By Francis Sunil Rosario
Kolkata: As Bengal struggled to have the right leadership for over a month, all the calculations, all the predictions to dethrone the ruling government went wrong. Our Didi emerged as a pragmatic, down to earth politician to lead Bengal once again through her hat-trick win in the recent Assembly election.
Her slogan, “Ma Mati, Manush” (Mother, The land of Bengal and its people) will keep ringing into sour ears for days to come. She has proved once again that she is the grassroots (Trinamool) leader for Bengal — This time a leader in the wheelchair. She feels the pulse of the people.
During pandemic and many crises, she has come as a succor to many underprivileged and those most neglected — her desire to uplift the downtrodden and victims of injustices and insults. She is the leader of the people of Bengal, irrespective of color, caste, creed. She is the leader to uphold the secular and moral values of Bengal to make this ‘Sonar Bangla’ truly a Pluralist society, where everyone gets fare chance and the share to breathe some fresh air.
Whatever odds and political obstacles she encountered to fight this polarized election during the month long campaigns (March 27-April 29) in eight phases, she has ultimately come out victorious. It’s a massive win for her, a landslide victory. She has remained the symbol of “Ma Mati Manush,”
Mamata Di is Bengal’s collective consciousness to uphold its rich cultural and religious heritage. Those who mocked her, those powerful political lobbies, who tried every possible way to downgrade or throw her out of power, had to bend their knees before her. It’s not her victory alone. It’s the victory of the people of Bengal who stood by each other to support secularism and save democracy.
The land of Bengal regards and respects women. They are our mother, sister and daughter. The strength of women remains a force to chase out all devilish and dark forces. Bengal has shown the power of women, rich and poor, those living in slums or high-rise buildings and apartments, middle class or those living in poverty and underprivileged.
They showed the strength of ‘Durga,’ the wisdom of ‘Saraswati’ to enlighten the hearts and minds of those in ignorance, those who still live in darkness. They have shown the light to all. Mamata Di herself is inspired by the ideals of Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of Calcutta. Let the compassionate love of Jesus shine through Mamata’s political leadership in Bengal.
At the height of election campaign, while she broke her ankle and hospitalized, she struggled to come out of this dreadful confinement. On the third day, she was out on wheelchair to continue her fight to regain her seat of power to serve the people in Bengal. Due to pandemic and their own struggles to survive, some were easily bought by the powerful lobby. Most of those leaders who disowned and betrayed the leadership of TMC tried to insult ‘Ma Mati Manush’ saw their defeat in the election.
The wheelchair leadership has shown, despite the spread of virus during campaign and various road shows, the grassroots leader has remained in power. She rose above every lie, every taunt, every threat, every betrayal, and every vulgarity that was thrown at her.
The victory of Mamata Banerjee has come as the much-needed oxygen. Even though some of the most powerful institutions in the country, the intelligentsia. Those who manufactured daily their version of power game through twitters, Face book, in digital studios, by betrayals from her own party men/women.
Her victory back to power once again, is metaphorically the victory of all those struggling to find space to survive, the most downtrodden and marginalized. This victory gives us hope once again.
The humanity today is groaning. The enormity of the suffering of millions, the deaths in family rising high, such deaths are sinking in slowly. The blind faith in politicians and their lies is giving way to the truth of human connections. The deeper realization that no amount of hatred, malice and polarization is going to save us. It’s just the realization, that you are as human as I am. The oxygen of human consciousness will save us all.
A woman in a wheelchair is a fitting inspiration to start with. It’s an image that is fraught with its own limitations. Yet, as the victory of Mamata has shown us, a strong self-belief, and the refusal to be defeated by obnoxious arrogant power can lead us to victory. Woman in a wheelchair can indeed stand against the most powerful in our country’s most trying times.
As the virus ravages our country, it will take more than a vaccine to see us through. We see the wheelchair bound citizens who have come forward to offer all kinds of help from supplying groceries, to giving free oxygen cylinders, to donating plasma, to praying for one another. Let the victory of Mamata be not lost upon us. We save ourselves and the other through our capacity to believe in ourselves and in our ability to bow down before no one else but the Divine who connects us to one another. How true the words of our great Bengali, Rabindranath Tagore ring today:
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
Let my country awake. “