This post is a homage to the efforts of
numerous BJP workers and RSS Karyakartas who worked for the cause of the
organization under very hostile circumstances over a ten year period between
1985-1995.
This post is not a chronology of facts of the
decade that I mention , it is some interesting perspectives that I gathered
from my husband Niladri who was himself a BJP supporter, an observer of Bengal
politics and also a worker with the party during this period.
The period that I am talking was an era of
absolute stranglehold of the Left Front in Bengal . This stranglehold on every
aspect of civil society which was largely causal to the intellectual and moral
decay of Bengal .
The frontal organizations of the CPIM (ABTA ,
DYFI , SFI , CITU et al ),had a total monopoly over education , labor and the so
called intelligentsia of the state. The state technically was politically bipolar,
which meant a direct political contest between the INC and the Left , however
on the ground , beyond the city of Calcutta , INC had limited presence ,
barring an ABA Gani Khan Chaudhuri who was the only credible source of
resistance outside Calcutta to the Left juggernaut . The Red cadre tolerated no
dissent and treated anybody who had divergent political views as enemies ,
something many years later Mamata Banerjee seems to have replicated .
Atrocities on opposition workers were never reported (partly because of a
complete black out of the press and party due to the lack of social media or
internet as a medium of protest)
In this context a few brave hearts attempted
to break the stranglehold by holding their ideals dear to their lives. These
brave hearts were ordinary workers of the party and the RSS. Jeered
continuously and socially ostracized these young men and women took it on
themselves to build the party in the land of its founders. RSS sakhas were
stoned by CPM men ,pracharakswere not allowed to function but the band of merry
men would not vacate their post
In this context it is important to recognize
the pathological block of the Bengali intellectual towards what he or she
brands as communal politics and identified the Sanghparivar as a protagonist of
the same . Groups of ill- informed men spend hours debating on the rise of the proletariat
in their addas across Bengal , eulogizing the icons of the Left who were
engaged in destroying the work culture and industry in Bengal , leaving the
average Bengali jobless . Industries were made unviable and the militant CITU
under the garb of championing worker rights destroyed all industries worth
mentioning
The
Elections of 1989
The General Elections of 1989 was a very
special moment for Niladri. He campaigned as a worker in Calcutta and other parts
of Bengal. Threatened by CPM goons and jeered by Leftist intellectuals he held
his ground and passionately recounted to me what he calls electoral success in
Bengal in two seats:Jangipur where Dhananoy Das polled 11/5 % and the famous
Shantilal Jain polling 7.4% in Calcutta North West. When he used to narrate
this instances to me after our marriage I would find these stats hilarious, how
could somebody take pride in being member of an also ran party.
Little did I realise that in the context of
Bengal politics , it was indeed a material development
The
Party and Its challenges
The challenge of the growth and the
consequential electoral success of the party had nothing to do with the agenda
of the people who ran the party. It had more to do with the social fabric of
Bengal , which had erroneously lead itself to believe that its emancipating lay
in agitating against “something” , often this “something” was the Centre and
its policies . A culture of agitationist politics had become part of Bengals
psyche. This automatically lead to externalizing its problems and the ability
to reflect and grow as people was consequently stunted. The death of Bengal had
truly set in …..the world had moved on , Communism had been dealt a death blow
by multiple people movements across Europe , but Bengal was unmoved .
A social paralysis of this kind could not be
broken through in any meaningful way , and the party continued to languish
politically . In the surface of it BJP in Bengal did not exist, its obituary
had been written multiple times over …..in these troubled times , our brave
hearts held the fort and convinced themselves and the motley group of
supporters that “Acche Din” would come to Bengal .
I salute those unnamed men and women who held
their own , when there was no chance for the party to see political power in
the foreseeable future .It is their guts and gumption that has taken us thus
far and will bear political fruit in 2016
In
conclusion
Niladri left Bengal in 1996 and has since
been disassociated from mainstream politics
( though he plans to join the party back soon ..) he had one wish for
his homestate , a Bengal free of the Communists , Mamata delivered it to him ,
but to his dismay she delivered something equally grotesque . He believes that
the time for the BJP in Bengal has truly come and prays for its success, in
doing so he fondly remembers his fellow workers who kept
the saffron flag flying for decades
Jai Hind
Sona Chakraborty
Salute to Niladri and many such unsung heroes. Bande Maataram.
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