I believe in pluralism in the world of culture too: Buddha

The political fallout of Singur-Nandigram movement has created such a sharp divide in the Bengal society that even the artists and literati are also divided into two opposing camps. In the last three years a number of prominent artists and intellectuals have deserted the Left and joined Mamata Banerjee's camp.

Today's meeting of the Left artists and intellectuals with the chief minister today brought this to the fore as most of the important names were missing when Buddhadev Bhattacharjee arrived at the meeting place. The packed theatre hall notwithstanding, hardly any big name was there. Film maker Mrinal Sen and chairman of the Sahitya Akademy Sunil Gangopadhyay sent letters expressing their solidarity with the Left, but Soumitra Chatterjee and a number of prominent artists were conspicuous by their absence. Those who were present, among them Madhabi Chakrabarty (Satyajit Ray's 'Charulata'), veteran filmmaker Tarun Majumdar, painter Isha Mohammad, stage personality Shobha Sen and Ashok Mukhopadhaya were notable. But they belong to yesteryears.

The absence of a number of artists was so obvious that during the question-answer session with the chief minister, Biplab Chatterjee, a film actor, asked him point blank, "The artists here have become divided into two opposing camps. Earlier, we were all united and when five years back I contested the election with Left symbol all of them rallied behind us. But, now many of them left us and joined the other camp. Perhaps, a majority of the artists are now with them. Do you think, there was something wrong in our attitude?" He merely said, "Well, I have always tried to take them along with us. I am not sure what made them leave us. Let us see..." But, he was more forthright when Tarun Majumdar tried to impress upon him the "need for government's intervention in suppressing the reactionary culture".

Buddhadev categorically told him, "I believe in pluralism in the world of culture too. In democracy, the opposition has the right to express their viewpoint. Any film, play or other form of creative activity, which is critical of us, should be allowed to have free run. There is no question of suppressing that."