Kolkata on Fire

There was hardly anything special about the Wednesday morning till about 10am that would help anticipate a most bloody day in the history of the city of joy. Most of the common men ventured for work, school, college and so on unaware of the one to one and a half hours 'chakka Bandh'( wheel strike) called about by the All India Minority forum on 21st November 2007. In fact over the last eleven months the frequency of strikes, halts and bandhs in Kolkata have increased so much that such announcements like a few hours' traffic halt gets lost in the pages of the average Kolkatans mind.

We are fatigued for being stopped time and again, for the protest against- god-knows-what thrust on us time and again, we are disillusioned, and in fact almost voiceless. We are the ordinary residents of Bengal who are remembered only before elections and for the rest of the period, remain mere tools in the hands of the political parties- the ruling as well as the opposition to carry out their agendas. We have the votes but no representation.

There's no one group of people, no one person, no one view that I am writing against here. It is as a whole, a reflection on the sorry state of things. Bandhs have become as much a part of Kolkata's heritage as the Victoria Memorial! The residents, tourists- no one can escape it.
On the 12th November'07-Bandh, called by SUCI, BJP, Trinamul Congress, while interacting with a tourist from Hyderabad I came to know his flight was at 2.30 pm and there he was at the airport, sitting from 6.30 am in the morning because he had been warned by the locals that if he didn't reach the airport early in the morning, during the day he would get no transportation means to reach the domestic airport at DumDum from where he had put up! And this is no special incident that I am reporting. On any given 'bandh' day the picture is very much the same. The News Channels showcase such reports through the day and muse on how successful or unsuccessful the bandh was and try to gauge its over all effects. For most of the ordinary men though, the bandh remains an unasked for public holiday and for the city a shameful paralysis.

A bandh is a form of protest for sure. By making the activities come to a stand still it is a political tool to demonstrate opposition against any issue but then, you cant force a person to join your protest! But bandhs do exactly that. If the ordinary man does not go out on a bandh it has little to do with his support for th cause and more to do with the fact that he is scared he might face violence, troubles and so on if he dares to venture out. So what kind of protest is a Bandh in its current form??

Just a mere oppression to counter oppression?!

And today's Bandh was an even worse affair. In the name of peaceful protest if did not only paralyze Kolkata but charred its heart. We have seen, heard, encountered what was going on in the city for hours at stretch. The press, the police, the public were attacked by violent groups of people and no group is ready to identify themselves with this rowdy violent mob and yet certain people like Idrish Ali of All India Minority Forum claim on Tv that such 'public uprising' was inevitable following the state government's recommendation for extending Taslima Nasreen's Visa. He is ready to take up the issue but not ready to take the blame for cretaing such miserable upheveal in the city during its peak hours. He is bothered about the fact that the men from his group who were a part of the 'peaceful protest' were arrested by the police and 'ill-treated' but he has nothing more than a mouthful of 'sympathy' for the several school children who remained stuck in their schools way past their school time hungry and terrified!

The Trinamul Congress leader Ms. Mamata Banerjee has said that all the calamity that happened on 21st November was due to the Rizwanur case and Nandigram and yes, like always se has identified her opposition to have given reason for such a violent 'protest'. The CPM on its part has put the blame on 'irresponsible leadership' for the same incident. So the larger picture is the cliche blame game that goes on each time in the name of democracy. I do not however understand what kind of democracy it is to protest against a writer's take on anything- even if her subject is religion. Truth is interpretative. One may or may not like what Nasreen writes but why should one be violent to her? It is her view, her book, and her legal right to ask for the extension of her stay. If she has criticised Islam or certain aspects of it, it is completely her take on it. Today if I say something is 'bad' it is my view, it might not be 'bad' at all but that is for the readers to decide. Why forcefully curb the writer's aesthetic freedom?

Then again, as ordinary residents of Kolkata are we such fools to buy the fact that all the people in the mon who were protesting, throwing stones, putting cars to fire, damaging vehicles, blocking roads had indeed read 'Dwikhandita' and has been so enraged? Or for that matter by doing what they did, what were they trying to prove? Other than disillusioning the already weary Kolkatans and threatening the common man for a few hours and disturbing the public life there was not much that was proved or even that could be proved??

When faced with such rhetorics the people in power have two things to say in different words and phrases each time though. The synopsis comes down to 'it was unfortunate' and 'we suspect some ploy of...'. The ruling party, the opposition all have the same thing to say. Thus the larger picture remains the same.

On 21st November the protest was more violent than any imagined in recent times in Kolkata and almost all our lives have been violently affected by it. I personally know people in my friends and family circle who have suffered adversely. Reaching home from school, college, work was made near impossible and even people at homes were plagued by anxiety. It was like a forest fire spreading fast, just that it was happening in a concrete forest that has sucked all the juices of greenery from the human conscience long time back. And these private tragedies of anxiety and in worse cases, damage, injury or even death too are very familiar. They remain the same too.

In Bengal today despite repeated trials the political tools of bandhs, strikes and protests are used and abused time and again doing little more than harassment and finding place in the Headlines on next mornings. Over the years the work culture of the city has been hampered due to the same and even peace and prosperity is eroding fast. It is regress. While voting the choice that the Bengali adult makes in the ballot is between bad and worse. So it is not just a picture of the reign of the ruling party, there is hardly any better option to counter the government that people would elect in any case! In fact many parties that hardly call for Bandhs elsewhere in India exploit the Bandh culture of Bengal.

Protesting which is a legal right, happens here without keeping in mind the duties that come with it. Its forceful and deterring creating more trouble than solving them.

We are proud to have a brewing 'intellectual and politically aware' as well as opinionated Bengalis in Kolkata but then what is the use of such awareness and intellectual and political forces if it leads to Curfews in the city as it happened on 21st november. Kolkata has been torn, dissected and fresh wounds inflicted on it again and again. The youth is fleeing from the dying city to ensure sustenance for no industry or work can floursih in this soil any more.

The recent history of Bengal is written in blood. Lets stop battling over whose blood it is- a poor peasant's or a policeman's- as long as it is blood that's pouring it is as bad and violent.

These flames of protest are hardly igniting conscience, they are only consuming the city and its soul. Whatever the issue is, whoever is behind it, we know a thing for certain- we are suffering.