By Pradipta Tapadar, IANS,
Kolkata : Apart from giving sleepless nights to West Bengal’s ruling Left Front leaders, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee can now also take credit for boosting jatra, the state’s popular folk theatre that sometimes goes on through the night. Her slogan “Maa Mati Manush” (Mother, soil, people) has inspired many popular jatras in recent months.
Jatra troupes in West Bengal are making good profits and drawing large crowds by staging productions named and based on the theme. These plays also reflect the sharp political polarisation in almost every walk of life in the state where clashes between rival parties have reportedly taken over 150 lives since the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
The catchy slogan of “Maa Mati Manush”, coined by Banerjee to cash in on the resentment among the rural people – particularly the peasants – against the state government’s bid to acquire chunks of agricultural land for industries, saw the opposition score major electoral gains over the 32-year-old Left Front government in every election during the last one and a half years.
The Trinamool juggernaut rolled on in the Lok Sabha elections where an alliance spearheaded by the party decimated the state’s ruling combine, making the slogan almost a household word and a mantra for all those seeking political change in the state.
Some jatra groups have depicted in their production popular anger against the “forcible” land acquisition by the administration in Nandigram and Singur. One group has staged productions hinting at atrocities being committed by a nexus of political parties and the Maoists and detailing the adverse impact of opposing industrialisation.
The state’s ruling Left Front major Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has been alleging links between Trinamool and Maoists, who are active in areas under 30 police stations in the three western districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura. Publicly, all the groups deny any reference to the state’s political happenings in their productions.
“The dramas are not based on real-life politics in the state. We have opted for this kind of dramas, because the people are lapping up such themes,” Shilpalok Opera manager Ranjit Chakraborty told IANS.
Shilpalok Opera’s production “Maa Matir Lorai” (Fight for mother and soil) expresses the people’s anger and resistance against the forcible acquisition of agricultural land.
“The play has been a huge success in rural Bengal. It has been very profitable,” he said.
On the other hand, another superhit drama “Ghum kereche Maa Mati Manush” (peace disturbed by mother, soil, people) by Bhairabi Opera tells the story of the alleged atrocities of opposition parties who join hands with the extreme Left to terrorise members of the ruling party.
The production has been drawing huge audiences not only in the Maoist-affected districts like Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore but also in East Midnapore – where Nandigram is located – and other places.
“The show is in great demand in rural Bengal. It will be performed in Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas districts by next March,” said Bhairob Opera maanger Deul Dey.
A spokesman of Uttam Opera, which has produced “Banglar Maa Mati Manush Kandche Agnikanya Aschhe (tearful people and soil of Bengal are waiting for the arrival of its firebrand daughter), said their play has already got bookings in 40 different areas of the state and would hit the stage very soon.
“The story revolves around a young woman and depicts how she stands up against the ruling establishment,” he said.
Mamata Banerjee’s slogan has been adapted on celluloid also with the producers of a Bengali film “Krishna” using the slogan “Maa Mati Manush” in its promotional campaigns.
(Pradipta Tapadar can be contacted at [email protected])