New Delhi, July 17 -- For someone who grew up in Kolkata and returns to visit at every opportunity, my latest stay left me in despair. While the proverbial safe city has long lost its lustre, hooliganism, muscle power has dug deep roots in the neighbourhood.

Women and men continue to fall victim to violence and brutality. All kinds of violent acts, also often caught on camera, are shared widely on social media, but with bare deterrence effect. With state elections less than a year away, violence will be the coveted tool surely.

It was not too long ago indeed, a decade plus ago, that many like me robustly cheered on when the feisty opposition leader finally evicted the leftwing stranglehold over West Bengal politics. Alas, the promise of...