#dnaEdit: Politics shamed

Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal’s horrifying threats of rape and violence against CPI(M) cadres and their families is a moment for West Bengal to reflect on the transformation that the Trinamool promised after 34 years of uninterrupted Left Front rule. The beneficiaries of the huge electoral backlash against the Left have quickly forgotten that the violence unleashed by CPM cadres was its undoing. Rather than heal the wounds of a violent society, the Trinamool has also trod down the same path in browbeating its opponents with muscle-power and machismo. Pal’s graphic and reprehensible statements, meant to stoke fear, instill the image of a strongman among his workers, and perhaps titillate too, show the limits of his politics. But clearly, such a person can have no legitimacy to continue in politics. His presence in the new Lok Sabha, whenever it gets down to renewing the political discourse on gender violence and women’s safety, would in itself make a mockery of the discussion.

From pitching itself as a combative opposition in 1997, rising in stature to become a credible political alternative by 2006-07 to the historic victory of 2011, the Trinamool Congress is in danger of frittering away its goodwill faster than its steady rise to power. Notwithstanding party leader Derek O’Brien’s strong remarks against Pal, Mamata Banerjee’s studied silence and the party’s failure to act — till now — is untenable.

Unlike countries where similar statements have led to political careers folding up or elections lost, Indian politicians enjoy an unacceptable immunity in terms of public accountability. In March, the winning Trinamool candidate from Ghatal, Dipak Dev, also an actor like Pal, had likened contesting Lok Sabha elections to rape, and then saying “you can shout, or you can enjoy”. The incredible latitude towards such remarks by public servants is also a pointer to societal attitudes about gender and sexual violence. Tolerance is slanted in favour of the perpetrators and gender violence stands trivialised — best exemplified by Mulayam Singh’s “boys will be boys” remark — while victims become unwitting objects of blame and derision.

For Mamata, who has nurtured several celebrities from popular culture in her darbar without regard for their political credentials, it is time to take stock of her politics. While she has rightly focussed attention on the state’s economic revival, her stances on political violence and sexual assault have been problematic. Her penchant for sniffing a CPI(M) or a Central government conspiracy in every controversy has run out of currency. Her political constituency comprises many who took a momentous leap of faith when they turned their backs on the Left Front. Mamata offers them neither ideological convictions nor does she have the luxury of cultivating votebanks, making Trinamool vulnerable to a decisive away-shift. The 16.8 per cent vote-share garnered by the BJP suggests a rising tide of public opinion that threatens to marginalise the Left further and pose a challenge to Trinamool. But the Trinamool’s political response to this challenger has already been overshadowed by the street violence against BJP cadre. As far as strategies go, this is a mistake and Mamata should be the first to realise it. As a woman Chief Minister, with age and popular appeal still on her side, Mamata must decisively intervene to stem Bengal’s socio-political slide. Tapas Pal may apologise, but by acting against him Mamata will be sending out a larger message to her party and society at large.