“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…..” that is the heaven of freedom Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore had envisaged free India to be. That is the heaven of freedom that our freedom father had spilled their blood endured the prisons and atrocities for. Bengalis seem to be enamored by Tagore more than anybody else. In fact, Tagore is a way of life that is constant in Bengalis. It is probably because of that that the meek oft lazy non-confrontational Bengali becomes a fighter when the head seems to be attempted to be pushed down, when the mind is tried to be surrounded by fear. Bengalis appreciate a straight spine and a head held high. That is the way of the quintessential Bhadralok.
Bengal elections amidst its many plays and side plays have established this trait of Bengalis towards a straight spine a head held high and proud and a mind that will not be clouded by fear. In cho0sing the TMC over the Goliath-like BJP is the most prominent establishment of this trait. When the whole of the country was enamoured, entranced, or bullied by the Goliath that is BJP with its duopoly of MoSha, Bengal chose to think of its own. It chose the David-like wheelchair-bound lady who held her own over the power that was at its doorstep. Bengal held her head high, back straight, and refused the catcalls and the enticements alike. Bengal kept her mind unclouded of the fear that such rejection would and is bearing fruit. Bengal chose to keep her mind free of fear of the possibilities that the radical polarisation the pre-polls promised. Bengal and her Bhadralok people were true to form and the words of Gurudev.
The center is unleashing its might on the state in the face of the refusal handed out at the hustings like a sour loser. Agents like the governor and the CBI is out to prove how unstable the state is. It is of course a slight on the mandate handed out by the people of Bengal, but as they say, all is fair in war, and so the war continues with Bengal and her populace as its fallout. One of the sideshows of this play between the BJP at the center and TMC at the state is the bureaucracy and more specifically the just resigned Chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay
Hailing from the hinterlands of Bengal, a meritorious student Alapan is an embodiment of what is good in our system. of the great middle-class dream. A good student striving to do good for himself and his country being able to do so. A political science postgraduate he was a 1987 cadre IAS officer. For about 34 years the gentleman has diligently served Bengal and his nation, in various capacities rising through the ranks till he assumed the highest possible bureaucratic position possible in the state. This is the story of diligence merit and hard work. The reward is just and deserving. If it ended thus.
Unfortunately, this pinnacle of Alapan coincided with the tussle between the state and center, a fistfight as bad as two grisly bears trying to establish their dominance over common territory. But before we come to the dirty let us pause to applaud the ascent. Alapan an alumnus of the esteemed Ramakrishna Mission School Narendrapur and the Calcutta University. He is a gold medal winner in political science in his post-graduate course. After his enlistment as an IAS, he has served with distinction as the District Magistrates of key districts around Kolkata like Howrah and the two 24 Parganas, north and south respectively. Other crucial roles he has played include the commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the head of the State Election Commission. Some key departments he has headed include MSME, Transport, Information and Culture, and lastly Home as a Principal Secretary. His last posting after the home portfolio was to be alleviated as the chief secretary of the state. Throughout his career, Alapan has been characterized by his flawless deliverance in chaste Bengali during press conferences and an ever-straight spine that kept his head held high on his shortish physical stature. Alapan has been well respected by his peers and more importantly b the people of the land because of his exemplary behaviour and character over the years that he has been in the public eyes spanning two radically different styles of governance, the left, and the TMC. Owing to his efficiency Alapan was accorded an extension of service post his due date of retirement on 31st May this year, especially on the backdrop of the cyclone Yaas and the crises due to the second wave of corona raging in Bengal post polls in April.
After the cyclone Yaas, the PM visited the cyclone-affected areas of Odisha and Bengal on 28th May. He planned to hold a review meet at Kalaikunda airbase where the CM was invited along with the governor, the leader of opposition in the state assembly, and a central minister from Bengal in attendance. The CM for reasons best known to her, decided to not attend the meeting and after making a guest appearance to hand over a report to the PM departed for her pre-decided schedule with Alapan as the chief secretary in tow with her. Subsequently, Alapan has been in the eye of the storm for not being a part of the review meeting. He was immediately told to report to the central pool with no department assigned on 31st May the day he was originally slated to retire on. The state government chose to not release him and the straight-backed gentleman subsequently retired on the day he was originally slated to retire. He was subsequently appointed as the chief adviser to the CM. The drama continued with the Ministry of Home Affairs then sending a show cause to him under the National Disaster Management Act, to which he has subsequently replied. The push and pull continue to this day
The question that looms at us through this is the maturity of the powers that be in our country. The question rises on the essence of the freedom that is available to us, on the spine that is allowed to remain straight in today’s milieu. If this is accorded to one of the most senior bureaucrats of the country where does the mango man stand? Was the government right in recalling such a senior bureaucrat in such a partisan manner is debatable. That too when neither he was interested in a central deputation nor the state willing to release him. The state had sought the extension on the premises of his continued role as the chief secretary in this moment of crisis Once he retired and got out of the ambit of the service code, he was given a show cause for not attending the meeting. He had only followed the instruction of his Master of the day the CM of West Bengal when he exited the meeting along with her. How can he then be faulted? The question will also stay as to whether such a show cause was proper in the first case. He has been questioned for not being present in the meeting as that being against the National Disaster Management Act. The fact of the matter is he did not abstain from the meeting but exited per instruction of his superior. Also, there was no proviso of the Act that was rendered broken as there was no specific instruction that he did not comply with and hence not in contravention of the act. This just renders this act into a mere proxy war of egos between a beleaguered prime minister and his political rival and equally combative chief minister. But who is the loser in the crossfire? The people of Bengal in losing an adept administrator and Alapan himself in return for his long service to the state, which saw him come to office even on a day when at 4 am in the morning he completed the last rites of his own younger brother, lost to covid.
The MHA is today examining his response to try and besmirch him or penalize him. The WhatsApp university and associated social media are today talking about the appointment of his wife as the VC, his brother’s wife being accorded a consultative position. The question remains does a person who has served Bengal for 30 odd years in a manner that has been beyond reproach for so long deserve this today. The bureaucrat in him maintains a stoic silence but the Bhadralok in him is for sure affronted. It is time for the Badraloks of Bengal again to rise p with their head held high and mind without fear to question this. It is time for us to hold on to the middle-class dream of study hard work hard become that Alapan has demonstrated and not let that be crushed under the whims of an immature political master who neither understands the ethos of Bengal nor appreciates the will and mandate of Bengal.
