"I miss my son but he won’t come back home ever”: From Bengal election 2021 to Lok Sabha polls now, scars of violence haunt Sitalkuchi

The road leading to Ananda Burman’s house has stayed the same for the past three years, broken and empty. The bereaved mother looked into emptiness, grappling with the agony of losing her son, even three years after his death. Ananda Burman was one of the five people killed on the polling day at Sitalkuchi in Coochbehar during the fourth phase of Bengal Assembly election on April 10, 2021.

The home was enveloped by a blanket of heavy silence, saturated with grief, disbelief, and sorrow. Basanti Barman, his mother struggled to welcome us, her words faltering amidst tears as she remembered her beloved son, yearning for closure that remained elusive. "Three years have passed since...he has not come back. Another election is knocking at the door, but my son will never come back," she lamented. Ananda Burman, a first-time voter was killed by miscreants outside the polling booth, about 100 meters away from his house in Pathantuli. He was shot dead. Three years have passed since, but the pain remains fresh for his grieving mother, a wound that refuses to heal.

"My husband left soon after our son's passing. I can't bear to remain in our home; Ananda's presence lingers in every corner, it haunts me. I return occasionally, but now I live with my brother," shared Basanti Barman. The house, that was once filled with love, laughter and occupied by her 18-year-old, now serves as a sombre reflection of the mother's struggle to cope with her loss, clinging desperately to memories of her son. Though she no longer lives there, she has preserved their shared room like a shrine, safeguarding his belongings as precious relics of the past. The walls of the room still bear the traces of Ananda's presence, adorned with posters he had once put up, that also included a cut out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the 2021 Bengal Election campaign. Ananda Barman had been an active BJP worker, like others in that BJP dominated village. In the modest confines of their tin-roofed home, a cupboard stands as a sanctuary, housing all that remains of her beloved son—his books, clothes, and cherished trinkets.

As the mother narrated her ordeals, she struggled to maintain her composure, her thoughts drifting back to the painful events of the past. The upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha election only served to reopen the wounds of the 2021 Bengal assembly election, plunging her once again into a nightmare of trauma and anguish. “I guess I will go to vote, although I am not very sure. What is the point of casting my vote? My son was a first-time voter, and he was very excited, sadly, that was the first and the last time that he ventured out of the house to exercise his franchise,” she said.

Ananda’s case was handed over to CBI and there has been several arrests done by the Central agency. But the mother is upset as she alleged that there were more yet to be taken to task. Ananda’s elder brother Gobinda Barman has been given a government job of a homeguard by the state government of Mamata Banerjee as part of the compensation package. The family had however rejected the Rs 5 Lakh compensation money from the state, the cheque has returned to the government.

Amidst the preparations for her son's third anniversary puja, a customary ritual in Hindu households, she found herself transported back to the moments she shared with him. “Tomorrow is his third death anniversary. I find it really difficult to believe that three years have passed since, and at the same time I am filled with fear at the thought of having to spend the rest of my life without him,” said Basanti. Scars of Sitalkuchi killing are fresh in the minds of people, from one election that was marred in bloodshed in 2021, Sitalkuchi is awaiting another election in 2024. Fear looms large among people in the neighbourhood, unable to forget the past.

“I hope no other mother has to lose her son to mindless election violence. I pray to the government to ensure peaceful elections. I pray that no other Ananda falls prey to political violence," said Basanti as tears kept rolling down from her eyes.