What is the value of human life, especially in a state like West Bengal? In every human tragedy, be it the fire in a hospital in 2011 that killed 89 people, the poison tragedy the same year that killed 167 people or the most recent disaster that saw an under-construction flyover collapsing in the midst of a busy intersection, the response from the government and the opposition is always the same.
The drill is repetitive and insulting to every human who has lost someone they love through no fault of their own.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared at the disaster site, calling upon every top bureaucrat of her government, and tried to control and micro-manage the relief operation, to show her hands-on approach to governance, her down-to-earth pro-people government.
She instantly announced a relief package for the victims and blamed the erstwhile government and the Left party members for the disaster.
The opposition is equally predictive. They come like droves, blame Banerjee for her inefficiency, claim that the relief operation is ineffective and that more lives could have been saved had she done more, call her government names and blame her ministers, as people languish in misery.
This drill was repeated last Thursday when the flyover came crashing down.
In her first address at the site of the disaster, Banerjee’s opening statement blamed the erstwhile government for trying to wash their hands of the tragedy. Continuing the tokenism, she announced a monetary compensation for the families of the dead, even without trying to ascertain how many had died or what could be done to save those lives still trapped underneath the piles of concrete.
Her first concern was to ensure that she and her government were not blamed by the voters. After all, it’s election time and what should be of more concern to her than an emphatic victory at the hustings? Those 27 lives are just numbers, which should not affect her “Ma Mati Manush” (mother, land and humans) government.
You can criticise her for her insensitivity, but ordinary people have long ago become just voters in this state. Their very existence is because they vote; if they don’t, they are futile and a sheer burden on the exchequer.
For Banerjee, her first priority is to stay in power. Her very existence depends on that. She has given everything and is willing to give away all that she may have acquired to be in power. If that comes at the cost of a few lives stuck underneath the debris that’s a small price the citizens have to pay to be a part of a great democracy like India.
Smashed car’s sticker
One of the vehicles that was smashed underneath the flyover and has since become a “tourist attraction” has a sticker on its rear door, still intact after the crash, claiming “I love my India”.
Is it real love or just a hallucination of being part of a membrane of a sovereign, democratic, secular country, which is often described as the bright spot in the world?
The darkness under the lamp has been displayed in this country for years. Those 27 people who died were neither politicians, celebrities nor top-rated businessmen. They were mere voters who toiled all day to earn a living and suddenly became the afternoon news bulletin after having died as a bridge meant to ease their lives ended up killing them.
A “high-powered committee” as they are often termed in this country has again been formed. Some bureaucrat will spend millions of rupees of taxpayer’s money trying to ascertain the cause of the accident.
He will also be pressured by the same politicians to ensure that none of them or their kin who had been awarded contracts to build the flyover are implicated and his main task will be to find a scapegoat whereby politicians can pronounce the rule of law.
As one watched the footage of the flyover collapsing, one is provoked into thinking what the people underneath could have been thinking, unaware that death was staring at them. These people might have been planning for the day ahead, worried about trying to make ends meet, oblivious to the fact that their lives were about to end.
Very soon, a newly elected government will be in place. Whether it is Banerjee or the Left parties, another disaster will not be prevented as those in power or in opposition will only be blaming each other.
However, people will continue to die and committees will continue to investigate and we will celebrate another victory of democracy of having an elected government. That somewhere someone will shed a tear for those who died on that fateful Thursday is another matter that will be of concern to only a few people.
Archisman Dinda is a journalist based in Kolkata, India.
