An editorial note on a leading daily few days back said that ‘Bengal is living in fear’ after a Calcutta cop was shot dead in broad daylight. Bengal now ruled by the Mamata Bannerjee led Trinamool congress certainly seems to be reeling under severe fear. The neighbouring Himalayan state ‘Sikkim’ is not far behind on the race.

A recent lathicharge on supporters of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in its own party office in Tadong is no less than a fearphychosis that Bengal is facing. The SKM was formed recently by the rebel Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) - the ruling party in Sikkim lead by chief minister Pawan Kr. Chamling—Prem Singh Tamang popularly known as Golay in political circles of the state. The party was staggered with lathis by the state police for allegedly attacking chief minister’s calvacade.

If the subject is the latest one in the state, suppression of voices in the long run is not a new one. This newspaper was attacked leaving journalists bleeding five years back. The ruling party is believed to have a hand behind the attack. Another publication house was vandalized months back for a minor printing error that too was supposedly masterminded by the ruling party.

Speaking on a high note, the lathicharge policy adopted by the state police seems nothing but a ploy to cut down the growing popularity of the new party that promises to deliver more than what the ruling SDF has done in its tenure of around 19 years. The government must restrain the opposition in a democracy and perform democratically. The onemanupship drove out Subash Ghisingh, the GNLF conman from the Darjeeling hills though the tyranny in another form still exists.

The attack on the CM’s calvacade could have been dealt in other ways. An arrest of the culprits was the legal way. Rest the legal prospects would have taken its course. The police department functions directly under the chief minister, like the one in Bengal. As an obvious reaction, it is presumed that the police acted according to the CM’s order. The question now asked is whether Chamling is following the footsteps set by the Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee that has left the state in dismay. Remember Bengal had voted Mamata with a huge mandate and so did the Sikkimese when Pawan Kr. Chamling came into power ousting Nar Bahadur Bhandari.

The opposition has a bigger role to play now not for the chair but to bring back democracy.