Napoleon is credited with having observed that in politics one should never retreat, never retract and never admit a mistake. There are innumerable practitioners of politics in India who seem to give an almost scriptural credence to that injunction. Their innumerable missteps, misdemeanours, even misdeeds spill out into the open, but never does a word of regret emanate from their lips. It took over two decades for the Congress to formally express regret over the 1984 riots, and from the BJP we haven’t yet heard a convincing word of remorse for Gujarat 2002. If democratic politics is about the constant exchange between the rulers and the ruled — in ways ranging from criticism in the media to results of electoral contestations — the correctives that emerge from such interaction need to be acknowledged and addressed.

It is against such a measure that the Bengal CM’s remarks of regret over Nandigram in Delhi need to be assessed. The Bengal chief minister unequivocally recognised Nandigram as a “political and administrative failure”. He also expressed remorse for his “paying them back in the same coin” statement. He now says he wants “peace... peace for all sections”. At last, it appears, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is speaking the language of a chief minister, not that of a party cadre. But he must also know that if “peace for all sections” is to come about, it will require more than words. He must now ensure that justice is done even if it means holding the CPM’s own cadres to account. He must also personally step in to see that those who now find themselves without homes or access to their land because they happen to be on the ‘wrong’ side of the state’s political divide, are provided the necessary security to rebuild their lives.

... contd.