June 08, 2023

A TMC team was stopped at the Silchar airport and not allowed to enter the town. This led Mamata Banerjee to proclaim that a Super Emergency was being imposed in the country. But a little introspection would have shown her that when it comes to dirty tricks, her government is not behind anyone.

Remember January 2016. A BJP team, including MP S S Ahluwalia, was not allowed to go to Kaliachak in Malda district, which had witnessed communal clashes over the remarks of a BJP leader.

Move ahead to December 2016. The Dhulagarh area in West Bengal’s Howrah district witnessed communal clashes. A BJP team including MPs Jagadmbika Pal and Satyapal Singh was not allowed to visit the area.

Cut to July 2017. A state BJP team led by its president Dilip Ghosh was not allowed to visit riot affected areas in North 24 Paraganas. In quick succession, a Central BJP team including MPs Om Mathur, Meenakshi Lekhi and Satyapal Singh were also denied permission a few days later and stopped on their way to Bashirhat.

With the controversy over NRC heating up and with the TMC and Mamata Banerjee steering the debate in a slanted way, there was a possibility that the presence of the TMC team in Bengali-dominated Silchar could have inflamed passions and led to riots. The team was not allowed to enter Silchar as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.

There was no difference in what was done in Bengal on the above cited three occasions and what was done in Assam yesterday. So if the Assam action was a pointer to Super Emergency, what should one name what was repeatedly done in Bengal?