ROBERT CLIVE, the founder of the British empire in India, recorded in his diary: "Murshidabad is a city bigger than London." Although Murshidabad, once the capital of undivided Bengal in pre-British India, has lost its days of glory, it still has several distinctive features. Murshidabad district is the only Muslim-majority district in West Bengal. It is cut into two - Rarh in the east and Bagri in the west - by the river Bhagirathi, a branch of the Ganga. Except for Kandi, all its subdivisions have large Muslim populations.
Politically too, Murshidabad had its special flavour. It was at one time the stronghold of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The late RSP leader Tridib Chaudhuri, who ran unsuccessfully for the post of President as a consensus candidate of the Left and secular forces, is still a local hero. He represented Berhampur in the district six times. The vacuum left by the RSP's decline has been filled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress(I). Of the three Lok Sabha constituencies in the district, Abul Hasnat Khan and Moinul Hassan of the CPI(M) represent Jangipur and Murshidabad, and Adhir Chowdhuri of the Congress(I) Berhampur. Chowdhuri is one of the few popular Congress(I) leaders in West Bengal. In fact, it is believed that State Congress(I) president Pranab Mukherjee, who is contesting from Jangipur, has reposed faith in the popular support and organisational skills of Chowdhuri to defeat his CPI(M) rival. The former Union Minister has never won an election from the State.
The absence of communal division and tension in the district is often attributed to the long-standing tradition of fighting elections at the panchayat, State and national levels on ideological lines. Moinul Hassan told Frontline: "We are committed to the secular tradition and want a secular government at the Centre. In fact, a militant secularism is required to combat the fascists who have put on the garb of religious fundamentalism." The campaigns of the Left Front draw attention to policies and programmes and the failure of the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) economic strategy to improve the lot of the poor. The Congress(I) is counting on the anti-incumbency sentiment against the Left Front-run State government.
In all the three parliamentary constituencies, the main adversaries are the Left Front and the Congress(I), though at the central level there is a meeting of minds between them to combat the anti-secular forces represented by the NDA. There is no evidence in the field of the BJP's claim that Muslims are being attracted to its fold.
An example of the peaceful coexistence between Hindus and Muslims can be found in Prasanna Nagar village in Jalangi. Among the 148 families in the village, 48 are Hindu. "We are all brothers here, there is no division between us on communal grounds. The CPI(M) has never allowed that poison to creep in. Muslims participate in our festival as do we in theirs," said Adhir Kumar Mandal, a resident of the village. The voters in the village favour either the CPI(M) or the Congress(I). "Neither the Muslim League nor the BJP gets a single vote from this village. Mostly, we are supporters of the CPI(M)," said Ramzan Ali. For 95-year-old Lakhimuddin Haji, there are no political options other than the Congress(I). "I have voted for the Congress(I) throughout my life. I am not about to change that now," he said. Although he can hardly see and hear and needs the support of his great-grandchildren to move about, he is determined to caste his vote for the Congress(I) on May 10.
Raushan Nagar, with around 800 families, is one of the bigger villages of Murshidabad. The population, as in most villages of the district, is almost entirely Muslim. Md. Sirajul Islam, the headmaster of the village madrassa, said: "Although the Congress(I) led a secular government, back in the early 1960s we were scared that we might be asked to leave our country for being Muslims. After the Left Front came to power, that fear has totally disappeared. Not just Muslims, I think the interest of all other sections of the minorities across the country will be best looked after if the Left comes to power at the Centre." Shahmud Sarkar agrees that the Left is "doing a fine job" of maintaining communal harmony in the State, but he feels that the Congress(I) will be no worse. "A change is always good," he said.
Evidently, land reforms and peasant movements initiated by the Left have played a major role in the de-communalisation of the Murshidabad countryside. The people of the district are aware of this. Although a large section of the electorate votes for the Congress(I), it acknowledges the Left Front's contribution to maintaining communal harmony in the State. Md Najib Hussein of Jalangi, like his father, has always been a supporter of the Congress(I). But he admits: "As a minority community, we have absolutely no fear living in West Bengal, thanks to the Left Front government."
In Kharibana village in Jangipur, the people are vehemently pro-Left Front. "What is happening in the rest of the country is not applicable here. We don't even give importance to what the Togadias and the Advanis have to say, as long as the Left Front remains in power in the State. What has happened in Gujarat does not scare us because we know it can never happen here," said 73-year-old Ness Md. Biswas. The land the village residents occupy now was provided by the State government after they lost their property in the floods. "There is hardly any election in this village, it is more like a selection," said Md. Kamaluddin, a blacksmith. The women of the village, most of whom make bidis for a livelihood, also support the Left Front. "At least I feel safe here for myself and my children," said Jhakenoor Biwi, a resident of the village
Although the CPI(M) won two out of the three seats in the last elections, the Congress(I) has traditionally been strong in the district. This time round too, the contest will be a close one. Acknowledging that, Moinul Hassan said: "Our achievements and our policies are what we are counting on the voters to take into consideration."
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