Mamata Bannerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC) have played the blame game in West Bengal for a very long time. Branding anyone as a Communist or Sanghi who dares to speak against her tyranny, is what Mamata Banerjee specialises in. Her party’s forte also lies in beating and berating anyone else who chooses to dissent on the opinions of Mamata Didi. The realization that anything and everything cannot be blamed on others has still not come to Mamata Banerjee and TMC. There is too much going wrong in West Bengal, from Bangladeshi settlers being allowed to become Indian citizens to the scams perpetrated by TMC leaders and the criminal activities of the TMC goons. A new issue raised its head in Kolkata earlier this week. The issue of moral policing is a new one for Kolkata, a city which claims to be way ahead in terms of giving liberty to its residents, a place where “the mind is without fear.” The incident, which happened in a metro to a couple, shows the deterioration in the social structure of Kolkata ever since TMC came into power. The couple, which was harassed in the metro by a group of seniors for hugging in public, shows what’s wrong in Mamata’s Kolkata. Maybe India is not so open to public displays of affection but this kind of reaction to an innocuous display of affection is reprehensible.
Another horrible instance of moral policing in West Bengal emerged soon after. According to the story published in Kolkata’s Anandabazar Patrika, a group of 10-15 women barged into a club where eight to twelve year old little boys and girls were learning to play Table Tennis. These women were enraged at the ‘immodest’ t-shirts and shorts which were worn by the girls in the sports arena of the club. The angry women indulged in use of vulgar language in front of the children who had gathered to learn table tennis. It is important to note that the women involved were protesting angrily over the attire of children and not adults. Children who, for the most part, did not even have the final say in deciding what they would wear to the training grounds. The club authorities and the sports personnel were shocked at the maddening verbal assaults directed towards the children. The angry protesting women broke down fences between the boards in the play arena and continued using abusive language. The club authorities were left with no option other than shutting down the practice. This shocking behaviour shown by the women folks are a hint at how low the society in Kolkata has degenerated to.
What could be immodest in the sports attire of an eight-year old girl? Girls and boys of that age, for the most part, are yet to find out the difference between modest and immodest clothing and behaviour. The group which harassed the couple in the metro and the group of women which indulged in this behaviour at the club have one thing in common. They believe they have the right to impose their values and opinions on anyone and everyone as they please. This free reign points towards the failure of Mamata Banerjee and TMC who are yet to open their mouth on these despicable events of moral policing. This silence is a tacit approval of Mamata Banerjee to her forces who want to make people dress and behave in a certain way. The hooliganism to which they have recently resorted to shows their confidence in TMC and Mamata. The educated and liberal minds of Kolkata should be ashamed of these recent events of moral policing. But Mamata Banerjee will most likely not raise her voice, for she knows who her voters are.