City votes no to Bhattacharjee's graffiti gift

Kolkata, May 31 : With Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee eyeing the walls of Kolkata for his political paeans and graffiti, the stumped city termed it as a 'step backward'.

The West Bengal Prevention of Property Defacement Act, 1976, Sec 3(1) states ''Whoever defaces any property in public view by writing or marking with ink, chalk, paint or any other material, except for the purpose of indicating the name and address of the owner or occupier of such property, shall be punishable with imprisonment for the term which may extend to six months or fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or both.'' But Mr Bhattacharjee has decided that the Left Front will celebrate stepping into its 30th year of continuous rule by painting the town red and literally so.

In the process, the chief minister will gift to the state's people the freedom to have the walls of their homes and offices covered with graffiti or posters by political parties.

The government will repeal the anti-defacement law that caused it such anguish in the just-concluded elections under strict Election Commission enforcement. And it will not be problem on the floor with the majority the government has.

However, the city does not seem to take the decision kindly.

Senior General Manager(HR) Tata Consultancy Service Ashok Mukherjee told UNI, ''It is a very negative image for Sector V of Salt Lake, the IT hub, as the foreigners visit the place regularly. A few days back it was on the initiative of the government that a clean-up drive of the walls was undertaken. It will be a negative step for us. I have full faith in the state government that they will keep this factor in mind before taking the final decision.'' Former CII (Eastern region) Chairman and Patton Group chief Sanjay Budhia is a little more pragmatic when he told UNI, ''This is both a responsible and responsive government. And I am sure they care about the aesthetics of the city. They will surely not do something that will be harmfull to the industrial progress." ''If this comes through, it will be a retrograde step. It will be extremely counterproductive. Kolkata has been quite a clean city for some time now. If the government repeals the law without alternative guidelines, Calcutta's ugly syndrome is going to show its face again,'' Mr Nazeeb Arif, secretary-general, Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) reportedly said.

The artists are not taking it on the right note too. ''If the walls of private houses can be defaced with impunity, why should Writers' Buildings be spared?'' said artist Jogen Chowdhury.

''People paint their houses at their own expense and posters will be pasted on these or graffiti will be scribbled on the walls,'' said Chowdhury.

Ramananda Bandopadhyay, who is on the urban arts commission to be set up by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, added, ''This election was an eye-opener. It demonstrated how an election can be held successfully without dirtying walls. If public opinion were sought it would be clear that most people are against posters and graffiti.'' And going by what members of the House Owners' Association had to say, owners of private properties are hardly happy.

Sukumar Rakshit of the association said a movement would be launched and a writ petition filed in the high court against the defacement move.

''Does Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have the right to infringe on another person's personal property?'' demanded Samir Ghosh of the Calcutta Metropolitan House Owners' Association, vowing to take the matter to court.

UNI