West Bengal is an Indian state in the eastern part of the country, and the only one in India with an incumbent woman Chief Minister — Mamata Banerjee.
The region, which was the political heart of the Bengal Presidency during British Rule, was divided into East and West Bengal in 1947. Bengal was a hotbed of the Indian Independence movement and has remained one of the country’s great artistic and intellectual centres, being home to Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa, Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee as well as freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose and Oscar winner Satyajit Ray.
Geographically, the state is happily situated with the Himalayas in the north and the Sundarbans in the south. It shares a roughly 2,200-sqkm border with Bangladesh (East Bengal at the time of Partition).
For the first 30 years, the Congress ruled Bengal, but made way for Left domination for the next 34 years. In 2011, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress — a breakaway from the Congress — came to power.
Have been an avid reader of The Print and respected DK’s balanced analysis of politics.
However, this article has changed that for good.
DK is quite obviously sympathetic to Mamata Banerjee and TMC. The hooliganism and vandalism unleashed by TMC cadres is a regular feature of West Bengal politics. Hundreds of Congress and BJP workers have been murdered, lynched and raped by these criminals after the general elections – both in 2019 as well as 2024. Instead of sympathising with the victims of such egregious political violence, DK chooses to paint this fact as mere fantasy or hogwash by the BJP. It clearly indicates that DK believes that political violence is something that is conjured up by the Congress/BJP after every election in Bengal and that the TMC cadres have nothing to do with it. Also, the murders and rapes are just lies spread by Congress/BJP IT cells.
Add to it the absolutely disgusting editorial equating the RG Kar incident with Ram Rahim’s parole and specious arguments by the editor accusing the BJP of ‘hypocrisy’thereby exculpating TMC/Mamata of any wrongdoing and the picture becomes quite clear.
The Print needs to introspect if this is what is referred to as ‘unhyphenated journalism’.
The Print is showing it’s true colours. Under the garb of “unhyphenated journalism”, it is defending the indefensible. Only so because West Bengal is an Opposition ruled state. Had it been a BJP ruled state, the stance would have been markedly different.
Also, one cannot really forget the utterly distasteful editorial equating this horrific incident with Baba Ram Rahim’s parole, effectively downplaying the severity of the crime.
DK used to provide balanced analysis. Here, he comes across as a true Shekhar Gupta protege – biased, partisan, spineless.
DK’s attempt at dragging the BJP into this issue seems to have fallen flat. The arguments presented are specious. However, The Print’s earlier editorial linking the Kolkata horror with Ram Rahim’s parole gave us readers a vital clue regarding how the incident in Kolkata is being interpreted/viewed at The Print.
That editorial put the blame on the BJP and accused it of politicising the issue.
Mr. Shekhar Gupta’s soft corner for the TMC and it’s brand of politics is well known. The Print’s coverage of Bengal over the last year clearly shows that he and his team of reporters are ardent admirers of Ms. Mamata Banerjee and her government.
The Print also tried to defend the indefensible acts of the Mamata administration. For example, Mr. Gupta published an editorial equating the Kolkata tragedy with the parole of Mr. Ram Rahim and blamed the BJP for being “hypocritical” and “politicising” the Kolkata issue. That editorial was egregious to say the least and would be remembered by us readers as a black mark on The Print’s editorial values and integrity.
So much for his oft-quoted “unhyphenated journalism”.
Even in this article, one can sense Mr. Singh’s sympathy for Ms. Mamata Banerjee and his discomfort at her being hauled over the coals for being in cahoots with all kinds of shady characters.
The unfortunate reality of today’s Bengal is that the TMC is deeply involved in every illegal and corrupt practice in the state and draws it’s power from the criminal and anti-social elements of Bengal society.
CMs run tight ships. State police and intelligence reporting to them. When the complete facts were placed before her, she should have visualised what lay ahead. That such powerful forces are constantly arrayed against her part of the decision making matrix. She should have ordered a professional investigation and prosecution. We can only speculate why she sought to protect, cover up. A grievous error of political judgment.