"West Bengal has witnessed a spike in communal violence during Mamata Banerjee's tenure. There have been the infamous Canning and Deganga Riots and communal incidents increased to 106 in 2013. The previous five years witnessed about 12-40 communal incidents.
Mamata understood the importance of Muslim support during the Nandigram agitation in 2007
Many attribute the recent belligerence of Muslim hardliners in West Bengal to the politics of appeasement played by Mamata ever since she came to power.
Is there any appeasement? If yes, what are the dangers? What are her political compulsions? Has her slogan of Maa Mati Manush taken a back seat?
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When she came to power the entire state was behind her. Now her administration has failed to meet expectations. With the elections approaching, she is now relying on the 30% Muslim vote to come back to power. (Muslim votes are a deciding factor in 120-125 seats) She is also relying on the muscle power provided by some Muslim leaders and clerics. She has created a Frankenstein Monster through her policies," says a source close to the government."
He is referring to the imam allowance as well as the state funding for Durga Puja committees. These days, even Chhat Puja is celebrated with political patronage. The motive isn't just votes, but muscle power during elections.
"Muslim leaders who hold sway over a section of the Muslim masses, will never let Mamata take them for granted. They have figured out that as soon as they criticise her, she will announce a few sops," said a source.
However, many prominent Muslim leaders like Toha Siddiqui, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, IPS officer Nazrul Islam and renegade left leader Abdur Razzaq Mollah have severely criticised Mamata for failing to deliver on her promises.
The CPI(M) has alleged that TMC Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Hassan Imran is a front man for the banned terrorist organisation Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh and was a leader of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India.
He is also said to have got loans worth crores of rupees from Saradha company, which were allegedly used to destablise the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh.
Chakraborty feels that Mamata's style of politics, though dangerous, lacks vision. Her policies are directed towards the individual (like giving out bicycles to Muslim students, rather than building a school or a road in a Muslim dominated region) or the superficial, like renaming of Aliah University to Aliah Madrassa University.
Otherwise, her policies are based on polarisation - from sealing Namashudra votes in North 24 Parganas to consolidating Muslim votes and creating a rift between Gorkha activists in the Darjeeling region.
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