Kolkata: Earlier this week, in Cooch Behar’s Gitaldaha, two senior Trinamool Congress leaders were shot dead. Bengal’s ruling party has accused Union Minister of State Nisith Pramanik. Pramanik has, meanwhile, claimed that one of those who died is an international criminal. Amidst fear and heightened tensions, TMC leaders have reached north Bengal.
Elections in Bengal have always seen violence, to the point where the loss of lives has become a constant with every electoral exercise.
The state has a long history of fierce political rivalries and party cadres are mobilised often in clashes.
Since the announcement of the Panchayat elections, 11 lives have been claimed in incidents of violence that were allegedly political in nature.
Political violence during election seasons is such a given now, that many government employees are learned to have begun filing nominations themselves simply to avoid being assigned poll duties due to the risks associated with such duties.
In Birbhum district, a hotbed of violence, independent candidates outnumber political party candidates in quite a few blocks. A local Trinamool Congress leader points out, “In a closely fought election, spoiling one or two votes can change the result. We wanted to understand why they are contesting elections. We found out that all the independent candidates are school teachers. They told us that because they don’t want to become poll workers, they have filed papers. They will neither campaign nor solicit votes.”
School teacher Rajkumar Roy, who was appointed presiding officer at the last Panchayat polls in the district of Uttar Dinajpur, had been vocal about security concerns and irregularities throughout the polling process. Soon after voting ended, he went missing. His body was later discovered in Sonadingi in Raiganj, which was around 20 km away from his assigned post in the Itahar block. While the police initially classified it as a case of suicide, locals demanded justice, alleging that he was kidnapped and murdered.
Rajkumar’s wife, Arpita, had filed complaint at the local police station and subsequently approached the Calcutta high court. The case is still going on.
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The state government meanwhile provided Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the family and offered Arpita a job in the District Magistrate’s office. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the family that the government would take responsibility of the education of their children – something that this reporter found is yet to be realised.
Arpita, meanwhile, does not wish to talk about politics ever again.
This time, in the same district, there has been more fatal violence.
Around 200 km from Raiganj, in Gendagach village in Chopra, 21-year-old Manjur Alam was on his way to file nomination as a CPI(M) candidate. The rally came under attack from a group who are believed to be TMC supporters. The attack was brutal and nine people are still undergoing treatment of grievous injuries. Manjur died.
Manjur’s family are tea garden labourers. They have been robbed of words at his death. “In the morning, he came to me prancing like a deer, and said this was the first time he was going to be voting for himself because he had been chosen to be his party’s candidate. He asked for our blessings,” his mother Arjuna Khatun said.
Manjur had a meal with his family and then left with party flags and friends. He returned in a coffin.
Arjuna said she wanted justice for the people who had killed her son.
Manjur Alam’s body is taken for burial. Photo: By arrangement.
While the 2018 Panchayat election in West Bengal witnessed a distressing surge in violence, making it one of the bloodiest elections in recent times, incidents like the above do not bode well for this election either. The toll of poll-related violence in 2018 had amounted to 30. Twelve people had died on the day of the election itself.
In Nowda of Murshidabad, Shaheen Sheikh, a relative of an independent candidate, was fatally shot allegedly by Trinamool workers. The incident took place at the Patikabari Basic Primary School, where Sheikh had attempted to prevent something known as a “booth capture” – a complete takeover of a polling booth by workers of a political party.
Six years have passed but Sheikh’s widow continues to navigate the aftermath of this devastating event.
Trinamool Congress’s state spokesperson, Kunal Ghosh, told The Wire, “In every instance where party workers have lost their lives, the party stands by the families, with full support and will continue to do so in each case.
Meanwhile, Sujan Chakraborty, a member of the CPI(M)’s Central Committee, stated, “We involve the people and provide them assistance. Initially, there is a financial aid followed by arrangements to educate their children. However, we don’t have the power to magically produce huge sums of money.”
On the eve of the 2018 panchayat polls, 18-year-old Dipankar Das returned home at night to discover the charred remains of his parents, Debu and Usha Rani, in their burnt-down house in Kakdwip of the South 24-Parganas.
The couple were well-known supporters of the CPI(M). After a five-day struggle and in compliance with a court order, the police were eventually compelled to release the corpses to Dipankar.
“We immediately filed a complaint with the police. We also provided the names of the suspected individuals who we believed were responsible for this horrific act. However, to our surprise, the local police brushed aside our allegations and bizarrely claimed it was the case of an accident. I specifically made complaints against local Trinamool Congress leaders,” Dipankar said.
Orphaned overnight, Dipankar moved to Kolkata and four years and a few months later, on September 28, achieved a significant milestone by obtaining an LLB degree from a private law college in the North 24-Parganas, with a score of 81%. Earlier this year, Dipankar argued his own parents’ case when the Calcutta high court ordered a fresh probe.
(Left) Dipankar Das with the portraits of his parents, who were killed in 2018, ahead of the Bengal panchayat election. (Right) Dipankar, now. Photos: By arrangement
There are older scars.
On the day of the 2013 panchayat polls in Madhudanga booth of Churulia in Paschim Bhardhaman district. Manowara Bibi, a candidate from the CPI(M), was present inside the booth while her husband, Sheikh Hasmat, waited outside. An armed group, allegedly affiliated with the Trinamool Congress, threw a bomb in an attempt to capture the booth. Hasmat, a well-known political activist, lost his life on the spot. The news of his death led to an enraged mob attacking the Trinamool camp. In the ensuing clash, Rajkumar Koda, the husband of local Trinamool worker Geeta, also lost his life.
Manwara won the election. “The joy of winning was lost with the loss of my husband. However, the party stood by me that day. They collected donations and deposited the money as a fixed deposit, and the interest is being utilised. My son has now grown up. He works in a private firm. I am still associated with the party. The ruling party has put pressure to manage the case, but I won’t back down,” Manwara said.
Also read: How Women Are Bearing the Brunt of Post-Poll Violence in West Bengal
Rajkumar Koda’s widow Geeta later was elected as a councillor of Asansol Municipality as Trinamool Congress representative. They come from a relatively well-off family and did not have to struggle financially after losing her husband. But the grief of losing her husband still haunts her. “Winning or losing in vote does not matter. The price of human life is too valuable,” she said.
They might be bitter rivals, but Manwara and Geeta are united in their pain.
“When I hear the word ‘vote,’ a shiver runs down my spine. Once again, I wonder how many families will be sacrificed. What purpose does it serve to take lives and seize power?” Manwara asked.
In Malda’s Bulbulchandi, the CPI(M) candidate is artist Pulak Sarkar. During the day Sarkar draws campaign slogans for Trinamool’s Bibek Singh and BJP’s Vikram Singh – they may be his rivals but painting is his livelihood.
“I finance my campaign by drawing for my rivals,” laughs Sarkar.
In Bulbulchandi, at least, whoever wins, there is no possibility of a clash.
Translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.