[Reader-list] Kamduni

[A. Mani]

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Kamduni: A Short Story on Killing



Debasish Chakraborty

in Kolkata



THE nondescript village of Kamduni struck the headlines through a
horrible incident. It was a killing of a college student after mass
rape, in broad daylight. Now, after nearly four months of agony and
distress, Kamduni is victim of chilling terrorisation, State-sponsored
bulldozing of the conscience.



On 7th June of this year, Kamduni, a village in North 24 Parganas in
West Bengal, witnessed its most tragic incident. A student, returning
from her college around 2pm, alighted from the bus and was walking
towards her home. Daughter of a very poor family, the girl was full of
dreams, not only for her, but for the entire neighborhood. She was
forcibly kidnapped, taken to a nearby construction site, was gang
raped and finally murdered. Her body was thrown beside a pond.



Search for the girl started hours after, as her family members felt
concerned as she did not return home even after evening. Neighbours
began to search for her and some disturbing clues led them to the
construction site. The caretaker, later proved to be one of the
culprits, was forced to open the gates and the body was finally
recovered. Outbursts of anger forced the initially indifferent police
to act and some arrests were made. Some of the main culprits were
still away and after mounting pressure and statewide condemnation, the
police nabbed them. It was also clearly evident that the culprits were
local level activists of Trinamool Congress and close to the local TMC
boss. It was a wholesome case of lumpenisation of the village and its
vicinity, abetted by the ruling party.



The subsequent events are already well known, much of them were
reported in national media too. The villagers, infuriated, staged a
demonstration with the dead body of the victim; the TMC member of the
parliament who rushed to help the culprits was challenged angrily by
the villagers. The chief minister initially refused to visit the
victim’s family and was severely criticised by all sections of people
in the state. Finally, she went there, visited the family for two
minutes and instead of sharing of grief angrily shouted down the
village women who wanted to tell her about the activities of the
anti-socials in the area. Mamata Banerjee, famously told them to “shut
up” but was responded by resilient villagers who told the chief
minister that they would not shut their mouths.



They did not. The villagers continued their protests, in their own
strength. Their demands were simple: adequate legal process,
punishment for the culprits, and security for the villagers. They
organised processions in the village, school children came out in
numbers to demand justice for the victim. The father and brothers of
the victim refused to accept compensation or employment from the state
government. “Kamduni Pratibadi Mancha” (Kamduni Protest Forum) was
formed with all sections of people in the village. The response from
the ruling party and the government was ferocious from the beginning.
Not only the protesting villagers were dubbed as agents of this or
that political forces, they were hounded by police and local thugs.



Two women - Tumpa Koyal and Mousumi Koyal - who courageously faced the
chief minister on her visit, were particularly targeted. They were
even forced to stay away from the village. In the name of
investigation, state police began to harass the villagers. The
headmaster of the local school was served show-cause notice by the
state government as students of his school protested the rape and
murder. TMC MLAs and leaders from the other areas camped there and
monitored virtually every movement of the villagers. The ruling party
showed brutal inhumanity by organising picnic and ‘football
tournament’ in the villages a few days after the killing. The
villagers practically refused every such method of terrorisation and
stood their ground. They even went to meet the President of India and
expressed their grievances. The people of the state too were greatly
anguished and waves of solidarity flooded throughout the nook and
corner of the state. A mammoth rally was organised in Kolkata at the
call of intellectuals where people mobilised breaking barriers of
political polarisation. Kamduni became a synonym of courageous
protest.



Meanwhile, the judicial process started and it was evident that the
prosecution side was consciously lethargic to pin down the culprits.
One after another plea from the culprits went virtually unchallenged
and the real hearing was delayed. The court of hearing was also
shifted from Barasat, the district headquarters and closer to Kamduni,
to Kolkata. The villagers routinely gathered outside the premises of
the court and were stunned to see the indifferent attitude of the
government to fast track the judicial process. In one and last such
gathering the police beat up the villagers in Kolkata and some of them
were hospitalised. The uncle of the victim, an important witness in
the case, was hurt in the police lathicharge and was later
hospitalised with a chest pain. He expired in a Kolkata hospital under
doubtful circumstances, triggering another round of protests.



The ruling party continued their pressure on the villagers to ‘shut
up’. The uncanny pressure tactics were led by the minister in charge
of food, Jyotipriya Mullick. TMC activists threatened villagers with
dire consequences if they participate in protests. The entire village
was practically under strict surveillance of TMC activists and state
intelligence. Finally, the theatre of the absurd reached its nadir and
a parallel organisation in the name of Kamduni Peace Committee was
formed in district TMC office. Some of the TMC leaders became
portfolio holders of the committee. They announced that from now on,
this committee will monitor everything in the village and no protests
would be allowed. The committee, a front of the ruling party, began to
monitor everything including MNREGS work, distribution of ration to
families etc. Anybody moving independently will face the wrath of the
state administration, it was pronouncedly announced.



The terrorisation resulted in a tragic turn when the family of the
victim was forced to declare their disassociation with the protesting
villagers. The state government declared that they would provide
employment to the father and brothers of the victim and compensation
would be paid. This was done after the brothers were brought to the
Writers’ Building to meet the chief minister. No one knows what
transpired in the meeting but days later a leaflet in the name of the
family was issued in which insinuations against the protesting
villagers, particularly the faces of the protest - Tumpa and Mousumi
were abundant. The leaflet, written in typical political language,
heaped praises on the chief minister and her “Ma-Mati-Manush”
philosophy and explicitly declared unquestioned loyalty to Mamata
Banerjee. The leaflet, interestingly, was distributed in Writers
Building by the state administration. “It does not reflect the views
of the family, they were forced to sign in a blank paper”, the
villagers told the media persons.



Kamduni was shocked. The villagers met and decided to know from the
family the truth behind all these. But they were not allowed, a heavy
protective ring of police persons were already deployed there. The
villagers of Kamduni, as of now, decided not to go ahead with the
platform they constituted for the protest. Many of them are scared,
apprehending further attacks on them; some are frustrated, all hoping
the culprits will still be punished.



Kamduni, the scene of a ghastly crime, has turned to be the place of
State-sponsored killing of conscience. That West Bengal is not only
witnessing an all round attack on political opposition, but also a
frightening process of terrorisation of human spaces has been exposed
in a marginal village.

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Best

A. Mani



A. Mani
CU, ASL, AMS, CLC, CMS
http://www.logicamani.in