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Lady biographer gets Jyoti Basu into trouble

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

The Communist Party of India-Marxist is in trouble in West Bengal because of a woman academic.

The appointment of West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's biographer Dr Surabhi Banerjee as pro-vice chancellor (academic) at the University of Calcutta has raised a storm. While the entire Opposition is up in arms over the issue, the ruling Marxists brushed aside the controversy.

"She has the necessary qualifications," they say.

Basu too stood firm behind his biographer: "Her only drawback is that she is my biographer."

Banerjee first came into limelight when in 1997 the Penguin India launched her authorised biography of Jyoti Basu at the Calcutta Book Fair. The book drew international attention, as Basu is one of the oldest living Stalinists. It contained many of his controversial statements including the reference he made when the CPI-M chose not to join the United Front government: that it was a "historic blunder."

While many were surprised as to how Banerjee could manage to bag such a "prestigious assignment", the party bosses at the Alimuddin Street headquarters remained silent. In fact, many party workers even criticised the first edition, which, they said, contained factual errors.

Things were going smooth for Banerjee till her husband, a real estate developer, was allotted a commercial plot in a prime area in Salt Lake from the chief minister's quota. While the vernacular press blew up the issue, politicians kept quiet as many of them had been granted such favours by the longest serving chief minister in the country.

But then, Banerjee's appointment as pro-VC (academic), a post which lay vacant for almost a year, raised many eyebrows, and the Opposition did not lose the opportunity to gun for Basu.

State BJP president Tapan Sikdar immediately faxed the details to Union Human Resources Development Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and sought his intervention since education is in the concurrent list.

And on Monday, Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee went a step ahead and met West Bengal governor A R Kidwai, who is the chancellor of university, to protest over the appointment.

Alleging that the Marxists had politicised the entire education system in West Bengal, she said: "This is not the first instance and will not be the last. The Marxists have turned the education system on its head. The only qualification now to get a plum job at the university is to write the chief minister's biography which of course cannot be critical."

The student wing of her party, the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad, has made it clear that this was a weapon they were looking for. They will begin agitating from Wednesday inside the university campus unless Banerjee's appointment is revoked.

The West Bengal Congress too echoed the same sentiment and questioned Dr Banerjee's calibre: "Surabhi Banerjee's only claim to fame is that she wrote Jyoti Basu's biography."

Now let's see how appointments in academic posts are made in West Bengal: The Left Front has an education cell. Incidentally, it is headed by CPI-M politburo member and West Bengal state secretary Anil Biswas. The second member is Biman Bose, another politburo member. The cell has two more members. All appointments are vetted by this cell and then the minister concerned gives his approval.

However, it is being alleged that Jyoti Basu, Anil Biswas and Biman Bose quietly got Dr Banerjee the job without the knowledge of the other two members.

Basu said the appointment came after the Left Front education cell cleared it. Biswas defended his action saying, "It is not entirely true that Banerjee was made pro-VC because she has written Basu's biography".

"By and large we had decided to appoint a woman. Banerjee succeeded Bharati Roy, who had occupied the chair of Karuna Bhattacharya. We were criticised when Bharati Roy was appointed but she proved everyone wrong by doing a good job," he said.

Basu, meanwhile, is putting up a calm front. "Have you people seen her CV?" he asked journalists, "It runs into 10 pages and I can tell you it's formidable. She is eminently suited for the post. Don't think for a moment that she is a stranger to the university. She has been a well-known professor of English there for years."

Known for his penchant for English since his student days in London, Basu could not but add: "When my opinion was sought by the education cell I gave my affirmative decision because she is a Shakesperean scholar and we found her to be the most deserving candidate."

Touche Dr Banerjee!

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