In this episode of Editorial, HW News Managing Editor Sujit Nair discusses the egg attack on TMC MP Mahua Moitra, allegedly carried out by BJP workers. Mr. Nair questions the BJP government in West Bengal and the police for their inaction. He also makes a broader point: such attacks on political opponents could be a strategy to pressure them into defecting.
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[00:00:00] Is Mahua Moitras being in a way threatened because she is standing firmly with Mamata Manarji? You saw ED strategy, you saw IT strategy and now the egg strategy? You have started a tradition. You've harmed this country. You're harming this democracy. Namaskar. Welcome to another episode of Editorial.
[00:00:30] Mahua Moitras, Tridamul Congress MP, she was attacked with eggs and vegetables in her office yesterday. Just have a look at the video. Please note, see what's going on. Please see, see. I'm a thak chak and... What is going on? Please see, will the police watch it?
[00:00:56] This is a BJP mob been standing here for the past one hour, have called the DGP, have called everybody. Police are sitting and watching. CRPF is watching. Please note, this is a BJP mob standing there throwing, felting eggs and vegetables. Please note, please, can everybody see this? This is what is happening. This is my area. I'm an MP here. I'm in my office. I am not going to move. Please see their faces.
[00:01:25] Tomorrow, West Bengal government, please note, please note, West Bengal government will deny to do even an FIR. No police will take cognizance. No courts will take cognizance. CRPF, watch it. Call the police, defend the police. They are watching. The mob is continuing. Continuing. Now, the thing is, she alleges that this attack was carried out by
[00:01:51] Bharatiya Janata Party workers and she says that she has recognized faces among the mob, who people who were part of the Bharatiya Janata Party and they were instigating the mob to throw eggs and vegetables at her. This is what she says. This is what she alleges. Hello. Sir, this is a video for Siddhinaat Gupta, the BGP West Bengal who is no longer picking up my phone. Sir, I called you as the minute this happened. I'm doing a meeting in my party office inside private
[00:02:17] premises in my constituency and a huge mob of BGP workers gathered outside and started pelting eggs and stones and everything through the windows and eggs. And when I came to the window to see what was happening, it even hit me and hot me through my toes, as you can see. And the reason I'm putting this out there is that the police never came. I called you, you asked me for the location which I gave.
[00:02:44] And after that, the police have come and the police have just stood and they are watching this. They are watching the fun and they have put the BGP workers on the side. They have not dispersed the mob. And they are waiting for me to get into the car, after which the BGP will heckle me, throw eggs. Not that I'm not bothered about all that, but I'm not going to run away from here. Your job, sir, your job, sir, Mr. Gupta, is to disperse the mob. The job of the police is to disperse the mob.
[00:03:09] It is not to make me fight and take you anywhere. It is for me, it's for you to disperse the mob, sir. So I hope you see this video and I hope all of India sees this video. You're an IPS officer, your DGP of State. Thank you, sir. I hope in the next 10 minutes you will clear the mob. I hope so. Thank you. Now, the thing is, two things. She's pleading to the DGP to help her. We see police standing down, whether it is Bharatiya Janata Party or whatever. We see police down and police seems to be chilled.
[00:03:38] They are not doing much to stop those people from throwing eggs and vegetables at her office. They are not doing much. The question is, why is the police not stopping? The question is, why is the government not taking a stern step saying that, listen, hello, elections are elections, politics is politics, but we will not allow our opposition leaders to be harmed. Why is the government not saying that? Isn't it part of their responsibility? Is that not what democracy is all
[00:04:06] about? And that's the question I asked today. You see, she was not the first one to be attacked with eggs and all that. And I'm sure she wouldn't be the last one. In fact, Somitra Banerjee was attacked. Kunal Ghosh was attacked. Madan Mitra was attacked. Abhishek Banerjee was attacked and he was also attacked with stones. He had to wear a helmet. We saw all that. We saw all that.
[00:04:31] And I'm sure you are seeing that on your screen as I speak. The point is, is this how democracy is run? Now, I believe this, I think this is, that's my opinion. I could be wrong. I could be right. But my opinion is that this is part of a strategy. And this is a very, very well thought of strategy.
[00:04:56] You see, Mauva Moitra has been seen speaking against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last 10, 15, 20 days or right after the election. She has vocally spoken against Bharatiya Janata Party. She has vocally supported Mahmata Banerjee. And she said that she's going to stand with Mahmata Banerjee.
[00:05:39] Mahmata Banerjee. Is she being, in a way, threatened? Because she's standing firmly with Mahmata Banerjee? Is she being warned that you continue saying all this and you continue supporting her, this is going to be your future?
[00:06:08] Is she being warned? Is this a way to intimidate her, threaten her like they threatened others? That's the point we need to introspect. We need to investigate. Is this a new political strategy? You saw ED strategy, you saw IT strategy and now the X strategy. Is this the new defection strategy that has been planned? Question one.
[00:06:36] Question two. Think of what is going to happen? You see, this is happening in West Bengal. And this is being seen by the entire country. This could spread. Imagine every person who questions the power, every MP, MLA, public representative who questions the power, he or she is attacked with eggs.
[00:07:03] What is going to happen? What is going to happen to our democracy? Tomorrow, we could see that in Maharashtra. If you don't defect, if you talk for Uddhav Thakre, if you talk for Congress, if you talk for Sharath Pawar, tomorrow somebody would come and attack you with eggs. Especially if you are an MLA or an MP. You never know. It could happen. I'm not saying it's happening, but it could happen.
[00:07:26] Because that's the precedence you are allowing. Because those people are busy laughing and throwing eggs at an MP's office, that to a lady. And nothing seems to be happening. The police are standing on the side. Isn't that a message being sent to everybody? Because end of the day, there is double engine sirkar there, bhai. Isn't that a message being sent to every other worker on ground saying that, hey, if that guy doesn't join you or doesn't support you or talks for your opposition, go and throw eggs at him.
[00:07:55] You see, while all of this is happening, what is happening in the parliament? The NDA is inching towards two-third majority. And that too, it's not that all the seats were necessarily won. A lot of seats are defection, which means I voted for somebody and that somebody has gone and joined the party I voted against. This is the value of my vote. That has happened. So now join all of this together.
[00:08:25] And if I say that this is a pure strategy of forcing, coaxing, coercing defection, will I be wrong? And this coercion strategy could be replicated in the entire country. You don't vote for us, we will make our life miserable. Today eggs, tomorrow God knows. If this is the message that you are going to send to every person who is going to stand against the party in power,
[00:08:51] think what is going to happen to our democracy. And mind you, nothing is permanent. The system may change, the power may change, the parties may change, but the attitude remains, the culture will remain, the tradition will remain. Today one party does it, tomorrow somebody else will do it, and day after tomorrow somebody else will do it. This tradition will continue. You have started a tradition.
[00:09:16] You've harmed this country, you're harming this democracy. You know what troubled me more is that in my morning post that I put on my webpage and Facebook and that is HW webpage and Facebook and all that, I had written about this. I had written about this egg attack. The response I got from general public,
[00:09:39] not all of them, fairly decent percentage was actually celebrating the fact that Nova Moitra was attacked with eggs and vegetables. They were celebrating the fact. A lot of people wrote back to me that she reserves it. A lot of people wrote back to me saying that you know, let her collect all the eggs and make the burjee out of it and eat it. A lot of people wrote back to me saying that you know, hey what are you talking about earlier on TMC had put bombs at least these guys are only putting
[00:10:08] eggs so it is all good. See the question is, again like I always say and I always want to continue saying this. Whichever political paradigm you belong to, end of the day throwing eggs is not harming Mauva Moitra. She got phenomenal amount of mileage because of that. It is harming you. It is harming the democracy of India. It is harming the concept of democracy of India. That's what you need to realize.
[00:10:38] Please understand. And it's a very, very important point that you have to internalize. It harms you. Politicians jump from one party to another. Politicians will go for the for their benefits. End of the day, all of this harms the people of India, the citizens of India. Secondly, you see for people who write to me like I told you in my yesterday's editorial, I repeat myself, people who write to me saying that you know the previous government did it. So what now these? Hello? You elected
[00:11:07] this government because they should be better than the previous government. If they are going to repeat what the previous government did, why did you elect this government in the first place? Isn't that logical? This is the point I wanted to make and I hope Miss Mauva Moitra is safe. I hope she remains safe. Till I see you next time. That's tomorrow at 10. Namaskar. Trzyment All