In the latest indictment of the Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court gave landmark judgment on May 22nd. It has unmasked a decade-long deception perpetrated under the guise of social justice. The High Court’s decision to cancel an estimated 5 lakh Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates, primarily issued to Muslims since 2010. This was a grotesque manipulation of the reservation system for electoral gains.
The Topics of Reservations
This calculated abuse of the reservation policy by the Trinamool Congress is a brazen affront to the principles of the Indian Constitution. It is also a cynical exploitation of marginalized communities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly condemned the West Bengal government, highlighting the fraudulent nature of this scheme. “When the High Court’s judgment came, it became clear that such a big fraud was taking place,” he remarked, further stressing the unacceptable abuse of the judiciary for political purposes.
Mamata Banerjee Responds to High Court
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s defiant response to the High Court’s verdict is emblematic of her disregard for the rule of law. She asserted that she will not adhere to the court’s ruling. She will continue to grant OBC reservations to now-invalid groups is an egregious overreach of executive power.
Banerjee vowed, “I don’t accept Calcutta HC’s verdict. OBC reservation will continue as it is” .
The Calcutta High Court’s judgment is a damning critique of the TMC’s policies. They are exposed as unconstitutional and sectarian.
The court explicitly noted that the West Bengal government committed “fraud on the Constitutional power of the State” by enacting legislation that bypassed the necessary role of the Commission in identifying new OBCs.
This act of legislative deception is a clear violation of the Supreme Court’s directives in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992. It mandates secular and impartial identification of OBCs.
The court’s observation that the state government’s actions amounted to treating Muslims as a ‘political commodity’ for electoral gains is particularly scathing. It highlights, yet again, the deep-seated rot in Mamata Banerjee’s administration. Policy decisions are driven not by a commitment to social equity but by the exigencies of vote bank politics. This verdict is an unequivocal condemnation of the TMC’s strategy of exploiting Muslim community for political leverage.
Muslims As OBCs
It is telling that the inclusion of Muslim communities in the OBC category began under the Left regime. It was the TMC government that significantly ramped up the issuance of OBC certificates to Muslims post-2011. This move was less about genuine social upliftment and more about consolidating a loyal voter base. This is a Machiavellian political strategy at play.
The Calcutta High Court’s ruling should serve as a wake-up call to the electorate and policymakers alike. Mamata Banerjee’s blatant disregard for constitutional norms and judicial rulings is a dangerous precedent. It threatens the very fabric of West Bengal.
Mamata Banerjee’s tenure, marred by this scandal, is a tragic testament to the corrosive effects of vote bank politics. The High Court’s judgment is not just a legal rebuke but a moral indictment of her government’s priorities. In the end, the true victims of this deceit are the Hindus of West Bengal. Their genuine needs have been sacrificed on the altar of political ambition.