Suman set to grow new roots in politics

Kabir Suman is thinking of a new beginning even before the battle is over.

The outspoken Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian, who is at loggerheads with the Mamata Banerjee-led party, is mulling over the formation of a new political outfit even before there is clarity on his future in West Bengal’s principle Opposition as well as the Lok Sabha.

Basing the need for a “third front” on the fact that the Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front have outlived their political necessity, it is understood that Suman's contemplations have been shared with author and activist Mahasweta Devi, who has counselled him in recent days.

“Although I can't do anything right now because I am associated with a (political) party, I have been thinking about a new entity that will be non-violent and secular. It will be an open-minded organisation where individuals can disagree,” Suman told Business Standard.

After all, the TMC's discouragement to express dissent has been the primary reason why Suman is now fighting the party he had joined last year to defeat the incumbent CPI(M). Although steadfast in his derision of the Left, the artist-turned-politician has disagreed with the TMC on the Naxal issue, especially Operation Green Hunt.

Over the past few months, Suman has come out in open support of the PCPA (People’s Committee against Police Atrocities), which is widely understood to be a front for the Naxal rebels. At the same time, he has been vocally protesting against the joint operations by security forces in the affected areas of West Bengal and the neighbouring states.

Earlier this year, Suman even released a musical tribute to PCPA’s now imprisoned leader Chhatradhar Mahato at the Kolkata Book Fair.

However, Suman’s stance has not gone down well with his party, which shot off a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker after the MP has text messaged his desire to quit the party. “But I have been asked by thousands from my constituency to not resign from the party. Let them expel me,” he said.

After Naxal rebels killed 76 security men in Chhattisgarh earlier this week, Suman has now raised the bar and offers a new paradigm.

“My condolences to the families of those who have died. But both parts of the violence must stop,” he said, referring to the alleged atrocities by security forces in the Naxal belt, “I am willing to lay down my life to stop this violence.” When asked whether the Home Minister, P Chidambaram, should be responsible for deaths of villagers due to operations by security forces, Suman felt that the deteriorating situation was a collective responsibility.

“Parliamentarians should be sent to the villages to live there and understand the problems. We should live like them. Why doesn’t the government use us? What are parliamentarians there for?,” he posits.

Whether his fellow lawmakers in Parliament will be amenable to Suman’s proposal is open to conjecture.