Maoists and their age-old enmity with the ruling CPI(M) in West Bengal have been providing fodder to Bengali newspapers for long.
Maoists and their age-old enmity with the ruling CPI(M) in West Bengal have been providing fodder to Bengali newspapers for long. Last fortnight was no different, when all leading regional dailies highlighted the “Maoist-sparked” tribal tension in Lalgarh.
What made the coverage more interesting was the spicy and contradictory presentation of the news by various newspapers as per their different policies.
For example, Aajkal, known for its leftist bend, placed as headlines the statements of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Lalgarh side by side in last Wednesday’s edition.
‘Where Trinamool sees violence, it says fantastic, go ahead: Chief minister’, and ‘Mamata at the agitation: I am there in Lalgarh, too’, were the “classics”.
The paper’s pro-Left presentation was as usual countered by the anti-CPI(M) Bartaman, which carried a series of reports to justify the Maoist movement in Lalgarh following alleged police excesses.
The series titled ‘Background story of Junglemahal (Lalgarh) shakeup’ had heart-wrenching stories with provocative headlines such as ‘Police torture sick brother to get hold of sister Suchitra (suspected Maoist activist)’.
To justify its stand on the issue, Bartaman carried several more such police torture stories.
The “unbiased” Anandabazar Patrika (ABP), again as usual, refrained from taking sides. It rather analysed the situation in detail, highlighting how vested political interests were creating hurdles in talks between tribal leaders and the West Midnapore district administration.
In fact ABP was the first to point out that a disgruntled section of Maoist leaders was responsible for the impasse. “One group of tribals calls for an end to the agitation. Another group persists and says the agitation will continue unless all demands are fulfilled”, were the opening lines of a report in the paper.
CPI(M) organ Ganashakti made all efforts to establish a link between Mamata and Maoists. ‘Maoists are cowards, Trinamool is supporting violence’, was a Ganashakti lead headline. It also carried a detailed report on how Lalgarh locals were uniting to end the Maoist-masterminded mayhem.
While Lalgarh divided Bengali dailies, Sourav Ganguly’s retirement united them. All four leading dailies almost took the same line in highlighting how the Maharaja of Kolkata fought odds to emerge successful again and again. “Even Don Bradman scored a duck in his last innings’, said ABP, Aajkal, Ganashakti and Bartaman in one voice.
r_sumanta@dnaindia.net
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