The spicy puffed rice that chief minister Mamata Banerjee shared with BJP junior minister Babul Supriyo at Victoria Memorial during the Prime Minister's recent city visit sparked a live television debate on ABP Ananda, in association with The Telegraph, on Friday night at Park Plaza.
Two teams of four each took position for and against the motion " Jhalmuri bonam murir jhal: Soujonyer arale ashole rajnoitik subidhabad (Spicy puffed rice versus spice in puffed rice: Courtesy is cover for political opportunism)".
The most passionate speaker against the motion was poet Srijato. "We have become such cynics that we think two individuals in opposing parties cannot share a snack. They must always be brandishing swords at each other. We have forgotten politicians too are individuals. The situation reminds me of the play Romeo Juliet. In our state, if a Trinamul boy falls in love with a CPM girl they would be murdered if they marry. Nor can a BJP boy dream of courting a Trinamul girl."
He invoked the tale of Alexander the Great and King Porus who fought on the banks of the Jhelum in 326 BC. "When the vanquished king was brought before the Greek emperor, he asked him: 'What kind of treatment do you expect from me?' 'As befits a king by a king,' replied Porus. That is the first lesson in political conduct."
Both sides raised more such examples - Rabindranath Tagore and Gandhi differing about Swaraj agitation yet Gandhi Jayanti being observed in Santiniketan; Jadunath Sarkar refusing to join Visva-Bharati because of differences with Tagore over teaching methods yet the bard dedicating Achalayatan to him; Sambhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt not sharing good vibes yet the latter's reviews of the former's plays brimming with respect....
Theatre personality Debesh Chattopadhyay rubbished the logic that social intermingling among rival party leaders hurts the morale of the political cadre. "Have we come so far from the time of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy and Jyoti Basu (rival leaders whose individual rapport is now the stuff of lore)?"
Surajit Chatterjee, the lead singer of the band Bhoomi, also argued for politicians to have civil interpersonal relations as that would benefit people. "If the East West Metro wrangle is solved by the chief minister and Babul sharing a ride or a snack, we should be happy about it," he said.
The most politically fraught argument in the team against the motion came from Sugato Marjit, the economist. "Civility among leaders of various parties forms the core of coalition politics. And in a federal structure, it is difficult to underline if the state needs the Centre more or the other way round. Such is the atmosphere of cynicism that when chief minister Mamata Banerjee was not talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that made the headlines. And now that they are talking and touring Bangladesh together, tongues are wagging again. Do not trivialise political issues."
Cynicism rang out loud in the voices of the opposing team members. "It hurts me to think that there is a dark side to Babul having a private conversation with the chief minister. But such is the level that the politics of our land has come down to - uthoner jhogra (the quarrel of the common courtyard). Has anyone forgotten the taunting tone in which the same Babul Supriyo had spoken of Didi in BJP's Chowringhee meeting?," said Anindya Basu, the singer.
"There is no problem with civility but if one threatens to arrest the other by dragging him by a rope around the waist one day and suddenly becomes friendly with him the next, there is cause for suspicion about the motive," reminded actor Badshah Moitra.
His teammate Amal Mukhopadhyay, the former principal of Presidency College, refused to believe that any benefit to the state had come of the Trinamul-BJP proximity. "Has the interest on our loans been waived? The only outcome of the recent centre-state bonhomie seems to be the Sarada probe being sidelined. This is not civility but sheer opportunism."
The only politician on the panel was Manab Mukherjee of the CPM, whose leaders came under fire not too long ago for accepting a fish fry treat in the chief minister's chamber. Understandably, he defended the jhalmuri treat itself but sniffed a rat because of the parties involved. "Trinamul was the first party in Bengal to align with BJP. If they are hobnobbing again, why can't there be transparency in their dealings with an open declaration of their shared principles? Because Mamata has to protect her minority votebank. A politics that gives birth to the likes of Arabul Islam and Anubrata Mondol can have space only for political exigencies, not for individual courtesies. There is no civility in not calling black as black and white as white, only dishonesty."
Srijato rebutted that by pointing to the existence of gray between black and white as the space for dialogue. Mukhopadhyay concluded by pointing out how the debate itself underlined the shared dream of the people for political courtesies but remained doubtful if ever such a day would come to pass.
