The Dalit-Muslim Front floated by the former West Bengal CPI(M) leader, Abdur Rezzak Molla, who was recently expelled from the party, will put up candidates in “as many seats as possible.”
Mr. Molla has launched his organisation — the Samajik Nayabichar Manch (Social Justice Front) — to take up the cause of Dalits and minorities in the State, two communities that, according to him, have been rejected by both the Left and the right-wing parties.
CPI(M) Central Committee member Md. Selim however dismissed Mr. Molla’s allegation, saying the party started addressing the issue from 2000. Mr. Molla, he said, was “trying to take credit for it after being expelled from the party.”
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“Even though people from the Muslim and the SC/ST communities are given tickets in the elections, they are not offered important ministerial posts as the party leadership is dominated by the upper caste,” Mr. Molla told
The CPI(M)’s effort to resolve the class issue was going in vain as it was not possible to do so without abolishing the caste system, he added.
Referring to the CPI(M)’s strategy in choosing allies, he said that if it could join forces with Jayalalithaa or Mulayam Singh, both of whom practise “identity politics,” what was stopping it from recognising the caste issue in West Bengal. “That is because the Polit Bureau and Central Committee are disassociated from the ground reality.”
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He also criticised the “erroneous rectification drive of the party” that focused only on workers at the grassroots and not leaders.
Echoing Mr. Molla’s view, retired IPS officer Nazrul Islam, who accompanied the nine-time MLA, told The Hindu that the prevalent notion that “caste system exists in West Bengal in a very negligible and almost non existent is a misconception.” “Caste system in Bengal is not only deep rooted in the government and administration in the State but its presence is prominent and open.”