Left in Bengal is losing power. Navaid Hamid argues that a big reason is the loss of support from Muslim communities that have voted for the left in the past but have seen evidence of religious discrimination even as the leadership of the left made empty promises.

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The recently concluded Municipal bodies elections in West Bengal seems to have brought firebrand Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress is the second largest group in India's ruling UPA alliance and is also Union Railway Minister, one step more closer to the chair of the Chief Minister of West Bengal at Writer's Building in Kolkata. If it had been any other state than West Bengal, which is being ruled by Left Front since last more than three decades, one would have agreed that local bodies elections rarely reflects the trend for the battle for the highest office in state in future but the massive loss of the base of Left parties in West Bengal is not an ordinary political event and can not be dismissed in lighter vein.  

The State has been a strong bastion of the Left movement in India. After the collapse of USSR from where the left have always taken inspirations, many have wondered that for how long the Communists in India would hold their fort. The opponents of Left parties have mocked about their survival and had predicted their downfall sooner or later because of the declining interests in Marx ideology across the globe.

Ironically it's not the declining interest in Marxism which has brought the Left rule to continuous decimation in West Bengal. The arrogant attitude of its leadership, the slow process of development and its biased policies against the Muslims in West Bengal are major factors that are harming the electoral interests of the Left alliance in the State. Being the dominant partner of the Left Front in West Bengal, CPI(M) seems to be the major culprit for the sad state of Left Front's decimation.

Soon after the results of the local bodies were announced, one of the top most leader of Left fort, Mr. Biman Bose, Secretary of CPM in West Bengal, admitted that Left have lost because of the decline of its support amongst the Muslims. He is absolutely right and his is a bold and candid admission by any of the top CPM leaders.

The discontent against the CPM led front in the Muslim community was so high that for the first time in the history of Bali Municipality Board in Howrah District, there would be opposition benches. Incidentally in the 35 member Municipality, all opposition members would be Muslims belonging to Trinamool Congress.

The erosion is not a sudden phenomenon. I have visualised the breeze for upcoming change around 3 years back when the West Bengal chapter of Jamiat Ulama e Hind has spearheaded a campaign against the State Government's move to acquire farmer's land in Singrur and Nadnigram. So jittery was the leadership of the Left parties that they had approached the central leadership of the Jamiat to dissuade the state leadership from the move. For subsequent years, the Muslims of the state have strongly felt that the CPM and its allies have been indulging in acts of discrimination against the Muslims of the State.

Muslims who constitutes a little more than a quarter of the State's population have been the most neglected, marginalised and discriminated group in the state under the three decades of Left rule in West Bengal. The same has been also pointed by the Sacchar Committee, constituted by Manmohan Singh Government during UPA-I tenure to study the Conditions of the Muslims across India.

With no government jobs; no financial backup to Muslim entrepreneurs, denial of opportunities to be Left alliance candidates in elections as per their numerical strength in various elections -  from local bodies to Parliament, agricultural land have been one of the basic source of income and empowerment for good percentage of rural Muslims of West Bengal. A substantial number of the farmers effected by the move of the State Government to acquire land for Tata's Nano were Muslims and the State Jamiat found it right opportunity to jump in the fray, along with others, to raise voice against the acquisition of farmer's land for Tata. It was first ever attempt by any of the non political Muslim group in the State to raise its voice in an organised way against the Left hegemony in last 30 years. When ever I have spoken to ordinary Muslims of the State, they have bitterly reacted against the State administration and the Left leadership in last 5 or so years. That was totally new phenomenon for me.

On 3rd March 1978, Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of the State admitted on the floor of the WB legislative Assembly that the Muslims of West Bengal are very very much backward due to many historical reasons. In subsequent election manifestos the Left Front proclaimed the principle of due share to the minorities including the Muslims.

Seven years before the candid admission by Jyoti Basu, the West Bengal Cabinet of Democratic Coalition Government of Congress, Muslim League, P.S.P, C.P.I., Forward Block, Gorkha League, Congress (O) and Jan Sangh has adopted a resolution, on 27th June 1971, for proportionate Reservation for Muslims and other minorities in Public Employment and had decided to appoint Talukdar Commission (J.N. Talukdar I.C.S Retd. and former Chief Secretary of State) to investigate about the reasonable preferences to minorities including Muslims in Government services.

After the fall of the Democratic Coalition Government, the Left parties along with the Muslim League of West Bengal were in the forefront to demand Reservation for Muslims in Employment and had submitted a memorandum to the then Governor in 1972.

Ironically the same Left Front, after taking reigns of power forget their intentions which they have proclaimed through the Talukdar Commission and to their joint agitation for Reservations for Muslims of 1972..

The Left Front not only did nothing to fulfill the promises it had made to the minorities and particularly Muslims - to empower them -educationally, economically and politically but had also bitterly opposed the demand of Reservation for Muslims and even denied them their equitable share in political hierarchy, by denying party nominations to them as per their numerical strength in elections after elections.

Never in 34 years of its ruling history, the CPM and its allies have been able to send more than 7 percent of the Muslim representatives to the State Assembly  because of the simple reason that they have never addressed, seriously, the question of low representation of the Muslims in the state legislature.

In the recent concluded Municipal bodies elections, out of 86 contesting candidates, there were just 25 Muslims, accounting to merely 30 percent of the total candidates, of the Left Front in the Distt. of Murshidabad where the Muslim constitutes 70% of the total population. In this highest Muslim concentrated Distt., CPM had not even considered any Muslim worthy to head its party's unit. The most amazing aspect of the CPM's defense of their partisan act is the logic that it is not necessary to have representatives from same communities if they are in a majority in a particular area. If that has been so, why they have failed to give representations to the Muslims from those constituencies where Muslims have lesser numerical strength? The situation in Malda, another densely Muslim concentrated District is not different from that of Murshidabad.

For the first time the Kolkata Municipal Corporation would have the highest number of the Muslim councilors, courtesy Trinamool Congress. Trinamool begged 11 Muslim dominated wards where as combined Left could got just 8 of them (CPM-4, RSP-2, Forwards Block-2) and the Congress 3.

On the issue of the Women Reservation Bill too, the CPM have taken a strong stand to oppose the demand of Muslims and the OBC women to have their sub Quota with in Women Reservation Bill. They are indulging in misleading the nation that after the introduction of the Women quota in the Panchayats and other local bodies, Muslim women have been benefited. Their whole argument is hollow as they deliberately avoids to mention that these Muslim women have been getting elected from those constituencies which have either overwhelming or substantial Muslim population. They also deliberately ignores that the small constituencies having five thousand or so votes can not be compared to sprawling Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies having two hundred thousands or so voters in state Assemblies and ten hundred thousand or so votes in Parliamentary constituencies.

Caught on wrong foot after the Trinamool voiced its concern and lent its support to address the apprehensions of the Muslims on the issue of Women Reservation Bill,  the CPM for the first time through Basudeb Bhatacharya tactically tried to be seen supporting the WRB with  quota for Muslim women in an all party meeting convened by Congress trouble shooter, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on April 5th 2010, when Mr. Basudeb conveys, "This is not constitutionally possible. But we are not opposed to looking at the proposal if brought by the government." Mr. Basudeb forgets that with the ongoing process for a major amendment to give quota for Women in the Legislatures, it would be much easier to have a sub quota for Muslim women too. Constitution of India do debars discrimination on the ground of gender too. If it has not been so, there would have been no need to amend the constitution and initiate the process for reserving the seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies.

Instead of opening new modern educational institutions for them, the Left Government through Madarsa Board of West Bengal took control of the Madarsa's in the state and introduced modern subjects in their curriculum. No body can deny the importance of the introduction of the modern subjects in Madarsa's but does that have really helped the Muslim of the state at the larger level ? Sacchar Committee pointed that the most educationally backward Muslims of the country belongs to the state of West Bengal. The statistics of Sacchar are proof of the malaise and the discrimination, the Muslims of the state had faced.

In its long rule of 34 years, the Left Government had not only discouraged the opening of the new educational institutions by the Muslim NGO's through rejection of their applications for recognition years after years but also had not addressed the issue for their educational empowerment by failing to open Government schools in Muslim concentrated pockets of the State. It was nothing but a criminal negligence on part of the Left administration to deny the opportunities of education to the Muslim community in the State.

By indirectly taking control of the Islamic Madarsa's in the State, the Left Government, abdicated itself of its constitutional responsibility for extending educational environment to the Muslims of the state. Most of these madarsas, subsequently became centers of education for pupils of all caste and religions.

After the electoral victory in 2006, the Left leadership through Biman Bose assured the Muslims of Bengal Bengal at the Public Reception organised by Milli Council, which has tactically supported the Left alliance candidates in Assembly elections, that the State Government would ensure the opening of primary schools in every Muslim concentrated village but that promise was never considered worthy to be implemented practically.

If we come to the presence of the Muslim in the Public Employment and the recruitment by the State Government, following statistics are enough to understand the trend of the Left Rule in WB:

On 31st August 1977, the Muslim I.A.S (WB Cadre) were 2% ;  Muslims in WB Higher Judicial Services were 2% ; I.P.S (WB Cadre) were 4% ; I.F.S (WB cadre) 1 out of 78 ; Muslims in WB Police Services were 6% ; Muslims in West Bengal Senior Forest Services were NIL. <source: Q 202 dated 5/5/78 as in Legislative Assembly Reads>

Out of 211 Officers in Calcutta Corporations 6 were Muslims and out of the total strength of 32,935 employees of the Calcutta Corporations 4,230 were Muslims.
<source: Q 208 dated 21/04/1978 as in Legislative Assembly Reads>

On 1st April 1978, in the Information & Broadcasting Department out of 44 Class I officers there was ONE Muslim ; in Class II officers, out of 76 there was ONE Muslim ; out of 723 Class III employees there were 12 Muslims ; out of 398  Class IV employees there were 15 Muslims.
<source: Q 1424 dated 28/04/1978 as in Legislative Assembly reads>

On 1st April 1978, in Rural & Small Scale Industries Department, out of 119 Class I officers the percentage of Muslims was NIL ; in Class II officers, out of 385 there were 20 Muslims ; out of 1,498 Class III employees there were 53 Muslims ; out of 839 Class IV employees there were 30 Muslims.
<source: Q 1428 dated 28/04/1978 as in Legislative Assembly reads>

On 1st April 1978, in Calcutta State & Transport Department, out of 98 officers  there was ONE Muslim and  out of 13,232 employees there were 101 Muslims.
<Source Q 280 dated 07/03/1979 as in Legislative Assembly reads>

Let us see the trend of the recruitment of Muslims in State services in January 1980, nearly after more than two years of the statistics given by the State Government in State Assembly. The Government to various Questions responded with following statistics:

Question No.   Date     Department          No. of Appointments        No. of Muslims

129                 7/3/80  Fisheries               29