Chief minister, forgive us not, for we know what we are saying

Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri on Tuesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, December 2, 2014: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do

Gospel of Luke 23:34,

The Holy Bible,

King James Version

Hey Eeshwar, edeyr khoma koro, era janey na era ki bolchhey (O God, forgive them, for they know not what they say)

SERMON 1

Mamata: We are under attack because we are the only credible, strong Opposition in Parliament. They want to destroy us because we are trying to strengthen and unite the Opposition

FORGIVE US FOR POINTING OUT...

• The Saradha scandal predates the change of guard at the Centre. Media has been reporting on the scandal extensively even before the NDA came to power at the Centre

• The scandal is hogging the limelight now because of the CBI probe — which was ordered by the Supreme Court, not the Centre

• The charges that have embarrassed the chief minister the most were levelled not by the CBI but by her own party MP, Kunal Ghosh, and other Trinamul associates. Few people were closer to Mamata in her first year in power than Ghosh

• Mamata claims she is being targeted for trying to unite the Opposition. But the biggest blow to Opposition unity was delivered by Mamata herself when she rushed to meet LK Advani, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh during her Delhi trip meant to attend a Congress event on Nehru. Even on Tuesday, she alleged brotherhood between the CPM and Modi just because Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar extended civility to the Prime Minister of the country. If this is indeed “Opposition unity building”, the BJP should count Mamata as a valuable ally

• So far, tokenism has marked Mamata’s attempts to take on the BJP at the Centre. Protests with black umbrellas, earthen pots and red diaries have largely drawn derision in Delhi

SERMON 2

Mamata: We run a government where everyone, from the grassroots to the cabinet, is available on the phone. I ask you, as party colleagues, to always respond to calls, even from an unknown number

FORGIVE US FOR POINTING OUT...

While some of Mamata’s cabinet colleagues are available on phone, inaccessibility marks the most important ministry in the state: finance.

A few hours after the chief minister spoke on Tuesday, this newspaper dialled finance and industries minister Amit Mitra’s number. At 6.53pm, the call was answered by an officer on special duty, who said the minister was “extremely busy” in a meeting and would remain so “indefinitely”

SERMON 3

Mamata: Youths have the right to blunder. I am not saying this. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had said it. The youths must be brought to the fore. In their enthusiasm to work, they will commit blunders sometimes, but that is to be forgiven

FORGIVE US FOR POINTING OUT...

This newspaper asked several Trinamul MPs about the statement the chief minister attributed to Netaji. None could shed any light. A senior party MP known for his erudition in history said he did not know where Netaji made such a statement.

According to the MP, Netaji, in his presidential address at a youth conference in February 1929, had said: “What are the signs of youth in life? That there is youth in it is proved if a life never accepts the mere present and its facts and realities as entirely true… if it rebels against all shackles of tyranny and injustice….”

Netaji’s remarks were made in the context of the role of youths in the freedom struggle.

• Consider some of the “blunders” Trinamul youths have been accused of committing: extortion in the name of construction material syndicates; intimidation of and assault on principals; taking bribes on the promise of regularising illegal admissions....

If erring is human and forgiving is divine, the chief minister does walk on higher ground.

Who else but those blessed with divinity can say — when the principal of Raiganj University College was beaten with bamboo sticks in January 2012 — “a small mistake” by “little boys”?

COMPILED BY MEGHDEEP BHATTACHARYYA IN SILIGURI