The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has suspended Ajanta Biswas, daughter of former State secretary Anil Biswas, for writing essays, titled “Bangarajinitite Narishakti (women in Bengal politics) in ‘Jaago Bangla’, the Trinamool Congress’s mouthpiece.
The history professor of Rabindra Bharati University was suspended by the Kolkata District Committee of the CPI(M) for six months on August 21.
She went on to praise Mamata Banerjee by writing in detail about her political career. Ms. Biswas said the movement at Singur against the Tata Motors small car project was “gana bikhop” mass movement. Anil Biswas, West Bengal secretary of the CPI(M) from 1998-2006, was one of the most important leaders of the CPI(M) known for his deft organisational skills.
While the suspension came as no surprise, the question is what prompted Ms. Biswas to write essays in ‘Jaago Bangla’ and why did the mouthpiece accept such a write-up. The CPI(M) and the professor have not made any remarks on the development.
‘Bid to belittle legacy’
Senior CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb told The Hindu that the Trinamool Congress was trying its best to minimise the strength of the CPI(M), belittle the legacy of 34 years of rule of the Left front, which was led by the CPI(M), and the entire episode illustrated this.
Political observers feel that there is more to the development that the Trinamool Congress trying to appropriate the legacy of the CPI(M).
Biswanath Chakraborty, professor and head of the Department of Political Science at Rabindra Bharati University, said the incident should not be looked into isolation. The 2021 Assembly polls was a crucial moment when in the name of campaign of “No Vote to BJP”, the Left supporters and intellectuals supported the TMC, and the incident should be looked in that light.
‘No going back’
“ After the result, when the CPI(M) and the Left drew a blank and any revival looks a distant dream, there is no going back for such intellectuals and academicians. Moreover, by cozying up to the ruling party is a well thought of choice which is happening across universities and higher educational institutions of the State,” Professor Chakraborty, a well- know political commentator, said.
Political observer Subhamoy Maitra, who teaches at the Indian Statistical Institute, said Ms. Biswas was not well known and the controversy was only because she is the daughter of a very well-known senior CPI(M) leader.
“The fact that the Trinamool Congress is trying to appropriate the legacy of the Left parties is very much clear once we look at the situation in Tripura. In this particular case, the CPI(M) played into the hands of the TMC by this suspension, which can be ignored,” Professor Maitra said.
He wondered whether the essays could have created such a flutter even if published in ‘Jaago Bangla’ if there was no mention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While Ms. Biswas’s first three essays highlighted figures such as Basanti Devi, Sarojini Naidu, Suniti Devi and others from the pre- and post-Independence era, the last one focused entirely on the Trinamool Congress chairperson.
