CHIEF MINISTER Mamata Banerjees blatant intolerance of criticism or dissent has once again drawn sharp criticism from Markandey Katju, Chairman of the Press Council of India, who warned her that she will not be able to remain Chief Minister for long unless she changes her ways.
Addressing Mamata Banerjee in an email sent to State Information Secretary Nandini Chakravorty on November 28, Katju expressed concern about the unhealthy state of affairs in West Bengal. From what I could gather during my visits to Kolkata, your Ministers and bureaucrats are afraid to speak out their minds fearlessly before you, and are terrorised by your unpredictable and whimsical behaviour, he wrote.
Days later, he told Frontline that when he tried to contact Nandini Chakravorty again, she would not answer his call. What kind of behaviour is this? Either she has been instructed to not talk to me, or she is not answering in fear of future repercussions, and she is a senior IAS officer! he said.
Katju, who was once seen to be an admirer of Mamata Banerjee, has become one of her strongest critics, after a series of events betrayed a streak of intolerance in the West Bengal government. In April, Ambikesh Mahapatra, a professor in Jadavpur University, was arrested for forwarding by e-mail an innocuous graphic joke on Mamata Banerjee; a month later, she branded a young student a Maoist on a television news channel for asking her an uncomfortable question. A couple of months later, Shiladitya Choudhuri, a poor farmer found himself behind bars for voicing his grievances to the Chief Minister at a public rally.
Referring to those events, Katju wrote that Mamata Banerjee should apologise to all the people who had been victimised. He mentioned as a contrast the case of the police officers in Maharashtra who were suspended for ordering the arrest of a Mumbai girl for posting on Facebook her objection to the shutdown following Bal Thackerays death, and urged Mamata Banerjee to proceed against the errant policemen of West Bengal.
When reminded of the high praise he had earlier extended to Mamata Banerjee, Katju told Frontline: I later realised I made a mistake. She is incorrigible. She has a huge ego and will never admit that she was wrong. A simple apology as I had advised would have set everything right.
Mamata Banerjee, for her part, has remained completely unperturbed and blamed a section of the media for the negative publicity. Speaking at a public function the day after Katju sent his letter, Mamata Banerjee said, without directly referring to the letter, Raja chaley bazaar, kuttey bhonkey hazaar (the Hindi equivalent of the English proverb: The dogs bark but the caravan goes on) a comment that many, including Katju himself, found in poor taste. I never used any foul language in my criticism, but she called me a dog. Is this the way of a civilised person? he told Frontline.
Suhrid Sankar ChattopadhyayCOMMents
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