The Country likes to Know:
Is Arson a Chanakya Policy?

Bhaskar Majumder

Look East! And now, before it is late. Yes, I mean east of India and not countries like NICs (Newly Industrialized countries in the east as known to the World Bank and apologists of WB path of development). The East India (not East India Company of the colonial master) is in flames. The political masters are engaged in rape (of course in discourse), imminent Budget of the Government of India, Savarkar and all that. Temporarily J&K is sidelined by formation of new identity, of course legally. Most of the anti-nationals, of course, do not know Savarkar and do not know what he wrote to British in 1913. Aam Admi are not bothered about who was more patriot and who less – they do not know most of the names also for reasons known to the political determinants. My anxiety at this historical juncture is, houses are in flames.

I have no iota of doubt that arresting some and putting them in jail will not stop the inflammable situation that I visualized so far in Assam and partly West Bengal. But because of acceleration, it may be more intensive in West Bengal, God forbid. Since 1946 I did not experience any riots in West Bengal – by riot I mean engagement of two groups of religious fanatics engaged in conflicts leading to injury-death. At this point of time I observed loss of public property and loss of peerless human life. Public property can be recovered by the technique of destructive Keynesianism – remake the assets burnt-lost by new labourers engaged that will also generate employment. Is destructive Keynesianism also a neo-Chanakya policy?

The esteemed Parliament of India has passed the CAB – it could have drawn guidance from its passengers what would be the destination. The route/process is of course pre-fixed in a CAB. Meanwhile CAB is in the Apex Court – so I am afraid I am not in a position to make much comments on it notwithstanding the fact that some of my students and colleagues asked me why I abstained from entering into the domain. But I am now in the Anchor state – the Heartland and learnt to keep silence on issues that are befitting Chanakyas. Is there Monopoly Chanakya or Duopoly Chanakya? Monopoly presupposes non-substitution non-competition; duopoly presupposes collusion for success of marketing.

So far, it was beating around the bush. Even if Gandhi had been responsible for Partition, by 70 years we could have learnt to be mature to live in peace. I rectify myself here. Decades back I had the venomous view that peace was the prerogative of the property owners. As a late learner, I try to understand now that people need peace. They do not need strife. Then why the states are in Arson? The situation recreates Agony of West Bengal. I have no doubt that West Bengal has to pay the price for its being different. But what surprises me is, this is nothing new – it happened more during the British era with or without Subhas Bose, Bagha Jatin (Jatin Das), Kshudiram and all those. They were both the collaborators of the colonizer that helped them to enact Act related to Sati Daha, widow remarriage and set up institutions of higher learning. Bengal not only had Bankimchandra and Rabindranath but also Ashutosh Mukherjee and Shyamaprasad Mukherjee. I don’t believe if Bankim Chandra or Shyamaprasad been alive today they would have loved to find their brothers’ houses in flames. And remember, fire spreads!

One of my students asked me long back why Marx did not accumulate capital and wrote Capital? My answer was very simple – that his question made Marx alive. Now in the Heartland students opined, ‘’Marx ne violence shikhaya’’. I do not find any link between arson as I find now in Assam and West Bengal and Marx’s Communist Manifesto or Capital. Let there be no theorization of arson. It kills. Also I am afraid the parents may decide to shut down their homes to stop their innocent children go out to be killed. The reasons may be unnumbered like fire, firing, and accidents of many types. I also apprehend the schools to universities may be declared closed, if sanity prevails, to stop the ambitious students to come to study. So, overall what did we get so far? One CAB was enough to stop mobility-movement of sane innocent people. Are they safe inside their own house? I doubt – for fire spreads.

A few months back I penned that Draupadi was born of fire – that led to devastation – killing both the sides. But there was Shakuni in facilitating the genocide – it was not Chanakya. I read Kautilya’s Arthashastra authored by L.N. Rangarajan (for my knowledge in Sanskrit is very poor). I did not find any such strategy that led to fire-arson and burning of houses of the innocent people. And why target the eastern border? Shakuni played the game on the western border covering Hastinapur and Kurukshetra that now covers west UP and Haryana probably (probably because my knowledge of Geography is also very poor). Let there be no surprise – my poverty of knowledge prompts me to use pen for I don’t have gun.

But then it is my problem and not my problem. It is my problem for at the level of my sub-national identity I am a Bengali with my root in West Bengal as the son of a refugee family. It is not my problem for my temporary relocation to the Heartland. I could never understand how fraternity be appeasement – but now I am being taught that. That is a bigger question. For the time being I request whoever Chanakya is to stop this game for it may show premature end of an adorable civilization that has the capacity to carry all.

If the game cannot be stopped at the moment, I would request in my personal capacity to relocate the game to the Heartland or the anchor state that has the carrying capacity. Both the World Wars were fought on the European soil for it had the carrying capacity (1914-1918) and (1939-1945); one bombing on the Asian soil was enough to stop the Second World War. The Heartland being robust, it can withstand the consequences for all the percentages of occurrences will be divided by 250 millions. Assam or West Bengal has a denominator much less that may show the impact much more. I beg to propose this relocation as an alternative Chanakya policy.          

Bhaskar Majumder, Professor of Economics, G. B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad - 211019

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Dec 16, 2019