Most of the rightwingers have been speculating that the central government is planning to impose president’s rule in West Bengal going by the actions taken by Governor Jagdeep Dhankar following post-poll violence in the state.
Dhankar has visited Cooch Behar and Ranpagli in neighbouring Assam where people had taken shelter owing to the violence.
He has also embarked on a second trip to North Bengal to assess the law and order situation. Before charting out this trip, Dhankar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah twice in Delhi.
During the first meeting, he is believed to have briefed Amit Shah about the law and order situation in the state. He also made courtesy calls to President Ram Nath Kovind and National Human Rights Commission chairperson Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra.
Before flying to Delhi, Dhankar had written a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that she has been silent over post-poll violence in and has not taken steps to rehabilitate and compensate the suffering people.
He also called on Leader of Opposition in state assembly Suvendu Adhikari, seeking his intervention to stop the post-poll violence and violation of human rights in the state.
Later, in an interview to Indian Express, Dhankar made a striking remark. He said democracy was taking its last breath in West Bengal and has become a laboratory of violence. The police are not filing FIRs against perpetrators.
Under these circumstances, where should the common man go to seek justice? And certainly, the Governor is not a showpiece to remain silent, when women are being raped by a special community, and the enforcement machinery and chief minister are maintaining an ostrich-like silence.
One may ask out of anger “what the hell, after all, is happening?” Is Bengal turning into Kashmir? Because, the Hindus are being chased out by a special community with the help of Bangladeshi jihadis just as they had chased them out of Kashmir with the help of Pakistani jihadis.
Shouldn’t the central government solve the West Bengal puzzle, just as it had very well solved the decades old Jammu and Kashmir tangle?
But, what are the options before the central government?
Imposing the President’s rule? President’s rule isn’t a good idea, because after six months the Muftis and the Abdullahs, used to ride back to power in Kashmir. A similar possibility of Mamata Banerjee romping home cannot be ruled out.
Then, is the division of West Bengal a remedy? Looks like, when one considers Dhankar’s second visit to North Bengal areas, where maximum post-poll violent incidents happened.
First of all, granting Union Territory to North Bengal will solve security issues in the area which is surrounded by four international borders, including China, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
The Doklam dispute between India, China and Bhutan had reiterated and reestablished the importance of the Siliguri Corridor (North Bengal) in the national security framework. There always is a danger of China bypassing and dropping Special Forces to choke the corridor and cut off Northeast India.
Any disruption there may bring entire Northeast India to the brink of scarcity, as it is primarily dependent on the rest of the country for essential food items.
But, as of now, the matter of importance is to maintain law and order in the area, and the best way to do it, is to grant Union Territory status to North Bengal, which will come under the direct control of the central government and deny Mamata Banerjee play her “Game Of Thrones.”