Bengal on the brink?

The CM is battling a problem of her own making

The recent communal troubles in West Bengal – seven in the past month, according to the state police – should sound loud alarm bells for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Already battling a crisis over Gorkha rights in the hills, West Bengal can ill afford flare-ups in Muslim-majority districts abutting Bangladesh, with which it not only shares a 2,217-km border but which is being roiled by Saudi-financed Islamic fundamentalism. True, the deliberate spread of incendiary fake news feeds via social media bears a large share of the blame. But Ms Banerjee must surely bear responsibility for not responding quickly enough to