The Waqf disquiet in West Bengal
The state’s political leadership should have communicated that its principled stance against the Act should not be read as licence to disrupt law and order
The Calcutta High Court’s order Friday that Central Armed Police Forces be deployed in Murshidabad district following the violence last week that claimed three lives is a severe indictment of the state administration. A tenuous peace has held on since in the district that saw mob protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turning violent, forcing families to flee their homes.
The Act is perceived by many as unconstitutional and inimical to the interests of the Muslim community though the Union government has argued that the new law will help improve the management of Waqf property, ensure compliance and avoid legal disputes. The law, passed after due legislative process, has been challenged in the Supreme Court. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has announced that her government will not implement the Act. It is against this backdrop that the people mobilised in Murshidabad, home to a large population of Muslims, turned violent. The state administration should have expected the worst since the buildup, partly encouraged by it, was ominous. Law enforcement agencies failed to do their job as evident from the violence and the court’s intervention. While the state’s political leadership can disagree with the Act, the CM and her team must ensure social peace. That’s their constitutional responsibility.
Since the communal situation in West Bengal is fraught, the political leadership should have been careful to communicate to the street that its principled stance against the Act should not be read as licence to disrupt law and order, that the matter was already in court. Then, it is very likely that both the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP in the state see this as an opportunity to score political points ahead of next year’s assembly elections. Unless saner counsel preserves, this is one pot that’s likely to keep simmering till at least next year -- and anything that simmers too long could well boil over.
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