You Saw The Messi Chaos. You Didn't See The Witness's Son Die. Bengal's machinery of political violence operates far from the cameras
Swarajya Dec 18, 2025 Last week’s Messi chaos was embarrassing, but what happens to CBI witnesses in Bengal is terrifying. Last week, a car carrying a key witness in the Sandeshkhali riots case was hit by a lorry. The witness survived with injuries. His son didn’t. The lorry driver was an aide of Shahjahan Sheikh—the TMC leader the witness was scheduled to testify against. The witness himself blamed a deliberate plot. West Bengal in December 2024 makes movie scripts look tame. The stadium fiasco—ministers blocking views, ₹200 water bottles, angry mobs tearing through gates—made national news because cameras were rolling. But Bengal’s real violence operates where cameras don’t reach. Here’s the math on political terror in Bengal: 40 people killed in the run-up to the 2023 panchayat polls alone. West Bengal tops the national list of states where politics is a motive for murder. Not occasionally. Consistently. Year after year, election after election, the bodies pile up and the pattern holds. The violence has an economic layer too. They call it “cut money” and “syndicates”—sanitised terms for organised extortion. Want a government benefit you’re legally entitled to? Pay up. Rates go as high as ₹25,000, according to Indian Express reports. A parallel taxation system run by party workers, extracting money from people who have no choice but to pay. The Messi event showed you the amateur version—rowdy elements breaking gates, ministers cluttering around a football star for selfies while ticket-holders got nothing. Annoying, infuriating, but ultimately just incompetence mixed with entitlement. The professional version is what happened to that CBI witness. Or the RG Kar rape and murder case that raised questions nobody in power wanted answered. Or the Murshidabad communal riots. The pattern is consistent: violence serves political ends, accountability never arrives, and anyone who pushes back faces consequences ranging from arrest to death. The state even arrested a Twitter user recently for criticising the Messi fiasco. Free speech in Bengal isn’t a right—it’s a risk calculation. Consider what this means for anyone living there. A visitor to Bengal, the original article notes, “is often wary of what fate may befall his life and liberty.” That’s not hyperbole. It’s a rational assessment. The economic numbers reflect this reality. Bengal’s share of India’s GDP has collapsed from 10.5% in 1960-61 to 5.6% today. Over 6,600 companies, including 110 listed ones, have fled the state since 2011. Why would any business stay in a state where extortion is systematised and witnesses die in convenient accidents? The stadium chaos will fade from memory. Ministers will keep taking selfies at the next event. But somewhere in Bengal, another witness is weighing whether testifying is worth the risk. Another business owner is calculating the cost of staying versus leaving. Another family is paying cut money for services their taxes already funded. The Messi fiasco gave you three hours of visible dysfunction. Bengal’s real crisis runs 24/7, and the people trapped in it can’t just demand a refund. KR IRS 181225 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoo3WrEugW4eOgnTAr1Uaurx%3DQZ5JgOHvUV1t3tWg0NtqA%40mail.gmail.com.
