A meme about West Bengal elections has gone viral on social media. The post drew reactions from all corners.
“Gurugram wishes smooth elections in West Bengal,” says the innocent-looking post. Then comes the second line: “We want our maids back safe and sound.”
A variation of the post says, “Gurugram/Pune/Hyderabad/Bengaluru wishes for a smooth and bloodless election in West Bengal (Phase 2). We want our maids/workers to return safe and soon!”
Strong reactions ensue. While some users see it as dark humor, others are offended and upset.
“Now this is the harsh truth. West Bengal has become a supplier of waiters, maids, laborers and gig workers to Noida, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Surat from the land of Nobel laureates, economists, philosophers and scientists,” wrote an IIT state user, why.
“Indian Geopolitics: West Bengal election means NO maids in Gurugram. Seniors suffer and how,” another user commented.
Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, shared one such post and wrote: “It is a tragedy of civilization that the land of Vivekananda, Netaji and Tagore is seen today in large parts of India as nothing more than a source of domestic help.”
“Bengal has been broken for decades; first by ideological vandalism under the Left and then by patronage, intimidation and controlled decline under the Trinamool,” he added.
“My Bengali maid told me sometime in November last year that she was going on leave to cast her vote. She and many of her friends went to Bengal to cast their vote. She said that Bengal needed a change and that was the determination with which almost everyone went to exercise their suffrage,” read another note.
Another user wrote: “Being a Bengali and resident of WB, I accept this to be true. The poor and unskilled masses who are looking for honest ways of earning are left with only this option.”
Note: This report is based on user generated content from social media. LiveMint has not independently verified and does not endorse these claims.
A different perspective
However, some users felt that such posts were “comfortable elitism”.
“What about the people of BIHAR who were ruled by BJP for 20 years and are forced to leave the state to get jobs in other states! First transform BIHAR then speak…” wrote one of them.
“I wish you would give the same gyan for our citizens in Manipur instead of Bengal,” chimed in another.
Many users claimed that former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr SY Quraishi was the first to share the meme. However, the post was not found on his profile.
“Dr SY Quraishi, why did you delete your RT about WB maids?” one user asked.
“Actually I don’t blame Dr Quraishi. It was probably an impulsive post which has already been taken down. On the contrary, I was proud of those underprivileged Bengali ‘maids’ who are actually the biggest contributors to the comfort of socialites’ homes in Delhi-Gurugram. Same as Bihar labourers,” wrote another user.
Disclosure: Social media posts have been lightly edited for grammar, clarity and readability while maintaining the original context.
