Political violence should have no place in a democracy.

What is happening in West Bengal is heartbreaking. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s decisive victory in the assembly elections, violent incidents against its political opponents have continued unabated. In the last four days, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Secretary General Abhishek Banerjee and the party's Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha Kalyan Banerjee have been targeted in two separate incidents of violent protest. Abhishek Banerjee was attacked in Sonarpur town of South 24 Parganas district, where he had gone to condole with the family of a party leader killed in last month's political violence.

There, first abusive slogans were raised against him, then bricks and stones were pelted at him and rotten vegetables were also thrown at him. A day after this incident, Kalyan Banerjee was attacked. It was with sticks and sticks. He had to be admitted to the hospital due to his injuries. During both the incidents, the police initially remained a spectator; then they showed activity only when the work of those who made the reels of the two leaders' taunts and beatings was completed.

Such police action should be condemned. Although Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has condemned such attacks and ordered the registration of police cases, his recklessness is conditional. He says that the Trinamool Congress is ‘reaping its own harvest.’ The kind of atrocities and violence that its cadres have unleashed on their political opponents over the past 15 years are now being repaid by their opponents. However, he also assured that despite the ‘unending anger in the minds of the people against the TMC’, no one will be allowed to disrupt the law and order. Only time will tell to what extent such assurances are put into practice. 

There should be no place for political violence in democracy. The electoral system directly gives us the right to elect our representatives according to our choice. In West Bengal, the Left (Communists) were in power for about 34 years. Many scholars and intelligent people were associated with them. But the Communist system, despite its so-called intellectualism, continued to follow the path of patronizing political traditions like revenge and torture. This patronizing should have stopped during the next 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule, but the opposite happened. The scope of illegal activities of the 'grandfathers' of the days of comrades became more and more wide. The party started to disappear from the minds of the people due to the dominance and excesses of its 'syndicates'. As soon as the people got the opportunity, they did not show any affection even towards Mrs. Mamata Banerjee. The BJP's coming to power was being considered a symbol of the return of peace and tranquility, but this party has also been on the path of revenge from the very first day of its rule.

In fact, no state in the country is spared from such an unfortunate trend. Take the case of Punjab: Police DDR is being registered in the name of 'desecration' of 'broom' and then the political opponent is being arrested! In fact, the incidents of revenge or violence that have taken place after the results of the municipal elections cannot be considered a symbol of the health of democratic beliefs. They cannot and should not be buried in government files by calling them routine. This newspaper, during its editorial commentary on the municipal election results, had advised the winning party to give top priority to generosity and sense of duty. It seems appropriate to us to repeat this advice even now for the welfare of the people of Punjab and the betterment of political-economic interests.