I was wrong when I compared the communist chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal to Macbeth three days ago. Unlike Macbeth, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee does not seem particularly upset by the deaths he has caused.
Fourteen people died when police fired on angry villagers protesting against government takeover of their land to build a special economic zone and a mega chemical factory hub in Nandigram, more than 100 km from Calcutta (Kolkata), four days ago.
But the chief minister did not condemn the police. He merely said it was an "unfortunate" incident.
It was he who ordered the police to crack down on the agitators. So he had to accept full responsibility for the incident. But his remarks were cursory and grudging. And they came only two days after the incident — after a political storm during which he was chastised even by his communist predecessor, former chief minister Jyoti Basu.
The chief minister shows scant regard for human life if his only reaction to the death of 14 people is to call it "unfortunate".
But life has apparently become so cheap in West Bengal that any expression of sympathy for the victims earns a stern rebuke from the leading local English newspaper. One should read The Telegraph editorial.
West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, asked if the shootings couldn’t have been avoided. The Telegraph hauled him over the coals. The governor’s "emotional outburst" was wrong, it said, because he is expected to advise the government in private.
The Telegraph also criticised the Calcutta High Court for ordering an investigation into the police firing. The court should have waited for the government report, it added.
I was surprised by The Telegraph editorial, especially since the newspaper’s own front-page report suggested the police shot to kill — and not, as expected, to disperse — the villagers. Those killed had been shot either in the chest or in the stomach, it said. Between 400 and 500 rounds were fired on a crowd of 2,000 villagers, it added. And yet the editorial was critical of those who condemned the killings.
I can imagine why The Telegraph took that line. The chief minister is keen on economic reforms. The special economic zones he wants to create will bring new industries and create more jobs. The state capital, Calcutta, already shows considerable improvement: he is building new facilities and promoting the IT industry. His plans meet the aims and aspirations of the middle class.
But I expect a newspaper to have a conscience too, maybe because I grew up in Calcutta reading The Statesman. There was no Telegraph then. I remember The Statesman boldly stood up to Indira Gandhi even during the Emergency when other newspapers were forced to fawn on her.
The Statesman is no longer Calcutta’s leading English newspaper. Even I prefer The Telegraph’s sleek look. But The Statesman still has the courage to speak up — and came out in support of the governor and the high court. It shows a concern for human life that the chief minister and his defenders would do well to emulate.
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