Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum's Demonstration Against Fratricide in West Bengal

Stop Fratricide

Build Up Working Peoples' United Resistance

Defeat Political Factionalism, Bloodshed and Murder

Post election violence is still continuing in West Bengal. The state has already earned the title of worst affected state in terms of poll violence. Stopping candidates from filing nominations, capturing areas and election booths, indiscriminate firing and bombing, murdering rival party supporters like scoring goals in a  football game.  In this ill fated state election means hooliganism, physical assault, bloodshed and death. 

Who are killed? All victims of this hooliganism and fighting between political parties  are poor and toiling people. Nobody can even touch the leaders of political parties who roam around under police protection. And in front of that very police force common supporters or cadres of political parties are attacked, injured or murdered by one another. 

Why this violence? The political parties are solely responsible. The leaders of political parties use their cadres and supporters as pawns to capture local areas and election booths.  Stopping candidates from filing nominations, attacks on election campaign of rival political parties, stopping voters from casting their votes, false voting - there is no dearth of misdeeds. Rewards are in the offing. He who can manage to provide the candidate with a lead in number of votes - gets access to political and money power in exchange. Criminalisation of politics turns into politics of criminals. With increase in intensity and spread of violence common people are compelled to leave their homes in search of places where they can save their life or property and earn livelihood.

Whither the administration? The police protects the political leaders - the real perpetrators of violence and criminal activities. They do not protect the common people - who are victims of violence. Siding essentially with the ruling party the administration generally plays the role of bystander. How long the common people will be victimised? How long the political parties will play with the lives of the common people? How long people living in the same locality will be turned by the political leaders of electoral parties into their henchmen and made to attack each other?

Recently political violence killed three people in Sandeshkhali block of the district of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Pradeep Mondal, Kaiyum Molla and Sukumar Mondal. Who were they? All of them were from fishing community. The poor families depended on their earnings. Young wives, kids, aged parents all are left in the lurch. Leaders throng to en-cash the deaths. Shameless politics does not spare even the dead bodies. Flood of promises pours out - from taking all responsibility of the victims' families to financial assistance, jobs - nothing is left out. The people of this ill fated state know that these promises live at best up to the establishment of memorial stones for the dead under the banners of political parties. After that poverty and neglect engulfs the victims' families.  

This political violence pushes back the real livelihood issues of the toiling masses and bars them from uniting on their common demands. Bidyadhari river of Sandeshkhali is severely polluted. Thusands of fisher families have left the area in search of a living. The Government or Pollution Control Board take no action. 'Land to the Landless' and 'Own House, Own Land' schemes had been announced with fanfare, yet thousands of poor people including fishing communities still live in shacks besides roads, canals or rivers. Government official or political leader - none has the time or intention to take up these issues. Villages after villages are being declared as 'clean village', yet hundreds of poor families do not have any toilet. Corruption, nepotism and dereliction of duty have become habit of the government officials and political leaders. 

Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) holds high the banner of revolt against this. Unmasking the machinations of political parties DMF urges upon the toiling masses including fish workers to say no to this political violence, refuse to be played in the hands of political leaders, oppose fratricide and unite on common issues, issues that are affecting their life and livelihood.

DMF activists of  took out a campaign on 24th June, 2019 from Malancha Bazar to Kanmari Bazar of Minakhan block. The campaign was participated by representatives from 5 blocks namely Sandeshkhali, Hasnabad, Haroa, Minakhan and Basirhat. The voice of dissent against political violence is spreading to different areas.