1 July 2019 OUTLOOK 31
the task.” In 2016, Amartya Sen’s
Pratichi Institute brought out a report
that showed socio-economic justice for
Muslims was as elusive as ever.
The monthly allowance for imams
and muezzins came in 2012—Rs 2,500
and Rs 1,000 respectively. Paltry sums
perhaps, but an inflection point. Imm-
ediately challenged by the state BJP, the
Calcutta High Court ruled the order
inv alid, discriminatory and violative of
the Constitution. To circumvent the
court order, Mamata rerouted it thr-
ough the Wakf Board. For a reported
24,784 imams and 18,593 muezzins in
Bengal, the government was now
spending around Rs 126 crore annu-
ally. It did not go down well with the
Hindu gentry or the economically
stressed plebeian. Her tokenism exte-
nded to pandering to religious
heads, like the imam of Tipu Sultan
mosque in Calcutta or the head of
Furfura Sharif. That was bound to have
its consequences. On triple talaq, for
ins tance, Mamata was found siding
with the clerics rather than Muslim
women, giving flesh and blood to the
BJP’s ‘appeasement’ narrative.
There were, to be sure, genuine wel-
fare initiatives. In 2012, she upped
budgetary allocation for the depart-ment of minority affairs by 73 per cent.
An employment bank was set up in all
districts to recruit Muslim youth, and
loans, stipends and scholarships were
offered to Muslim stude nts. But with
the economy faltering, job creation was
at its lowest, and all there was to show
was words.
Mamata’s other faults are also catch-
ing up with her. A typical populist
leader, Mamata always put herself
above her party—her voluble speechify-
ing is filled with “I”, never “we”. In
widely telecast district stock-taking
meetings, she would criticise and und-
ermine government officials and localSOPS FOR CLERICS: She introducined stipends
for imams and muezzins. When the Calcutta
High Court invalidated that as discriminatory,
the fund was routed through Wakf Board.
Bengali Hindus resented that.INTOLERANCE: In 2012,
for circulating a cartoon
lampooning Mamata, police
arrested Jadavpur
University professor
Ambikesh Mahapatra.
Court ordered his release.
When a farmer asked the
CM about her government’s
plans for farmers, Mamata
called him a ‘Maoist’,
got him arrested.GAGGED: Before the LS polls,
Pri yanka Sharma of Howrah circulated
Mamata’s morphed photo. She was
arrested and released after the SC
ruled no one should be arrested for
merely criticising the government.SQUEEZED OUT: Since 2011, TMC
was hell-bent on squeezing the
Opposition. MLAs and councillors
were either bought off or coerced to
leave their party and join TMC.
Offices of Opposition parties were
forcibly shut down or occupied.POLL THREAT: In the 2018 panchayat polls,
TMC goons obstructed Opposition
candidates from filing nomination papers;
20,076 of the 58,692 (34 pc) seats went
uncontested; people weren’t allowed to vote.MEDIA MUZZLED: Despite
proclaiming herself as a champion
of democracy, the Mamata regime
strove to control the print and
electronic media. The government
used its advertisement spend
from the exchequer as leverage
against the media.JAI SHRI RAM: Three boys in Paschim
Medinipur district shouted ‘Jai Shri
Ram’ when Mamata’s convoy was
passing by. She got off the car and
threatened them. That video went viral
and BJP supporters started chanting Jai
Shri Ram; she responded by ordering
police action against the sloganeers.
UNPARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE:
With barbs such as “tight slap of
democracy”, the language she used
against Modi during the election
campaign offended people.
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Graphic by SAJI C.S.