Little Voices: December 2011

As written on 27/03/2010

Recently I went to Kolkata for an initiative of the channel that I work for. This initiative aims at instilling in small entrepreneurs to dream bigger and scale up.
The crowd assembled 15 minutes behind schedule. It was a good mix of bengalis and marwaris who wish to take their business to the next level.

We discussed the business scenario in Kolkata and though we wished to stay away from political and controversial matters like land acquisition; Singur is a topic that still perplexes the people of Bengal.

When Ratan Tata decided to make Bengal his hub for production of Nano, a lot of people within Bengal and outside had expressed their surprise and admiration for the changing social and economic stance of the government.

But what happened finally was that Singur turned into a bloody battle between peasants and the Tata Motors. Peasants accused Ratan Tata of trying to usurp their land with the help of the state government. Disillusioned Ratan Tata walked out of Bengal to the ever inviting entrepreneurial land of Gujarat.

The one golden chance that Bengal was getting to prove to India and world that they too want to participate in the progress of India was well lost.

Gujaratis, genetically engineered to be entrepreneurs rejoiced Nano coming to their state. I personally know of some Gujaratis walking up to their Bengali colleagues and offering them sweets and chiding, “Thank you so much. Had it not been for you, we would have never got Nano in our state.”

The reason I have brought this episode up at this juncture is because recently Kanu Sanyal died.

Kanu Sanyal was hailed as the naxalbari hero alongwith Charu Mazumdar. Charu Mazumdar died in police custody many years ago. Sanyal went into hiding.
Till the year 2006 Sanyal kept making news for being in custody, later being released at the behest of Jyoti Basu. He also lent his voice to the cause of Singur.
Meanwhile the naxalite movement had fallen apart and metamorphosed into the Maoist movement. Maoists or naxals who earlier were perceived as revolutionaries are now looked as terrorists.

In a scenario where the movement inspired by Mao Zedong was losing its relevance one would have expected Kanu Sanyal to step out and correct the vision. On the other hand he came to news for the last time for his suicide. This was the last headline he would make and the last statement too.

For someone who believed in the revolutionary trend of an armed uprising against capitalists and feudalism, death embraced in a noose is not just a reason to mourn the loss of a great revolutionary but also lament the loss of a cause.

Loneliness, failing health and a vision gone awry could have led to his suicide but those who are still inducted in this stream in either Kanu's name or for that matter Charu's name would never know what the fight was about.
For years Bengal has been caught in a time warp because of the outdated communist policies.

Most educated Bengalis loathe the current political and economic scenario of Bengal. In a capitalist world where India is not satisfied just being called the emerging economy, Bengal too wants its share of the pie.

Today when Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is trying to give Bengal a push towards economic liberalization, the voice of the past in the form of Kanu Sanyal going hush will lead to a Bengal that will stay divided between two ideologies.

Kanu Sanyal feared he had become irrelevant. He had not lost relevance; he could have been the bridge between the post Naxalism Bengal and post economic reforms Bengal. It’s a pity that the bridge gave away.