The Mamata Banerjee government has just completed six months in power. But, the fissure within its close support base surfaced toda, when a group of artistes and intellectuals led by writer-activist Mahasweta Devi lambasted the government for allegedly stifling the dissenting voice in the society.
Criticizing the government for it’s seemingly intolerance towards dissenting voice, Mahasweta Devi told on Monday that the right to express one’s opinion was protected even in the Left Front government’s time. She tersely commented, “The change was made possible because the democratic freedom was there. Have we invited fascism in its place? This is nothing but fascism.”
The chief minister was prompt in reply. “Age is telling on Mahaswetadi. I am hurt by her comments,” she responded. At the same time she tersely observed, “Mahaswetadi could voice her concerns because we have democracy here.”
A number of pro-TMC artistes and intellectuals including Mahasweta Devi, poet Shankho Ghosh, film maker Aparna Sen, writer Suchitra Bhattacharjee, stage personality Koushik Sen, singer Pratul Mukhopadhyay and few others issued statements condemning the government’s decision to withhold permission for holding public rally by Association For Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) at Metro Channel in the heart of Kolkata. Significantly, these artists and intellectuals were in the forefront in protests against the Left Front government’s ham handed treatment towards the peasants of Singur and Nandigram, and their protests lent voice to the opposing masses which ultimately brought down the Left from power. Since then they were steadfastly behind the new government. This is the first occasion when they came in the open against the Mamata Banerjee government when APDR was denied a permission to hold rally at Kolkata.
Earlier the APDR had applied for and got permission from the police for holding sit-in demonstration and hunger strike on November 23-24 there. The APDR took up the programme to demand release of political prisoners. Subsequently, the permission was withdrawn by the police without showing any reason.
Irked by this “undemocratic attitude” of the government, Mahasweta Devi told a press meet organized by the APDR that she could never imagine that a popular government would resort to this kind of anti-people measure. People have the right to voice their concerns from Metro Channel. The government’s decision to gag voice of protest is condemnable. In a signed statement Sankho Ghosh observed that this attempt to gag the voice of dissent was indicative of disastrous days for democracy. Kabir Suman, the TMC MP and ‘enfant terrible’ of his party, observed that Metro Channel had been marked as the place to hold demonstration and protest rally in Kolkata. “Even Mamata Banerjee herself had held hunger strike for more than three weeks at Metro Channel in the past. As am ordinary citizen, I protest the police decision,” said Kabir Suman.
An angry Mamata reacted immediately. Even before the APDR’s press conference was over, the chief minister started addressing the waiting media at Writers’ Building. For her, “the issue was of little or no importance.” She tried to deflect the charge of denying the permission to APDR by saying that they were offered alternative places to hold their programme.
But immediately, she changed gear and said that “APDR is not a democratic organization, it is a mask of the Maoists.” Regarding the protest voiced by her own party MP Kabir Suman, she said that it was her grave mistake to get him elected to parliament. She did not realize that Kabir Suman was an ardent supporter of the Maoists. She stressed the point that her government’s view was that no one will be allowed to glorify the Maoists from Kolkata.