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Behind the Kolkata violence

The disturbances in Kolkata, which necessitated the deployment of the Army, have all the markings of violence for violence’s sake. Disparate elements protesting over unrelated issues went on the rampage — taking advantage of an obscurantist demonstration called by a small and otherwise insignificant group, the All India Minority Forum, which had set up roadblocks demanding cancellation of the visa granted to the Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. Although Musl im fundamentalists have for long been opposed to her activities, the extension of her visa was certainly not an explosive issue in West Bengal politics. After all, Ms. Nasreen has been based in Kolkata for the past few years, and her visa was last extended for another six months in August 2007. It was the inclusion of Nandigram in the protest agenda, almost as an afterthought, that set the stage for a blow-up. The AIMF leaders lost control of the agitation as unorganised groups joined the roadblock programme and began attacking passing vehicles and police personnel. Nandigram and the visa seemed mere excuses for the protestors, whose collective intention was clearly to provoke the security forces and make a bloody battlefield of Kolkata.

The West Bengal government did well to call in the Army quickly to defuse the situation, as the agitation was in danger of taking on communal overtones. State Governments usually shy away from seeking the services of the Army, perceiving such recourse as an indirect admission of an inability to maintain law and order. Many of the landowners involved in the Nandigram agitation are Muslims, and the already politicised issue, now yoked with the Taslima Nasreen controversy, could have morphed into a communally coloured conflict with the potential to spread across a larger area. The deployment of the Army ensured the speedy restoration of normality. It also denied opposition parties any room to accuse the State police of acting, or not acting, in politically partisan ways. Wednesday’s incidents should not be allowed to cloud the issues of resettlement in Nandigram or visa approval for Taslima Nasreen. Left Front chairman and CPI(M) leader Biman Basu certainly sent out the wrong signal to fundamentalists when he said the Bangladesh writer must leave Kolkata if her stay disturbed the peace; it is good that he has retracted his statement overnight. Secular and progressive India must abandon its vacillation and stand firmly behind Ms. Nasreen, who was a target of physical attack by Muslim fundamentalists in Hyderabad in August. She is hounded by religious fanatics in her own country — and it will be a shame if India turns her away under pressure from religious bigots.

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