CPM’s parallel governance

D Bandhyopadhyay
The Statesman, 2 December

On 22 November, noted Bengali writer Taslima Nasreen was clandestinely and forcibly whisked away from her Rowdon Street residence by a possé of plainclothes policemen.
She was made to board a flight bound for Ahmedabad and Jaipur, reportedly under a false name. She was taken to Jaipur where she was not welcome by the Rajasthan government and had to be moved to a secret location in the National Capital Region. The mystery about her whereabouts deepened when the Rajasthan government said in a Press release that it was "left with no alternative but to have Nasreen as a guest of government of Rajasthan till such time the (Union) ministry of home affairs takes a final view of her stay and security". The Press release said that the West Bengal government “simply refused to countenance the idea” of having her back.

Mr Prasad Ranjan Ray, state home secretary, said: "Taslima Nasreen is a free person and as such won't come and go according to our dictates. It was only from the television channels that I came to know that she had left the city... We did not ask her to move out."

Apparently, the clandestine operation was conducted without his knowledge and sanction. It is clear that some nefarious actions were being done by some home department officials behind his back, without any legal sanction. This is an ominous sign. The state home secretary's statement stands negated not only by the Rajasthan government’s Press release but also the bill of Rs 10,000 preferred by the management of Hotel Shikha of Jaipur for the occupation of their five rooms by Nasreen (one room), besides police and security persons (four rooms) who flew with her from Kolkata to Jaipur or later joined the group at Jaipur. The policemen left the hotel with the writer without settling the bill, true to their tradition of enjoying "free lunch" anywhere and everywhere.

What is this "dirty tricks department" of the West Bengal government? Is it a government within the government, without any accountability to anybody? From whom do the operatives of this shady organisation take their orders? To whom are they accountable? Do they take their directives for their activities from any political caucus outside the formal set-up of a government established by law? Is the government of West Bengal being run by gangsters in plainclothes? Is the West Bengal government following the technique of involuntary disappearance perfected by General Pinochet after toppling and killing President Salvador Allende in Chile?

These are some of the issues arising out of the Taslima Nasreen episode which the chief minister (also police minister) has to answer. All issues of good governance have been flouted with contempt by the party and its chief minister. Unless this nefarious organisation is exposed publicly and dismantled totally, life, liberty and property of every person in this state would be unsafe. We are living here in perilous times. Everyone has to understand this and lodge a protest against it individually and collectively. After all, this organisation is being run with taxpayers' money. We have a right to know what is going on and why?

The CPI-M as a party has been losing its grip on the traditional minority votebank. In all cases of mass murder and civil strife sponsored by the party beginning with Nanoor, through Chhoto Angaria, Keshpur, Garbeta and Nandigram to Rizwanur Rahman, many victims have been from the minority community. CPI-M’s fragile veneer of "secularism" has been shattered by its anti-minority actions and statements. In the Sachar Committee report, West Bengal has the honour of standing second from the bottom in regard to the state's effort regarding the welfare and wellbeing of Muslims after their 30 years' glorious rule. In the Rizwanur case, in the chief minister's first statement, he mentioned "a communal angle" where there was none.

Communalism was sought to be injected in a private love affair of two educated and civilised young people from different communities. People of Kolkata ~ Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and others ~ stood shoulder to shoulder and exposed the communalism of the chief minister and his party.

The CPI-M had been wooing fundamentalist groups among Muslims for a long time. The West Bengal government had proscribed Nasreen's book Dwikhandito on the grounds that it offended the sentiments of some Muslims. It was done on a public demand of some maulanas and on the basis of a report of an assistant commissioner of police of questionable literary competence. After a full hearing, Calcutta High Court set aside the order. But the party and its government did not show any remorse.

They started a fresh move to harass, tease and torment Nasreen to make her leave the country out of disgust. The Dainik Statesman reported on 23 November that several months before this episode, the then police commissioner of Calcutta, Mr Prasun Mukherjee, intimated the writer that she should leave the country. He stated that he was conveying the chief minister’s desire. Nasreen was told that she was a security risk for West Bengal and India. It was reported that Nasreen refused to leave as she was determined to pursue her literary career from Kolkata.

On 21 November, Kolkata witnessed an ugly outburst of frenzy on the issue of driving out Nasreen. The incident reminded people of my generation of the wild behaviour of the mob during the Great Calcutta killings of 16 August, 1946. In the recent flare-up, had the chief minister given firm orders, his own police force could have controlled the situation easily. But he would not allow his forces to soil their hands, lest his fundamentalist friends accused him of highhandedness. By calling the Army, he used a sledge hammer to crack a hazelnut. Mr Biman Bose's immediate reaction was that Nasreen be moved out if her continued stay in the state disturbed peace. More ominous was the statement of Mr HA Halim, Speaker, that Nasreen's stay in the city had created problems.

He advised that the West Bengal government send a report to the Central government. The Speaker had no business making such a statement. His untold intention was that since she was the cause of disturbance, her visa be renewed by the Centre. It is evident that the incident of 21 November was a move to endear the party to fundamentalist elements among Muslims and through their good offices, regain lost ground among them.
As for the legality of West Bengal government's action, regarding forcibly moving out Nasreen from Kolkata to Jaipur, the Criminal Procedure Code does not provide for any extradition. Some states have local goonda Acts that provide for such a procedure for undesirable persons. West Bengal does not have any such law. So legally, Nasreen could not have been moved out of her Kolkata residence to Jaipur and Delhi.

Had the continued presence of Nasreen caused any cognizable offence, she could have been arrested under Section 151, CrPC, to prevent occurrence of such offences. In that case, she had to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of her arrest. But the party and its government do not believe in the rule of law.

Section 362 of IPC defines abduction as: "Whoever by force compels, or by any deceitful means induces, any person to go from any place, is said to abduct that person." There are two ingredients of this offence: (i) Forceful compulsion or inducement by deceitful means, and (2) the object of such compulsion or inducement must be the going of a person from any place. In Nasreen's case, both the ingredients have been fulfilled. It is a case of abduction simpliciter.
Those who have abducted her have also committed, in addition, the offence of wrongful restraint by keeping her confined in the Rajasthan Guest House, Delhi.

Wrongful restraint is a continuing offence. Each additional day of restraint enhances the gravity of the offence. Since all these offenders have committed the offence at the behest of some state organ, the police in West Bengal would not take cognizance of these offences.

(The author is a former Revenue Secretary, Govt of India.)