Streets on the boil: An open situation in West Bengal
The sweep of the protest is unprecedented. CM Banerjee has failed to strike a chord with the grieving colleagues of the doctor and Bengal’s angry citizenry.
The rape and murder of a young female junior doctor and the tragedy, intrigues, and controversies around the incident are by now well-known. This was not the first time that such tragedy has (delete) happened in Bengal or elsewhere in the country but this time the persistent programme of protest by the junior doctors’ community in Kolkata in the wake of the gruesome incident of July 9 quickly spread to other towns of the state, drawing in people from other sections of society, different political parties, and particularly massive numbers of women into the vortex of agitation.
The streets of Kolkata have exploded. Literally.
Trainee doctors backed by senior doctors, students, young women, and artists from the entertainment industry have taken the lead. In suburbs and small towns from north to the south echoes of protests and condemnation have been heard. Peaceful protests, continuing through the month of August, have gained momentum and have pushed the government to the wall.
While chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a voluble person, is mostly silent, ruling party leaders, senior ministers and party rank and file have been baffled by the rapid developments.
But the government has failed to give an effective response to the cry for justice; Banerjee’s statements have mostly been rejected by protesters, at times with disdain. An atmosphere of policy paralysis prevails in the corridors of power. The government seems hopeful that the storm of protest will blow over after some time, and then, hopefully, it will return to normalcy.
But there is no sign that what the government feels is normal will return. The sweep of the protest is unprecedented. Banerjee has failed to strike a chord with the grieving colleagues of the murdered doctor and the angry people of Bengal. Populists are seen as harbouring corruption, ruling the state on the basis of local fiefdoms, and uttering empty homilies. And, now Banerjee is being seen as a leader with no capacity to find a way out of the impasse except perhaps declaring another welfare programme and promising that the administration will be tightened.
Meanwhile, the streets of Kolkata are now occupied by militant feminists, groups of youth and students, cultural performers, volunteers for all seasons, political adventurers, various party leaders and followers, curious onlookers, and hundreds of ordinary people who think that they too can strengthen the cry for justice. Some are saying that they are claiming the night; some are occupying roads and street junctions, and some have held dharnas.
In the violent march to Nabanna on August 27, police and protesters were seen arguing with each other with the police trying to reason with the latter, pacify them, and calm frayed nerves. Authorities cannot ride roughshod over the protests, and neither can they respond with just another welfare initiative. Meanwhile, calls for the chief minister's resignation have sharpened. Opposition parties want to go for the jugular with the Left and the BJP are trying to figure out the right tactics.
At one level, this urban condition is unique. The upsurge of sentiment and emotion, massive mobilisations of people, occupation of streets turning the latter into spaces of resistance, solidarity with doctors who symbolise care, and the feeling among thousands of oneness with the violated and murdered young junior lady doctor – all these constitute a great experience of counter-conduct. It is affective politics at its best, driven by society's cathartic urge.
In a broader sense, it indicates something fundamental. In the post-Covid era, the mobilisation of women in uncounted numbers, protesting for the two principles of care and solidarity, signifies new politics. The nature of this new politics is still not clear except that it is biopolitical in nature. There is an intense physicality in the incident — violation of the body, protest, mobilisation, and occupation. In that sense, the nature of the new politics is still grey. However, it certainly carries the sense of a counter-power.
Before we close, two critical aspects of this projected journey to power must be noted.
First, the situation looks much like the Bangladesh situation where students led a month-long agitation with the government finally surrendering power. The similarities are eerie: the same endless mobilisation, the same motley nature of assemblies with political forces merging with furious demonstrators, heightening the tempo, and accelerating the pace of movement, a free run for the social media, a continuous narrowing of demands converging on the resignation of the prime minister (in Bangladesh) or chief minister (in West Bengal), and most importantly young students and interns leading the unrest with shrewd brains behind.
However, here the similarities end. In Bengal, the police are remarkably restrained in spite of provocations, the government by and large quiet, ruling party cadres asked to remain silent, and the government still holds loyalty among the poorer classes. After all, it is an overwhelmingly middle-class movement or at least a middle-class-led movement.
But the situation is very much fluid. Still, make no mistake, a new model of capturing political power is being tested: It comprises a social platform, an open and fluid situation, hyper-active social media, affective politics, and organised political forces. These could blend into a strong opposition.
Second, women have formed the front brigade in this battle. The issue of women’s safety in the workplace has struck a chord with millions. The government is being criticised and condemned for downplaying the anxiety of millions of working women. Ironically the protest is happening in a state where the ruling party, the Trinamool Congress, for nearly 15 years has been in power on a strong pro-women platform.
Clearly, such an open situation may end in a neoliberal solution to the crisis or in a come down by the government where it offers an apology to the society, makes amends and learns the lessons.
While the deadlock will be resolved in the days ahead, populist rule in West Bengal has suffered a loss of popular trust; it also reflects an ethical deficit. Populist politics, for now, has reached its limits. It will be difficult for the populists to any more lead the state with imagination, innovation, and confidence, irrespective of whether Banerjee is able to lead her party to another election victory.
Ranabir Samaddar holds the distinguished chair in Migration and Forced Migration Studies, Calcutta Research Group. The views expressed are personal
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