West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has adopted an unconventional form of protest in her intensifying battle with the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, authoring a collection of 26 poems that she says captures the pain and resistance of people affected by the process.
Titled SIR: 26 in 26, the poetry book was released on January 22 at the 49th International Kolkata Book Fair and carries evocative titles such as Panic, Doom, Mockery, Democracy and Who Is To Blame.
In the book's introduction, Banerjee dedicates the verses to "those who have lost their lives in this ruinous game," alleging a "relentless campaign of fear" unleashed on the people of Bengal through the SIR exercise.
The protest, though symbolic, comes amid her ongoing legal fight against the exercise. The Bengal CM's writ petition, challenging the poll panel's ongoing exercise in the state, is being heard in Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Banerjee said that she wrote the poems in just a few days while travelling between engagements, adding that the verses reflect a spirit of resistance against what she termed as an assault on democratic rights.
"How long do we stay silent still? Silence does not mean peace — it means lives are falling, dripping away to nothing," reads one poem titled Doom.
Another poem, Morgue, contends that "democracy is being beaten, scrubbed raw" and suggests protest itself has come under "agency-raj", an apparent reference to the alleged misuse of central agencies by the ruling government at the Centre, a narrative that has been a constant feature in Mamata and Trinamool's critique of the BJP.
Mamata moved the Supreme Court on January 28 challenging the legality and transparency of the SIR exercise in West Bengal, arguing that the revision threatens voter rights and could disenfranchise millions ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
The apex court began hearing her plea on Wednesday, with heavy security deployed outside court premises.
Mamata's stance against the SIR has also triggered a political row after she publicly criticised the Delhi Police for "heavy-handed" treatment during her visit to meet the Chief Election Commissioner. The actions of the Delhi Police, she alleged, amounted to harassment of Bengalis and a double standard compared with the treatment of state leaders in her state.
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