Rare Bengali Intellectual Sanity

Faceebook post on Apri 18, 2012

Rangon Chakraborty has written an excellent article in AnandaBazar Patrika on Tuesday April 17th. Insanity of emotionally charged intellecualism that leads to protests against on symptoms, allowing the cause of illness to fourish as usual is an inherent chracteristic of weak quality intellectualism that pervades Bengalis. Rangon makes three specific points. I agree with substance of his points. I state these points in my own way as follows. First, there should be no let up in protesting agaist abuse of power to stall democratic rights of individuals like arresting a person for alleged obscene cartoon forwards in the Internet, like beatiinfg up journalists, like refusal to record FIR against criminals and letting them go scotfree, etc. Two, the intellectuals must accept the reality that a Lady can become a more popular leader in a short while with insanity, ineptness and dictatorial attitude: rather, they should give up their highly egoistic of brow beating a lady into doing things that they consider right and democratic. Third, the so-called intellectual tirade against Mamata should shun abusive languages and gestures not expected of intellectuals even when they are trembling in rage: such behaviour, as has been observed in not only the Internet but in TV debates and public addresses, is neither democratic, nor in good taste and only lifts the intellectual veil. Third, such poor quality intellectualism does not by itself make the great majority of the common denizens realize the great substantive points being made by the intelligentsia: rather this maby simply perceived as intellectual ganging up against an honest, simple, accessible woman working hard to improve the conditions of the poor with direct communication with the weak and the poor. The masses know how polite was the behavoiur of a section of the intelligentsia when they had agitated to protect the oppressed just two years ago and the majority of the intellegentsia kept mum as they were being oppressed.


Current state on intellectual behaviour of being up in arms against a vastly popular leader may result in wastage of time and effort: it may help bare the pride and arrogance on intellectualism rather than being effective in uprooting the cause of the disease that inflicts the polity of Bengal. Each one of theincidents that intellectuals are protesting about has very little to do with violation of the sophistication (gaalbhora) -coated democratic rights, individual liberty and freedom, and human rights.. We know for sure that those who read Ananda Bazar, Telegraph and Ganasakti will continue to read them even if the libraries cannot be funded to purchase these newspapers by theState - this is remotely connected to freedom of the Press or censorship of news and views. If the intellectals cannot assess this: the poor and the weak will soon perceive the false crying wolf on the intellectuals. The same is true of gagging the Internet and Internet cartoons. If at all the Internet cartoons will explode and the State has no power to stop all this. Common people will soon find such cartoon books freely available everywhere - thus cutting the credibility of the intellectuals'/ intelligentsia's dramatisation.

The intellegentsia must recognize that all the incidents that have enraged them is caused by a single root cause: the hooligan raj in the daily life of citizens. It is only hooligans who beat up aprofessor, dominates the police personnel at the low end to harrass thecommon people, loot the small businessmen and traders through collection of ever increasing extortion fees. These hooligans have been ruling the common people, making money and purchasing the political leaders andthe policemen. Now that the earst-while hooligan/ goon dependent political party has lost power, it was ideal time to confront the hooligans directly, instead of indirectly blaming the police and the ruling government - such tactics yielded nothing in thelasttwo decades except that the goons and hooligans rose from strength to strength making thepolitical leaders and the police to make a win-win compromisewith them at the cost of the common citizens. Intelegentsia must challange this monster directly and continuously. The police and the political leaders must be rescued from the clutrches of hooligan raj or throw out the political leaders and policemen in deep bond with hooligans. No political party or Policechief would take up this job and even if oneor two try they would be annihilated. It is the Intellegentsia and the Press including TV that can pursue the hooligans as they oppress and extort commoners on a daily basis - not through protest march with candel lights but by direct communication with the police bosses and the political leaders. This may be an oneroys task. But who said that a superficial, lazy and intellectuall weak Intelligentsia and media can contribute to elimnation of a disease they allowed to grow over thel last three decades?