I took a train ride to a place called Falacata up north. When I reached there, what I found was a small place, no more than a tehsil. A visit to the market place in the evening was quite an eye opener. It was a small place. Three shops at the most, this was not a place of significance. It catered to the tea gardens nearby. The looks of this place told me that most people there were struggling to make ends meet and did not know or cared for places outside of West Bengal if not Falacata itself.
I saw a three story building which proudly displayed a banner on the topmost part. Someone painted this banner at that height, a testament to the effort it must’ve required. It was written in Hindi so I understood it. Translated into English, it said: “Free Black Activist Mumia Abu Jamal”. It was quite a shocker. I doubt if too many people there knew who this guy was. Since I had spent some time close to Philadelphia in the US, I had heard of this guy. Abu Jamal had shot and killed a police officer Daniel Faulkner. Subsequently, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Abu Jamal became quite a cause celebre in the US attracting liberals from all walks of life. But the guy despite of their best efforts, never got out.
Had I not stayed close to Philadelphia, I would not have known about this guy. People in the Midwest of US have not heard of this guy. But somehow, in a Podunk town of Falacata, there was someone who went to considerable effort to put up that banner. Now remember, there is plenty in WB to fight, causes to protest, injustices to stand up to, employment and healthcare to demand and yet Mumia Abu Jamal took precedence over all those issues.
That’s the nature of Indian communist. Their activism is NEVER about things that matter but about symbols, perceived enemies, exerting power from behind the scenes (without any responsibility) and of course freebies. In many ways they are like Muslims who rate their neighborhood, city, state and nation well below Ummah. For an Indian communist, Marx, Lenin and Mao are more important than any national issue or hero. If the man on the street wants a temple in Ayodhya, they suggest a hospital. When Ram Chandra Bhartiya wants name of Aurangzeb Road changed to a national hero, they mock them while naming streets in Kolakata, Tripura as Lenin Sarani or Marx Sarani.
People of India finally caught a break in 2014, when they elected Narendra Modi as PM. He is democratically challenging every status quo and bringing about meaningful changes. He is taking away power form irrelevant activists who lead one kind of life and espouse entirely the opposite. The Indian communist is afraid of Modi. The Indian communist is afraid of the no-longer-afraid voter. Hopefully, we are seeing beginning of the end of a failed murderous ideology and its murderous grip on states like West Bengal and Kerala.
