Inaction hurts people: Jawhar Sircar

The month-long movement for justice in West Bengal, led by students, women and civil society, has been a battle cry for change. The protestors have done what they could to distance themselves from political parties.

Their goals may not be sharply outlined, but there is no mistaking the fury against the state administration, which has seemed less concerned about their grievances and more focused on damage control and managing the political fallout. It does not help her cause that Mamata Banerjee is currently the only woman chief minister in the country and has a reputation as a firebrand who always stood up to bullies and always defended the interests of women.

Already besieged by all the uncomfortable questions from her political adversaries, in the state and at the Centre, from the judiciary and the media, the public resignation of Jawhar Sircar (72), former Prasar Bharati CEO and retired IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre — whom Banerjee had handpicked — would have embarrassed her further.

Sircar, who is halfway through his six-year term in the Rajya Sabha, and still backs Banerjee to survive the crisis, spoke to Anuradha Raman on why he decided to quit:

Why did you feel the need to write an open letter?

I sent the letter on Sunday, 8 September, and I put it out on X the next day. This was not a private note but a public message. It needed to get across to other members of the party. The contents were meant to be a wake-up call for the party. I had to put it out in the public domain.

Is there a problem in airing views on serious issues directly with leaders? Is there a breakdown in communication within the party?

All parties have the same problem. Whenever there is something important to convey, members, even MPs, find themselves bound by rigid structures. I had the opportunity to speak to members across party lines as a parliamentarian.

Whenever I asked them why they couldn’t speak to their respective leaders, they would say chhoro, chhoro (forget it, let it be). The TMC is not an exception.

How would you describe your relationship with Mamata Banerjee?

It has been fine, though now she will be annoyed with me. She will think this was the wrong time for me to walk out. But I think it was the right time. It is also the right moment for her to take the right decisions. I believe she should come out and address the anger among the people.

Isn’t it now a bit too late?

Mamata is still the undisputed leader in Bengal and remains the only bulwark we have against communalism. I believe she is capable of doing anything. Unfortunately, all leaders think they are being unfairly heckled and criticised, which is not always true.

You have been compared to Vibhishan (who, as the Ramayana story goes, betrayed his brother Ravana), while you yourself have described your resignation as hara-kiri for the larger good. What good do you expect to come out of what you call a selfless act?

The day my resignation is accepted in the Rajya Sabha, I will pack my bags and walk away. Please remember that the Rajya Sabha was the reward a certain chief justice of India aspired to. A Rajya Sabha ticket is the one thing that most newspaper editors covet; it’s a position that comes with perks. If giving it up is to be Vibhishan, the person who said this needs his head examined.

You’ve said it became difficult to remain silent…

I kept quiet for a whole month. I am not a political person; mine was a lateral entry into the TMC. I am from civil society, which often does not have a civil tongue. We represent what we consider the voice of the informed public.

Immediately after the horrific incident at R.G. Kar, I asked: “Why haven’t you suspended the principal of the college?” I was told we are disciplined soldiers of the party and should abide by its decisions. Fine. But on Facebook, I gave an interview in Bangla, in which I said the party should suspend the principal immediately. I was accused of speaking out of turn. I argued that by suspending the principal, the administration and the party would gain credibility. I did not say this to embarrass the party.

Who questioned you when you spoke up?

Every party has people who ensure that members do not break ranks. I was asked what I wanted. I said: suspend the guilty. Take demonstrative action. Question the police. Let’s be transparent in our actions. Because of my years of working as a civil servant and administrator, I had also sent a ‘to do’ list, which included a call to suspend leaders who were taking bribes and building mansions. Inaction hurts people. I happen to be the only former administrator in the party. If you don’t take my advice, whom will you heed — the ice cream wala?

I’d sent a similar list of actions that should have been taken by the party in the last one month. There is a difference between demonstrative action and delayed, reluctant action. I could see the delayed action that followed. That’s when I decided, enough is enough. This, despite having said in public that Didi is capable of jumping into the fire to sort out an issue.

There were reasons to believe, though, that the agitation was not all spontaneous…

I have been on the streets, where I’m not recognised. This movement is too dispersed, the protestors too diverse to conclude that they are [all] being egged on by political parties. The BJP has its own agitators, who get pulled up by the police. Let’s not confuse the two. Reach out to the women protestors. Reach out to the striking doctors.

This movement is turning out to be an acid test for the Mamata government. What should the chief minister do?

I have been observing her since 1983. I have seen how she overcomes odds. She has the spirit; she can do it. She and her people might be angry with me momentarily. But her stand on women’s empowerment is genuine and undiluted. It is tragic that this incident took place in a state where women are actually empowered.

There is a context to this agitation. Calcutta has repeatedly been declared the safest city for women by the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau). The women of Bengal have been an empowered lot for a long, long time.

They are Durga and Kali. I know; I married one. They have minds of their own, voices of their own. In that context, when they are saying what you have done is not enough, they need to be heeded. Their protest is an attempt to reclaim not only the night but a space other states have not yet thought about. The women of Bengal are actually fighting a battle for the rest of India.