Historian Ramachandra Guha cautioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Wednesday against suppressing civil society which, he said, acts as the “moral conscience” of people. “Do not suppress civil society. Do not think that Writer’s Building knows all,” Dr. Guha said, at the concluding ceremony of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
“My only criticism of the Trinamool is their attitude of ‘if you are not with us you are against us’,” he said.
However, Dr. Guha did not place the blame solely on the Trinamool Congress and held the previous Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led State government as equally culpable. “West Bengal never had a civil society because the communists did not allow it....”
Dr Guha seldom comments on political matters. But having been in Kolkata in his early student days he was influenced by the Left philosophy. But being true to his trade as a historian, he seldom publicly comments on current politics. But Mamatha who is unknowingly strongly influenced by the Left, needs to learn a few lessons in real politics. In politics no one is a permanent friend or enemy and one should walk the middle path and maintain one's chosen path with care and doligence.
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