Police crackdown on Jadavpur University: One mistake too many by Mamata Banerjee’s government?

There is an old saying in Bengali about how getting in the bad books of the police can be more harmful than falling prey to a tiger. But of late, the police in West Bengal have proved to be more fatal to their masters than their ‘prey’. Just like police excesses in Nandigram became a focal point for the mass movement against the Left government, the police apathy at Jadavpur University can become an important milestone in the currently rudderless protest against the Mamata Banerjee government.

There are contradictory versions about what exactly led to the police lathicharge and brutal assault of the protesting students. While the truth in such events often gets lost in the collective noise of the media and brazen politisation by relevant stakeholders, what is very evident from the video footage available is that the police resorted to strong arm techniques which are completely reprehensible and deserve to be condemned unequivocally.  

Even assuming that the students were not ready to cooperate, the police shouldn’t have resorted to such a brazen attack. They were also allegedly aided by thugs belonging to the ruling party who, according to the students, even molested protesting girls. All this eerily reminds us of the fag end of the Left rule, when often the not-so-fine line between party cadres and police used to get breached. It was a time when there was collective disenchantment against the Left government and the wise men of CPI(M) had no answer for it. Thus, they resorted to the easiest trick in the book - muzzling dissent. The 24/7 media played the shots ad-nauseam and the anger converted into a raging cyclone of fury.

The same script is being repeated all over again. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), unlike the Left, is only in its first term. Its electoral performance has been fairly overwhelming so far. But over the last year, the chinks in the armour have got exposed. Mamata Banerjee who was known as a “satatar pratik” (symbol of honesty) is now facing the heat in the Saradha scam. Everyday, newspaper headlines scream about the possibility of top TMC leaders being hauled up by the CBI. Industrialisation has virtually come to a standstill despite all the tall claims. Internal party squabbling has reached an alarming level. At this juncture, the BJP has suddenly come up rapidly to add to the woes of Mamata Banerjee. The writing on the wall is ominous for didi. Her advances to her arch-rival Left in a recent interview was not an off the cuff remark. It was a statement apprehending the future scenario.

The Left though, is unlikely to fall for that bait anytime soon. It may be down, but certainly not out, still enjoying a rich support base among the intellectual class of the state. It will fully try to leverage the incident at the Jadavpur University to get back into the public imagination. Just last year there was an unfortunate incident of the death of SFI student leader Sudipto Gupto who was allegedly thrown down from a moving vehicle by the police. The Left tried to make it a major issue, but did not succeed. Mamata Banerjee outraged the civil society then by branding it as a petty matter. In 2013, goons belonging to the ruling party attacked Presidency University and ransacked a century-old laboratory. There was a pretty similar uproar, but the matter died down eventually.

But for Mamata Banerjee, this is a crucial juncture. Far often than not her actions have been woefully short in controversial issues. From the Park Street rape case to arresting a professor for sharing cartoons, she has tried to simply ignore public opinion. But with increasing dissent, the marginal utility of TMC’s strong arm techniques is decreasing rapidly. There have been numerous incidents where people allegedly belonging to the students’ wing of TMC have been accused of leading violent protests in different colleges. The police often remained mute spectators in those instances. Hence the question arises, why did the men in uniform lose their cool and resort to such brutality when an apparently peaceful protest was going on in the JU campus? The only plausible answer is that the top leadership has lost the ability to convey their message to the youth and middle class. Hence, the police is used and goons sent with them to provide “covering fire”.

The only way forward for Mamata Banerjee to recover from this situation is to launch an impartial probe in the matter. The state should ensure that all the accused, if found guilty, should be given a proper punishment. There shouldn’t be any cover-up. Also, the practice of appointing heads of universities who have distinct party loyalties has to be abhorred. It is again a legacy of the Left raj, but something which needs to be dispensed with at once. Universities need to be a melting pot of free ideas, not a laboratory of imposing beliefs. The only saving grace for didi as of now is that there is no united opposition or any prominent face who can challenge her. But politics throws up strange equations and scenarios. The act of taking ordinary people for granted and rewarding only the faithful will backfire sooner than later. Meanwhile, JU students have coined a hashtag  #hokkolorob on social media forums which literally means "let’s make noise". The spontaneous rally organised to condemn the heinous incident saw an impressive footfall. The noise is getting louder. Will those sitting in ivory towers care to listen?