In Bengal, the joy of paribartan is over

Act like a man! Act like a man!” Steve Martin mutters in the film All of Me. Lily Tomlin’s spirit is lodged inside him, making his every gesture peculiarly feminine and ladylike. Tomlin’s spirit takes up the challenge to act like a man in the courtroom as Martin, a lawyer, fights a crucially important case. And we see Martin suddenly go from bizarrely ladylike to bizarrely loutish, his every move an exaggerated swagger. This caricature of “manly” behaviour makes Martin appear so rude and aggressive that it is hilarious.

I was reminded of this scene thanks to Tapas Pal’s bizarre attempts to act like a neta.

The video clips show the star actor and member of Parliament give a fine performance as a goon as he addresses Trinamool rallies in rural Bengal. Mr Pal talks tough, talks dirty, dishes out threats, uses filthy language in a way that befits a celluloid villain. He does a caricature of a goon, complete with the exaggerated swagger and unbelievable insolence of a wannabe toughie. In his parallel life, Mr Pal has apparently moved from playing a goody-goody hero to playing the baddie in Bengali films.

In these political speeches Mr Pal gets so carried away playing the Trinamool neta to a real village audience that not only does he keep repeating peculiar threats, he also keeps referring to himself in the third person. Mr Pal is a goon, he basically insists, a guy who the enemy needs to be afraid of.

A guy who will whip out his gun and shoot his opponents dead. Mr Pal will unleash his boys upon the Opposition, send in his rapists to sexually attack their women. Hear hear, Tapas Pal is near. Never fear, Tapas Pal is here. True, he gets a little confused about whether killing is good or bad.

Just before he encourages you to kill, he declares that those who kill are not human — they were born because their mothers slept with dogs.

But it’s not like he talks just to men and treats women only as male property and soft path to insult and revenge. He addresses women too, with equal zeal. You know the bonti, he hollers, referring to the curved sickle-knife so essential in a Bengali kitchen. That is for slitting throats. Take it and cut the throats of these sons of the CPM. Like this — he gestures helpfully.

The hue and cry over Mr Pal’s speeches is of course justified. He is openly inciting violence. He is using filthy language. He is encouraging rape. He is instigating murder. Clearly he is a vicious attacker of democracy, a horrible threat to civil society. He should be jailed instantly. Especially because his horrid behaviour has a much larger impact than that of most politicians. Mr Pal is supposed to be a role model twice over — as an MP and as a film star with a sizeable fan following.

True. But the real tragedy is that Mr Pal is probably much less of a threat to civil society and Indian democracy than most political leaders today. He is just an abhineta trying to act like a neta. His hate speech and sickening bravado is just a desperate attempt by a film actor to fit into his role as a muscular political leader in Trinamool Bengal. Mr Pal’s goonda talk is just the tip of the iceberg.

And it is an iceberg that the Trinamool dare not disturb. So there was really no option but to let Mr Pal go with a gentle rap on the knuckles and a quick apology. Rocking the boat of Trinamul’s goondaism especially in the villages could be disastrous for Bengal’s ruling party.

“What do you want me to do — kill him?” snapped Mamata Banerjee when asked whether the party was contemplating action against Mr Pal. It was the same indignant retort that she reserves for matters she cannot handle. Or does not want to face. When offence is her best defence. After the horrific rape and murder in Kamduni last year, she had exhibited similar irritation when the villagers tried to tell her their grievances. “I have heard all that,” she had snapped. “Shut up!”

Now Ms Banerjee has fallen back on her conspiracy theory. Canards were being spread. She was being attacked over “a small case, even if it is nothing!”

Politics today is so dependent on goondaism that it is somewhat naive to believe that political leaders should be punished for inciting violence. Instead, politicians have routinely been rewarded for it. From Amit Shah to Varun Gandhi, if we just take India’s ruling party, politicians who call for revenge and violence are hailed as heroes.

In Bengal, the joy of paribartan is over. Now, more than affection for the Trinamool it is the fear of their goons that keeps the Trinamool in place. Horrible rapes and murders of those opposing the Trinamool have become commonplace. Roughnecks like Arabul Islam, Anubrata Mandol, Manirul Islam, Arup Chakraborty, and even ministers like Madan Mitra and Jyotipriya Mullick rule. Just this week, BJP supporters in Birbhum were attacked and their houses bombed allegedly by followers of Mr Mandol, the Trinamool president of Birbhum district.

He had impressed us during the panchayat elections last year with his clear instructions to partymen. Don’t let the Congress and the CPM candidates file their nominations, he ordered.

“If necessary call me.” And: “Don’t vote for any independent candidate. Attack them, burn their homes. If any cop wants to protect them, hurl bombs at him. I am telling you to bomb them!” But when an independent candidate’s house was destroyed allegedly by Trinamool goons, Mr Mandol was untouched. Earlier, he had threatened to chop off the hands of anyone who dared tear posters of Ms Banerjee.

And Trinamool MLA Manirul Islam publicly boasted of three murders and threatened to behead a Congress leader over the mike in a rally. Transport minister Madan Mitra threatened to teach his rivals a lesson with bullets and bombs. Now MP Arup Chakraborty is found urging villagers to kill outsiders who enter their homes. He promises protection. All of this is on video, available on the Internet and TV.

In just three years the Trinamool has reached the level of impunity and shameless goondaism that the Left Front took three decades to master.
Mr Pal’s Trinamul neta act could be the wake up call that Ms Banerjee needs to get a grip on the slippery slope she walks on.

The writer is editor, The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at sen@littlemag.com