Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay | Push for Bengal’s division will be damaging for BJP

Leaders of the BJP wouldn’t have much time for one of India’s finest filmmakers, the late Mrinal Sen. Even if they would have interacted with him, I am not sure they would have heeded the advice he gave me over four decades ago. This goes back to a retrospective of his films way back in 1981-82 during the International Film Festival of India. Watching his films one after another with a friend, we spotted Sen during a break. Still students, we approached him with trepidation. But we found him to be a genial conversationalist. Seeing that, off the cuff I asked if we could interview him.

“Sure, why not”. Next morning we were in his hotel room and an engaging discussion on his films followed. As we were leaving, he asked about me, I being the Bengali in our duo. Hearing I was a “probashi” (non-resident Bengali), he advised: If I wanted to relate to the Bengali psyche, comprehending the deep impact of three episodes of history was essential: Partition of Bengal, the British attempt in 1905 and the subsequent tragic events of 1947; Bengal Famine of 1943; and Naxalbari and the related political turbulence of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Its obsession with history is not the BJP’s best kept secret. However, its interest is only with those episodes that can be used to recall Bharat’s “goldenness”, or if Muslims featured in them and could be depicted as villains. Of these three chapters of Bengal’s history, only the partition of Bengal, the rolled-back one in 1905-11 and the permanent division in 1947, had basis in the religious identity of people. This however, does not fit the Hindutva template of “usable” history: both episodes were seen as tragedies by people on both sides of the border. After over seven-and-a-half decades, the romanticised dream of reunion, the central theme of the Ritwik Ghatak classic, Komal Gandhar, no longer finds resonance. But the idea of an indivisible West Bengal is predominant in the state and any political leader can rake up the issue of another partition of the state only at grave political cost.

The BJP and its leaders have unmistakably not come to terms with the June 4 verdict, depriving them of a parliamentary majority and a not-so-small loss of 63 Lok Sabha seats. But, as the party has not conducted a methodical review of its declined performance and formulate corrective steps, individual leaders in various regions are presenting impromptu proposals which even they have not thought out, and certainly doesn’t have top-level sanction. Barely a fortnight ago, Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, in a clear rejection of inclusive politics, said the party has had enough of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, and instead the party’s new mantra should be to proclaim “Jo Hamare Saath, Hum Unke Saath”.

While Mr Adhikari, who doesn’t hold any party office besides being Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, issued a hasty “clarification” on his assertion, Sukanta Majumdar, now Union minister of state for education, called for North Bengal to be hived off and incorporated into the Northeast in a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He immediately publicised this demand and found ready support from Raju Bista, BJP MP from Darjeeling, who also alleged the region’s neglect by a succession of state governments.

Around the same time, another BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, demanded that parts of Jharkhand, along with Murshidababd and Malda districts in West Bengal, and Kishanganj and Katihar in Bihar, be declared a Union territory. A completely untenable demand because of the size of the proposed UT, he contended that this was required to deal with challenges posed by increasing number of “illegal immigrants from Bangladesh” (read Muslims) in the region, which, Mr Dubey argued, has led to a sizeable reduction of tribal populations. He claimed the tribal population in the Santhal Parganas declined from 36 per cent in 2000 to 26 per cent now. BJP Murshidabad MLA Gouri Shankar Ghosh also supported this demand. There might be some basis in Mr Dubey’s claim on the tribal population’s decline, but this can be precisely established and its causes, if true, can be studied, only if the much-delayed Census is done. His government however, is yet to show any eagerness in the exercise.

Nagendra Ray, another BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha, was put up by the party in July 2023 despite being a longtime advocate of carving out Cooch Behar from West Bengal. His alleges that the region’s development is tardy because South Bengal-based upper caste leaders pursue lopsided development policies.

After chief minister Mamata Banerjee threw a “dare” to the BJP to partition the state again, Mr Adhikari, clearly realising its political cost, issued a formal denial of any plan, saying this was not the party’s position. He however, flagged the deprivation of parts of North Bengal and asked the state government to allocate funds and projects like AIIMS or an IIT-like institution in the region beyond the “Chicken’s Neck” corridor.

There is some truth in each of the allegations levelled by various BJP leaders but the “solution” suggested will be politically suicidal for the party in other parts of West Bengal. Part of the problem is that in its efforts to win Assembly or Lok Sabha seats from this region, the party has been implicitly backing separatist sentiments. For instance, last July when deciding its first representative from West Bengal to the Rajya Sabha, the BJP chose Mr Ray, who was heading a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, which seeks statehood for the district. Social engineering was what the party had in mind because he is from the Rajbanshi community, or the Koch-Rajbanshis, who account for about 33 lakh of West Bengal’s population, according to the 2011 census. But politically this was an unwise decision as the BJP implicitly backed yet another partition of Bengal. The BJP should have learnt its lesson from this round of uncoordinated mis-statements by its leaders, eagerly looking solely at their political pie. But, for the ruling Trinamul Congress too, there are lessons that the success of the BJP in North Bengal has a lot to do with its failure to prioritise the development in this region. Even the issues raised by Mr Dubey may have some basis, but empirical data is required for a correct picture. It is time the BJP realised that the reluctance for diverse data, which would prevent it from whipping up the fear of the “other”, is counter-productive in the long run.