Bengal at the crossroads: Time to end violent, identity-driven politics

The cost of this identity-obsessed and alliance-driven politics is borne most brutally by ordinary citizens and party workers.

- SANTISHREE DHULIPUDI PANDIT

Border states like Manipur, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Bengal and now Ladakh are facing divisive politics, violence based on narrow identities and a crisis in democratic governance. Isita larger pattern to stall India’s independent eco-monic growth, and development? ‘These are through internal differences exploited by external powers and global NGOs who have exploited this. The work done on Bengal polls, instigated violence and illegal immigration being legitimised to win elections isextremely dangerous to India’s secular democracy and our Constitution. In Bengal, the border has moved by 20 km, where non-Muslims cannot even buy property. This brilliant study was done by Prof Vidhu Shekhar [SPJIMR, Mumbai] and Prof Milan Kumar [1IM, Vishakapatnam] through fieldwork and data collection.

IDENTITY POLITICS AS A CRUTCH

For over a decade, Mamata Baner-jee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC) have sought legitimacy not only through governance claims but also by invoking a nativist brand of Bengali identity. Pride in language and culture is natural, but when it becomes the primary lens of politics, it risks degenerating into exclusion, and at times, a tool to legitimise violence. Campaign speeches, controversies around migration, and repeated “Bengal versus outsiders” narrative have created an “us” versus “them” dynamic. The consequence of this is immense, as moving forward, the democratic competition becomes less about development or governance, but more about “identity” and “be-longingness.” This narrowing of politics weakens the inclusive idea of Bharat, where regional pride should complement, not compete with national solidarity.

NORMALIZATION OF VIOLENCE