Is Rape a Political Matrix?
Bhaskar Majumder
The state of West Bengal has been changing very fast–from an end of communist rule that stretched over 34 years to autocratic rule for 15 years and ultimately to the ‘Hindutva-hegemonic’ rule. The BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) has come to occupy political power since May 2026 through electoral politics that has installed ‘double engine’ government and that pledged ‘rule of law, not rule of the ruler’.
The diabolic rape-cum-murder or gang rape-cum-murder of a girl, aged 12 studying in standard six in Baruipur came to the notice of the people and political masters through electronic media. The local police remained allegedly indifferent even after it was informed about the missing girl. The fact was that the local people discovered the dead body of the victim in a pond. After some hours police came into action. The parents of the victim accused the police of ‘inaction’ even after being informed about the missing girl
Damage was done by then–the crowd lynched a man in presence of police and in full public view–mobocracy! Instead of addressing the issue, political war started from all sides–ruling political party, former ruling party, and a little from the left. Smt Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar who left Trinamul a month ago reached Baruipur to meet the parents of the victim who claimed that the CM sent her to see the conditions in Baruipur–surprising or that she became part of BJP–nothing wrong that is to be told boldly and loudly in the political public domain. The dissident Trinamul Congress members like Hritabrata etc went to the same venue to hear public voice ‘chor, balishchata’ showered on them. The representatives of Trinamul Congress minus former CM who was under house arrest known in media as ‘Kalighat Trinamul’ went to the same venue one day before the dissidents went. Finally, the present CM went after the birthday celebration of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was held in Kolkata in presence of central Home Minister. The present CM assured all positive steps that would be taken to arrest the culprits and pledged ‘capital punishment’.
It does not make much sense to accuse the crowd some of who were alleged to be instigators that might have led to burning of police vehicle and injuring a few police. It might have been that some in the crowd were compulsive communists as some were compulsive communalists–differentiated social breed. Rather than justifying public unrest and instead of going against the targeted public, it might have been wise to address the question and the question was rape-cum-murder of a pre-teen age girl in Baruipur. It did not make much sense to brand some of the protesters as Maoists, deshdrohi, terrorists, radicals, communists. The problem had to be addressed–why repetitive rape in women-empowered state West Bengal?
The major question comes around the role and responsibility of police–a public assurance by the police minister to protect-promote police first even when there is interest-conflict between people-police may encourage police atrocities more. The question remains, who arrests the police for their unlawful action?
Social matrix or layered arrangement of people in society is different from political matrix, though polity is the consequence of grouping of people that earlier constituted society. The originator cannot be accused for all the derivatives or consequences–the derivatives are planned products and also unplanned wastes. Hence, there are some people with nuisance value that gets reflected in aberrations and deviations from planned or optimum outcome. The serious question is, production of social wastes must not result in rape that is more than physical death. This needs social training to make male society understand the reciprocal rights of individuals and groups of individuals. The basic question centres on human rights issue that is hardly understood by the offenders. These offenders include not only the lumpens but also and institutionally more so the police–man with a gun for legal use.
The latest news received through electronic media is that the main informer, Prabhas Mandal, was shot dead by police while he was in ‘police care’–it was alleged as encounter death. Most people of the locality did not subscribe to the idea of ‘encounter’–their idea was that the man under ‘police care’ did not have the courage to challenge the gun-empowered police. They also doubted that somebody outside those arrested was being protected for his political alliance. It seems encounter death of the accused was a political-police necessity. Agony continues. [Bhaskar Majumder, Prof. (Retd.), G. B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad] Content courtesy: The Frontier Magazine, Pic courtesy: CNN
