, he personally contacted her father giving them assurances and every possible help if they wished to return to Samastipur.
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