Mamata vs institutions

Banerjee is peeved because the cartoon row earned her widespread condemnation for the absurdly disproportionate and illegal use of state force to silence free speech. Now,the human rights body’s compensation order is the crowning embarrassment. But it was only the latest in a string of rulings adversely affecting the government. Politically,a Calcutta High Court ruling which struck down the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act was the most damaging. But no matter what the “provocation”,it is highly improper for a chief minister to attack the judiciary in public. The judiciary has self-correcting mechanisms for curbing corruption and Banerjee can invoke them if she has the evidence.

When she defeated the Left Front 15 months ago,Banerjee had proclaimed the “end of autocracy and atrocities.” But she did not even wait for her honeymoon period to draw to a close before responding to a growing body of critics with behaviour that is widely seen to be intolerant and whimsical. So far,she had targeted the civil rights of adversarial individuals,whom she denounced as Maoists. But now,what may have begun as an ad hominem attack on Asok Kumar Ganguly,who chairs the SHRC,has developed into a questioning of judicial ethics. From inconvenient individuals,Banerjee has raised the crosshairs to target independent democratic institutions.