Kolkata: A Muslim MLA in West Bengal has become a rallying point for the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), otherwise arch political and ideological rivals. Indian Secular Front (ISF)’s Nawsad Siddique, the lone Muslim MLA in the opposition camp, has been behind bars for 28 days for allegedly attacking the police following violence during the ISF’s foundation day celebration last month. He was produced before a session’s court in Kolkata Wednesday, where he was sent to police custody for five more days.
Interestingly, both the BJP and the Left have hit out at the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state, seeking his immediate release. The CPI(M), which had entered into an alliance with the ISF in the 2021 assembly election, led a protest rally in Kolkata Wednesday, while the BJP has raised the issue inside the Vidhan Sabha to corner the Mamata Banerjee government in the ongoing Budget Session multiple times.
“Our party stands firmly in support of Nawsad Siddique. The Trinamool Congress government cannot silence the opposition. Our party’s minority cell has protested against Naushad’s arrest. Such dictatorial behaviour cannot be tolerated. Fake cases against the opposition will only make us stronger,” BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul told ThePrint.
According to political analyst Udayan Bandhopadhyay, “in South 24 Parganas where Nawsad’s constituency (Bhangar) is located, there are factional fights within the TMC. Now with the entry of the ISF in Bhangar, the TMC wants to get rid of additional headache when it has to set its own house in order.”
Dismissing the BJP-CPI(M) support for Siddique as “politics of frustration”, Trinamool Congress spokesperson, Kunal Ghosh said, “It is an opportunistic matter for the BJP and CPI(M). Since they can’t fight the TMC alone, they are now supporting ISF together. It’s nothing but frustrated politics. If the BJP really wants Muslim support, they need to first say they won’t impose NRC (National Register of Citizens) and CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in the country.”
The ISF was launched just ahead of the 2021 West Bengal elections by Siddique’s brother, Abbas, a peerzada (custodian) of Bengal’s revered Furfura Sharif mazar (shrine).
The polls witnessed a high-intensity political battle between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP. The ISF, which claimed to be a secular party and voice for the backward classes in the state, entered into a formal alliance with CPI(M) and Congress, hoping to dent the TMC’s Muslim vote share.
It, however, secured only one seat in the 294-member assembly, leading to many writing off the party because of its abysmal performance, and because of the party remaining absent from ground post-elections.
Compared to Siddique’s lone Muslim representation in the Opposition camp, the TMC sent 42 Muslim MLAs to the assembly in the last election.
“ISF is a small party, it’s vote percentage in 2021 wasn’t a cause of worry for the TMC. Bhangar, Nawsad’s constituency, is a TMC bastion. But now with his arrest, TMC has not only made Nawsad more popular, but drawn more support for the ISF, which has a strong Muslim supporter base in the state,” said educationist-author and Padma Shri awardee, Kazi Masum Akhtar, who is an advisor to the ISF.
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‘Action against Siddique excessive’
Nawsad Sidiqqui, also a peerzada at Furfura Sharif, enjoys a support base in Hooghly district (where the shrine is located) and in the districts of Howrah, North 24 Parganas, Malda and parts of Murshidabad.
The party, however, failed to cut into TMC votes in the 2021 elections, as it couldn’t draw mass Muslim votes.
But Siddique’s arrest, a senior TMC leader speaking on condition of anonymity told ThePrint, could impact Muslim support for the ruling party.
“I think the action against Nawsad has been excessive, I don’t understand what was the need to keep him behind bars for so long, frankly. This will impact the Muslim votes for our party, at a time when panchayat polls (expected in the coming months) are around the corner. He shouldn’t have been kept in jail for so long,” said the Trinamool leader.
Nausahad, along with 17 ISF other supporters, was arrested from Kolkata’s Dorina Crossing on 21 January, and charged under sections 143, 147, 149, 152, 332, 333, 283, 307, 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and 8/9 West Bengal Maintenance of Peace and Public Order Act, 1972. The charges relate to unlawful assembly, rioting, assaulting a public servant, attempt to murder and damage to public property, among others.
Kolkata Police submitted a 32-page chargesheet against Siddique at the Bankshall sessions court Wednesday.
Siddique’s arrest followed a protest rally taken out by the ISF against alleged attack by TMC members on their foundation day celebrations.
A senior police official, who claimed to have sustained injuries in the violence at the rally alleged, “ISF supporters had used blades and shards of glass bottles to attack policemen on duty. They even vandalised the traffic post and the situation spiraled during their protest rally on 21 January, leading to the arrest of the sitting MLA and his supporters.”
According to Akhtar, while TMC believes Muslim support in the state to be on their side, with Siddique’s arrest, the CPI(M) trying to tap into this votebank. by hitting the road on their behalf.
“In the last two weeks, the CPI(M) has been rallying for his release. And this turns out to be an advantage for the BJP, even if a small Muslim vote share gets transferred to the CPI(M) in the upcoming Panchayat polls. The Muslim sentiment against the TMC is being played here by the Left,” he explained.
Political analyst Sourjya Bhowmik added: “Maybe a split in Muslim votes could give an advantage to the CPI(M), though it won’t be a very significant dent to Mamata Banerjee, as the reach of the ISF is limited in the state. If you see Furfura Sharif too, one half led by Toha Siddique supports the TMC and the one led by Nawsad’s brother Abbas is anti-TMC. But the arrest and Nawsad languishing in jail could change that equation as well.”
When Siddique is produced before the court for the next hearing on 21 February, it will be a month since his arrest.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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