DNA Edit: Politics of violence – In Bengal, political parties rely on firepower

The explosion in a northern suburb of Kolkata and the blame-game in its immediate aftermath between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP shouldn’t raise eyebrows. For the BJP, any tragedy in Bengal — man-made or otherwise — is worth milking for political gains. For the TMC, giving a saffron terror angle to a crude bomb blast is par for the course. 

However, what is conveniently forgotten in the blame game is how arms and explosives have become commonplace in Bengal where violence has become a byword for politics. There is a thriving business of illegal arms manufacturing, thanks to a growing demand for pipe guns, double-barrelled guns, and pistols and ammunition. There are many small manufacturing units in Kolkata and the suburbs which regularly supply “merchandise” to mafia syndicates, patronised by political parties. Outside Kolkata, all across the state, the districts too are caught up in an arms race. 

While Burdwan, Birbhum, Malda and Murshidabad record maximum cases of making explosives, West Midnapore, Bankura, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas are infamous for illegal arms units. It is said that while the arms units came into being during the Left Front regime when people from Bihar migrated to Bengal sensing a lucrative opportunity, their numbers have proliferated since the TMC assumed power in 2011. It is common knowledge that the lumpens from the CPI-M switched allegiance to the TMC when they realised that a change of guard had become inevitable. The ubiquitous presence of arms and explosives in densely populated areas — like Dumdum where the blast occurred and a 8-year-old boy lost his life — shows how in a bitter political war, Bengal is the collateral damage.