http://www.himalmag.com/2008/january/spl_report_jagirdari.html
The recent events in Nandigram and Singur have brought to the fore widespread public anger. Many do not agree that industrialisation without employment guarantees is sound policy, and they are convinced that strong accountability needs to be re-integrated into the country’s system of governance.
By : Jayanta Bandyopadhyay
The current manner of democratic governance in Southasia came with the British, but did not depart with them. The countries that were under direct British rule inherited the institutions of governance, and continued to use them on the assumption that they offered the best option for democracy and independence. Thus, democratic governance of British origin continues with great gusto in India and Sri Lanka, while Pakistan and Bangladesh keenly await its reappearance in public life. Nepal and Bhutan, meanwhile, are trying to explore how their traditional monarchies can transcend to the Westminster model of parliamentary governance.
The democratic governance in the region, which also includes the world’s most impoverished areas, seems to have become a model for developing countries far and wide. With India becoming an economic giant whose gross domestic product is growing annually by nearly 10 percent, industrialisation has become its single most important economic strategy. In turn, the smaller Southasian countries marvel at the status of this big brother next door, and their politicians clamour for the same type of economic development and affluence that they find in India.
Against this backdrop has arisen what has by now become known as the Singur-Nandigram episode. Over the past several months, these two towns in West Bengal have become widely known for the ongoing local opposition to and conflicts over governmental attempts to acquire land for industries. In Singur, the incoming industry belonged to the Indian giant Tata; while in Nandigram, there was an initial proposal for the establishment of a special economic zone, though this was subsequently withdrawn following intense public protest.
Events in Singur and Nandigram reflect the growing dichotomy between government commitments to promote industrial growth at any cost, and the threat to the livelihoods of large numbers of citizens that would occur as a result of the acquisition of land for industry – the ability to do so, incidentally, is given by the Land Acquisition Act of 1984, also a legacy of British rule. At the core of the events in Singur and Nandigram, much of which were violent, lies the question of land. Indeed, the conflicts over land have been so intense that no serious question has been raised as to the nature of the industries in question, their products or their ownership status.
Corporate convergence
There is no hiding from the fact that economic growth in India has been distributed very unequally. The age-old ‘percolation’ theory, whereby benefits were assumed to ‘trickle down’ the social ladder, has largely hit the rocks, leading to the poor remaining marginalised from the social, economic and political processes. This applies across the Indian political spectrum, independent of the declared ideological status of the party in government. The rapid industrialisation being experienced in certain places in India indicates that an important convergence is taking place in the Indian polity. Whether in Gujarat, ruled by the rightist Bharatiya Janata Party, or in West Bengal, where for more than three decades parties claiming Marxist ideological roots have been in power, the same industries are being invited to set up shop. The investors are naturally happy with such a convergence of economic priorities, as chief ministers of Indian state after Indian state increasingly line up to invite them to set up industries. Unlike the earliest years of Jawaharlal Nehru, when industries ran after the leaders, the shots are now being called by the corporates.
The cases of land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram are not the largest of such land transfers currently going on in India, but surely they are the most discussed. In many other states, such acquisitions and transfers are being planned on much larger scales, and implemented with significantly more state aggression towards the landholding communities. Right now in Orissa, for instance, there is talk of the emergence of a new Nandigram-type resistance by local people. Thanks to the widespread discussion of the events at Singur and Nandigram, coupled with the deep involvement of non-party activists and common people, a rich discourse is now readily available. This can be of significant value in providing leads to modifying and restructuring democratic governance in India, as much as in providing more deep-rooted structures for democracy in other parts of Southasia.
Credit for much of this change should go to the non-party political process in West Bengal. On 14 November, this process was able to draw 100,000 people into the streets of Calcutta, to take part in a silent, peaceful march to register their protest against the violence being perpetrated by the police and ruling party cadres in Nandigram. From the state government’s secretariat, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee interpreted the violence and the subsequent entry of the cadres of his party in Nandigram as a positive achievement, and emphatically stated that the detractors of his party had been “paid back in their own coin”. Later, in a less convincing manner, he allowed that such a statement had not been particularly appropriate.
On 11 December 2007, in a leading daily from Calcutta, Bhattacharjee again repeated the oft-made statement that, even against the backdrop of Singur and Nandigram, there was no question of discontinuing the process of industrialisation in the state. Thus, any industry owned by anyone with significant money, and which produces anything that sells widely, automatically receives the highest priority in governmental policy. But a government run by Marxist parties is expected to promote industries in the public sector, promote a technological base emerging from national laboratories, and provide employment and produce goods that satisfy the basic needs of the people.
In the cases of Singur and Nandigram, the industries are private. While industries per se are described as inevitable, necessary in order to address widespread un- and underemployment, it is common knowledge that the technologies of today are not geared towards the generation of employment on any significant scale. There is no openly available documentation that the new phase of industrialisation in West Bengal would have any distributive impact on income. Indeed, the automation in the proposed Tata automobile plant is expected to guarantee the availability of very few jobs, and that too for a higher demographic category by far than the Nandigram peasantry. Somewhere along the way, we seem to have missed the distinction between industrialisation as a broad socio-economic and cultural process, and the mere expansion of private industries on land taken from poor farmers by the government.
Such disregard of public interest in industrialisation could be expected from governments of rightist parties. But the reality is that the left government in West Bengal has not been able to chart a different policy for industrialisation. The contradictions are exemplified by the fact that on the same day that Bhattacharjee was reiterating his commitment to industrialisation, another Calcutta daily carried a headline announcing that a vehicle belonging to the Kolkata Police, which is under Bhattacharjee’s charge, did not stop to attend to a road-accident victim, instead merely speeding away to leave him injured and bleeding.
After more than 55 years of democratic governance in India, the government commitment to industrialisation at any cost, and the widespread neglect of the basic needs of the poor, appear to have become the hallmark of the relationship between an ordinary person and the state. Anyone with knowledge of the poor in India’s villages knows that, even as an increasing number of expensive malls are being inaugurated in the cities, there is simultaneously a growing number of young children in India whose parents feel required to sell them off to get cash for food. Who said that the market economy has not touched the poor?
Overcoming ritualisation
The time has come to look for innovative new approaches to democratic governance. After 60 years of independence in large parts of the region, the institutions of governance appear to have undergone some important but informal changes. The rituals of institutions of representative democracy remain relevant only up to the point of election. Thereafter, however, the accountability of representatives has gradually disappeared, with politicians increasingly interpreting their roles less as lawmakers and more as rulers of the areas they represent. This reduces their constituencies to virtual jagirdaris – administrators traditionally appointed by emperors for specific areas – in which the independent-minded poor become victims of fear of private goons, or even the police.
In most Indian states, this jagirdari is taken up by individuals with known muscle power. But in West Bengal, not powerful individuals but cadres have often captured and retained areas under their flags, as was seen in Nandigram. This is described by the more sober individuals in the media as the ‘criminalisation’ of politics. No one says that this is the inevitable result of the ‘ritualisation’ of democratic governance as left by the British. Instead, this emerging jagirdari model of democracy fits in nicely with the pre-colonial political-cultural traditions of the region. Can we allow such a process to take us back to pre-colonial feudalism?
Such an erosion of the democratic process is experienced in all parts of Southasia, and social activists have made crucial contributions to raise popular awareness on such degradation of democratic governance. West Bengal is also fortunate in having a competent, informed governor in Gopal K Gandhi, who neither has a party background nor a vision truncated by narrow party interests. At the same time, the people of West Bengal, in particular the intellectuals, have proven to be alert against the continuous encroachment into the citizens’ space in policymaking. It is for this reason that the 100,000 non-party protestors who marched silently in Calcutta on 14 November succeeded in unnerving political parties of all colour.
The events in Singur and Nandigram are only the tip of the iceberg of a Southasia-wide malaise: the silent erosion of democratic governance and the marginalisation of the common citizens in the region, all of it conducted under an ostensibly ‘democratic’ process. The vast literature surrounding Singur and Nandigram cannot now be allowed to be used by political forces elsewhere to hide even larger land deals that are currently in the offing in other states. The widespread public debate around Singur and Nandigram needs to be understood as a signal from West Bengal that the people at large are not convinced that industrialisation without employment guarantee is a sound policy, and needs to be reassessed from a wider and popular perspective involving technology policy and choice of the mix of products. Indeed, the vehemence of these conversations emphasises that the citizens are currently very concerned about the marginalisation of the common people from governance, as well as the absence of accountability of the elected representatives. Democracy does not have a single unique form, and needs periodic restructuring to ensure that citizens are not deprived of their share of power in governance.
It is in this direction that the current widespread consciousness about Singur and Nandigram can be of seminal use for the people of Southasia as a whole. Democracy does not have any one specific operational format, and at various points various countries need to shape the functional structure of their particular form of democracy. In the case of Southasia, ensuring accountability of the people’s representatives, and stopping them from becoming jagirdars in their constituencies, are two of the main challenges.
With the prospects of Nepal coming out with a new Constitution, with Pakistan in the midst of a crisis over the identity of the Constitution, with people in India increasingly finding the present system of representation ineffective, a great opportunity is arising for the structuring and restructuring of democratic governance in the region.
Southasia will be able to remove its poverty and develop in fundamental ways only if jagirdari governance is kept out, and accountable, democratic governance is put in place. For this, there are several experimental steps. One can, for instance, try out proportional representation of parties, so that no individual can become the ruler of his or her constituency. Various levels of representation and distribution of power at different spatial units can also be tried, in order to ensure both honesty and efficiency. We all must remember that voting is not a sleeping pill that one takes periodically and that leads directly to good governance while the citizens rest peacefully. Rather, the future of Southasia depends on an innovative redesign of the equation between the political parties and the non-party political process. All of us need to join in this exercise, and bring an end to the hopelessness of the poor and marginalised millions in Southasia.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Jagirdari governance and the death of hope
Monday, June 2, 2008
Maoists roping in NGOs, students: IB
http://thestatesman.org/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=206319
Rajib Chatterjee
KOLKATA, May 31: Top Maoist leaders are making efforts to set up “pressure groups” in Kolkata with the view to launch a strong anti-state campaign against “police excess”, say state Intelligence Branch (IB) sleuths. In order to set up “pressure groups” in the city, top CPI (Maoist) leaders have sought assistance from all human rights organisations in the state and the city's student community, a senior IB officer told The Statesman, requesting anonymity.
Members of the “pressure groups” will organise rallies in the city to build “public opinion” against “state-sponsored terrorism” and they will keep up pressure on police for “committing excesses” on people on the “plea of launching a crackdown” on Maoist terror modules which are in operation in Midnapore West, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum districts. The IB official said, proposal to form pressure groups in the city had been mooted by a well-known human rights activist who allegedly has close contacts with some top CPI (Maoist) leaders. The man, according to IB officials, is acting as a linkman between CPI (Maoist) and human rights organisations.
According to senior IB officials, some well-known intellectuals of the state are supporting the Maoists' cause “unknowingly” by participating in rallies, organised in the city by four mass organisations including two human rights groups. The IB officials suspect that these four organisations will be converted into “pressure groups” by CPI (Maoist). The intelligence branch officials, however, said the Maoist outfit has failed to form an “action-squad” in the city. Instead, the Maoist “think-tanks" are set to launch a fresh anti-state movement in the city under the banner of some human rights organisations.
The IB official said, a section of students of Presidency College and Jadavpur University have become members of “frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist)”. The city police's special branch was, reportedly made aware of the link between these students and frontal organisations of the CPI (Maoist).
The IB official said “ground work to form pressure groups” had been completed. Youths, who participated in the rallies in the city on the Singur and Nandigram issues, are expected to be members of the “pressure groups”.
“Some intellectuals who have participated in rallies, organised by frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist) in the city recently, don't know that they helped Maoists form a strong support base in the city,” an IB official said.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Intellectuals take out silent rally for Nandigram : Thaindian News (9.05.08)
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/intellectuals-take-out-silent-rally-for-nandigram_10046949.html
Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) Ahead of the hotly-contested panchayat polls Sunday, a group of city-based intellectuals took out a silent rally here Friday evening to protest the pre-poll violence in West Bengal’s Nandigram and demand peaceful local polls there. The intellectuals, under the banner of Swajan, began the rally - an initiative of noted author Mahasweta Devi - at 4 p.m.
“We marched in silent protest of the violence in Nandigram and are demanding peaceful panchayat polls there,” painter and Swajan-member Subhaprasanna told IANS.
The rally was participated by city-based intellectuals including filmmaker Aparna Sen, actor Kaushik Sen, poet Jai Goswami and singer Pallabh Kirtania.
The Swajan members will set out for Nandigram in East Midnapore district Saturday and stay there to monitor the situation till the polls are over Sunday.
“The pre-poll violence at Nandigram is a hint that the people there are not at all safe during the polls. They will be pressurised and even tortured to cast their votes in favour of the ruling party. Hence we have taken this decision so that we can take rounds at the booths and see that the democratic rights of the people are not violated during the polls,” Subhaprasanna said.
Earlier, the intellectuals submitted a memorandum to state election panel Tuesday demanding immediate transfer of the Nandigram police station officer-in-charge Debashis Chakraborty, East Midnapore district magistrate Anup Agarwal and police superintendent S.S. Panda in order to ensure fair panchayat poll in the trouble-torn region.
They suggested the commission form an independent body, without any political affiliation, to visit the violence-hit areas in Nandigram during the panchayat poll and submit their report to the commission.
Swajan is an independent body of civil society formed by a number of eminent intellectuals of the city.
The panchayat elections in West Bengal will be held on May 11, 14 and 18. Counting would be on May 21.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Protest Rally In Singur Against High Court Verdict
http://sanhati.com/news/631/
January 22, 2008. A report by Anuradha Talwar, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity
The High Court dismissed all the petitions against the land acquisition in Singur on 18th January 2008. After waiting for over almost six months to give its verdict (the last date of hearing was 31st July 2008) the High Court dismissed all the 11 public interest cases against forcible land acquisition by the State Government for Tata Motors Company. The Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising the Chief Justice, Mr. S.S. Nijjar, and Mr. Justice P.C. Ghose, by a common order, on 18th January, Friday held that the land acquisition by the State Government at Singur for construction of a small car manufacturing unit by Tata Motors is valid. While dismissing all the public interest litigations challenging land acquisition at Singur, the court held that those petitions are not maintainable.
The court further held that the arguments of the State Government, Tata Motors and WBIDC are acceptable in the sense that land has been acquired for economic development of the area.
This unilateral move of the High Court (which seemed a Mohammed bin Tughlak like gesture) made headlines and left many people in Singur stunned. What has not made the headlines is the speed with which the Singur people have recovered and are continuing their struggle.
On our visit on 18th January 2008 to Singur, we met many women in Beraberi Purba Para, who had returned disappointed from the High Court that morning. Most had tears in their eyes. The men wiped their eyes surreptitiously. However, we soon saw signs of revival amongst them and the earlier steel was back in their voices.
In an instantaneous meeting organized by “Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee” on the same evening, after more than two hours of intense discussion, the farmers unwilling to give the land for Tata Motors once more took the decision to not take the compensation cheques and to continue their struggle. They also were self critical for having banked too much on the court decision. The unwilling farmers of Singur who have still not given their land for Tata Motors were very angry because the Court had taken a very long time to give its verdict.
After a series of village meetings on the 19th, where the others in the Singur villages endorsed their decision, a protest rally was organized by ‘Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee’ on 20th January, 2008 against the verdict of Kolkata High Court. The people also decided to appeal against the High Court’s orders in the Supreme Court.
On 20th January a protest rally started from Barohat Kalitala at 3 – 30 p.m. and ended at Kamarkundu Rail Gate. They then began a sit down strike and blocked the rail line and the road in protest of the verdict by the High Court. The Rally was leaded by Saraswati Das, an old woman who was involved in the movement from the very beginning, Becharam Manna, Convener of ” Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee” , Rabindra Nath Bhattacarya , Local MLA, and Amitabh Bhattacharya of Majdoor Kranti Parishad and members of Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity also participated. More than 1500 people were present at the rally. As usual a number of women were there. They shouted slogans, ” We will not give our land”, “High court verdict is in favor of Tata, not for people’s interest”, “We won’t abide by the verdict of High Court” etc. The Rail and Road block programme were continued over 1 and half hour. Becharam Manna on behalf of ” Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee” announced that they will be organized more protest programmes in near future. They all want to see an end to forcible land acquisition.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
LONG MARCH FROM COLLEGE SQUARE
Hardnews
http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/11/1815
The organised brutality by the CPM in Nandigram has yet again brought out the best among the people of Bengal and Kolkata. In the days to come, one only hopes that the civil society will continue to move from strength to strength, from dissent to resistance, from despair to hope, writes Rajat Roy, Hardnews in Kolkata
The CPM has recaptured Nandigram. But in the process the party has lost its support base among the urban middle class. A huge silent march was led by Kolkata’s artists, intellectuals, students and ordinary citizens, outside all political affiliations, banners or slogans, in the heart of the city. The march was in protest against the State-endorsed operation of organised brutality unleashed by the CPM cadres and musclemen in Nandigram leading to killings, while thousands of villagers were rendered homeless, with many homes burnt.
The protest march was led by filmmakers Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh and Goutam Ghosh, poet Sankho Ghosh, Jay Goswami and Utpal Kumar Basu, writer Mahasweta Devi, stage personalities Saoli Mitra, Bibhas Chakrabarty and playwright Badal Sarkar, painters Jogen Choudhury and Shubhaprasanno and others. The unique feature of the march was that political leaders were asked not to take part in it. Hence, bowing to public pressure, the leaders of Trinamul Congress (TMC), Congress, the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) and even Left Front partner Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), though initially keen to join it, kept away from it. Indeed, the space vacated by the political parties was eagerly filled up by the civil society and a spectrum of individuals and icons from across Bengal’s mainstream intelligentsia and cultural scene.Scientists from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and other scientific establishments, social
scientist Partha Chattopadhyay, historian Gautam Bhadra and others from Calcutta's prestigious Centre for Social Science and Research, academicians and students from Calcutta and Jadavpur University, students from various colleges, NGO workers and ordinary citizens came forward in tens of thousands. They recorded their intense anger, disapproval and disgust at the way the ruling party's vigilante cadres, openly flaunting brutality on unarmed men and women, including reported sexual assaults and rape, as they muscled their way into Nandigram while the State administration and political establishment remained a silent and patronising accomplice.
unacceptable", has generated similar resonance from across the civil society. Kolkata had not witnessed this kind of mass upsurge against the CPM regime for almost three decades.
It was a silent march. There were no slogans which is otherwise typical of a political procession in the city. People who participated in the march wore black badges, others sang songs, many of them carried placards and caricatures criticising the CPM and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who has acquired an image which triggers mass repulsion. The massive rally began from College Square in front of the old campus of Calcutta University and ended at Esplanade East, where Medha Patkar and others welcomed the marchers. As the people silently walked through the famous College Street, SN Banerjee Road and Rani Rasmoni Road, thousands of people thronged on both sides in solidarity. The solemn expression on the faces of the onlookers indicated the truth: they were witnessing something which they have not seen for years.
Yes, this protest march is unique in many ways. Kolkata has witness several political demonstrations in the last 60 years. But most of that were organised by political parties. Many senior citizens who took part in this historic march could not recall a similar occasion where ordinary people from across the city gathered so spontaneously and in such big numbers to protest against the political establishment.
It is true that the ostensive purpose of the rally was to record the civil society's protest against the ruling party's brazenly undemocratic use of organised violence and brutality backed by the state administration. But by debarring the (ever-willing) opposition parties like the TMC and Congress, the civil society has served its judgment against the entire political stablishment. The political world just cannot afford to ignore this.
Many participants admitted that they happily joined the march because of this abhorrence of mainstream politics and politicians. They have reasons for that. Most people here have inherited a Left legacy. They have always constituted the progressive and traditional support base of the Left in the urban middle class. Many former naxalites were seen in the rally. Young students from elite colleges like St. Xavier's, Presidency, Jadavpur University and Shibpur Engineering College marched hand in hand in the procession with members of pop Bangla bands and singer Usha Uthup.
Ask them, and you would realise that their first baptism in social and political action was done during the case of Rizwanur death. The ‘indifferent’ generation X, considered as totally apolitical, totally sold out on the ‘neo-liberal’ shopping mall and inox culture, actually proved to be deeply sensitive and concerned. It is also an eye-opener for political observers.
Indeed, after seeing the CPM-led Left Front entrenched in power for the last 30 years in the
state, many of us looked at the Bengali society as a bipolar one, divided between the Left and the Right.
It was always held that Bengal's society is highly politicised and there is hardly any space left for
the civil society to assert. The inert and sustained presence of the civil society over the years and until the recent past had also strengthened that observation. But from March 14 to November 14 this year, in just about eight months, the civil society of Bengal has reasserted itself and started claiming back its legitimate space in the socio-political sphere, hitherto completely dominated by the creative stagnation and political muscle power of the CPM, without an iota of dissent.
Off course, the mass rupture and upsurge started with the resistance in Nandigram and the massacre which followed, when on March 14 the police and CPM goons fired upon the villagers in an attempt to evict them from their villages to set up a chemical hub for the notorious Indonesian multinational Salem. Then came the Rizwanur death, when the young and the old fought and forced a completely thick-skinned government to bow to their demands and act against the police top brass, patronised by the chief minister. Now, the organised brutality by the CPM in Nandigram has yet again brought out the best among the people of Bengal and Kolkata. In the days to come, one only hopes that the civil society will continue to move from strength to strength, from dissent to resistance, from despair to hope.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
What Lies Beneath
http://myownfairystories.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-lies-beneath.html
Over the years, Sauce!, a founding member of The Be Serious Society, has shown remarkable restraint in demonstrating seriousness of expression or purpose. We (that is to say, I) at Sauce! have always shown by our (that is to say, my) actions that Sauce! believes there is enough serious discourse on our immediate and larger societies on several thousand blogs, and a few more paltry sentences would not be missed. We -- or to give credit where it's due, I -- have instead striven to entertain, and I don't mind saying I imagine I did a halfway decent job of it.
It is with uncharacteristic sombreness, therefore, that I must warn you that the following post is long, and is most un-Sauce!like. Read at your discretion.
If you were in Calcutta during the last two weeks, there is a fair chance you may have walked alongside nearly a hundred thousand others on the 14th of November, Wednesday, from College Square to Dalhousie, silently protesting against the bloodbath and the willful, brash destruction of civil liberties at Nandigram. Almost everyone I know, and people they know, and their neighbours and friends and grandparents were at the march. Indeed, such disciplined spontaneity from a city used and subjected to bands, strikes and chakka-jaams as expressions of dissent was as astounding as it was heartening, even though there seemed to be a degree of disparity about cause espoused. Some marched in protest of the State government's open and unapologetic "paying them back in their own coin" course of cadre-brutality action, some decried the collapse of democracy, quite a few matched in protest of police action in Nandigram on the 14th of March this year and partisan behaviour since. I didn't walk that day, but my reasons were personal. I supported the walk, if such support counts, in spirit.
If you were in Calcutta last Wednesday, the 21st of November, you would have been in a state of cold panic all day, as rumours and news poured in from every available source about an escalating number of people injured, cars burnt, houses set fire to, the sealing off a section of the city (which contains, apart from all of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity buildings and the offices of three prominent media houses, several of the city's schools, all in mid-session. To see how they're situated, click to enlarge the map here), the deployment of the Rapid Action Force, and finally, the Army. The panic-calls shot up to almost 60 per cent the usual volume, clogging the cellular system.
I was out on the streets from late morning till evening last Wednesday, and I saw the anxiety, the suppressed excitement, the traffic blockades and the unusual sight of chaperoned highschoolers going home at twelve noon first hand, all the while following the news third or fourth hand and several times embroidered. I also did not miss the customers at Subway and Pizza Hut, or, travelling in a bus crammed with corporate commuters returning early, the cars parked outside Eliot Park from which children scrambled out, a mere four hours before curfew was due to start on the other end of Park Street.
The local electronic media has earned my respect by not beaming footage of the latter, especially the aforementioned clientèle of international food chains, in order to demonstrate either the "resilience of the people of Kolkata" in an imitation of those of Mumbai, or the much-hashed "social indifference of the upwardly mobile slaves of global capitalism", which is a steady literary vein that still adorns the novels in various Puja editions of every publishing house, the political and economic behaviour of said houses notwithstanding.
The day after the riots, when the national print media woke up to the news, I found they had discovered a vital angle to the recent happenings in and around Calcutta (I refrain from saying 'in West Bengal' for obvious reasons -- there is a great deal of ethnicity-based violence, especially in the north, which has little to do directly with the recent turmoil at Nandigram and Kolkata) that we had been missing since March. The NDA in it's wisdom -- and it certainly has the requisite amount, given it's political history and that of it's constituent parties -- has declared that Muslims were the worst hit in Nandigram atrocities, and that this challenges the secularism of the state's Left Front government (for an example of how much currency this point of view has quickly gained see this article on TwoCircles.net, second paragraph). Of course, the NDA's concern for minority communities is understandable when one takes into account the impending consequences of Tehelka's Gujarat exposé, and in the hands of the Left no less, but before making such potentially incendiary comments, the NDA would have done well to have taken into account the basic ground situation at Nandigram, as would a few other earnest protesters of the doubtless heinous atrocities that went on there, and those that seem inclined to blame the police for Wednesday's riot.
First, the minority angle did not make headlines in the local media because it is common knowledge that a large section of the farmers and share-croppers at Nandigram on each side of the political divide are Muslims. It is not a fact that needs underlining -- in fact it is a common thread of pride in this city that communal politics has found little space in it -- and all partisan behaviour so far has been on grounds of political allegiance, not religious. Which is to say, Hindus and Muslims of and on the side of the CPI(M) -- who according to their political conviction should not, indeed, have a religious identity at all -- fought, killed, raped and looted Muslims and Hindus of what can best be described as the non-CPI(M) side. A little contextual understanding would have prevented the NDA embarrassment and saved the State unnecessary communal tension.
Second, the Bhumi Uchhed Protirodh Committee (Committee for the Prevention of [Land] Eviction). Just so we're clear on this, the BUPC is not an apolitical platform of 'the people of Nandigram', farmers who want no part of politics and are merely defending their livelihood. The BUPC is an unstable faction of Trinamool workers, CPI(M) defectors, the SUCI, farmers/share-croppers, and are now also said to have had strong Maoist affiliations. The instability of this Committee is due in part to the shifting loyalties of a section of its members, most of them CPI(M) defectors who returned to the fold (as it were) either for benefit or under duress, after the forced breaking-in by the police earlier this year, and by the CPI(M) cadres' motorbike gang a few weeks back.
What mystifies me is the insistence on equating the BUPC, and therefore State-enforced victimisation, with meek suffering, because from ground zero personal reports, the BUPC is not meek in its resistance at all. And let me here add that if they wanted to resist eviction successfully, they could not afford to be unarmed or meek. The 'collapse of democracy' is, in fact, being mourned very belatedly. In rural areas, and I can bear personal witness to this, there has been very little democratic living with space for 'the voice of dissent' or even clinically detached apoliticalism. The supposed apolitical inclinations of The Common Man has been ground to dust, if it ever existed, in the rural areas of Bengal, where things such as being served by shopkeepers, finding labourers to work for you, putting your child in school, all depend on your politics. The civil democracy that is India according to it's Constitution does not exist much beyond it's urban centres.
Third, and this is where the assumed safety of urban centres falls apart: creating and encouraging, whether purposefully or inadvertently, a sense of marginalisation bordering on social exclusion; and the role of rumour in fuelling social insecurities. Contrary to popular belief, the battle rages on at Nandigram not because the land is still under threat, but because an alienated Nandigram is a seat of power that the sectarian forces (Maoists or Maobaadi, whose presence in the area and contact/collusion with the local Trinamool Congress seems to have been satisfactorily established), eager to establish a stronghold and threatened by rumours of attempted takeovers/evictions in the future (strenthened by the fact that, despite the Chief Minister's claims of "acquisition only after discussion", popular consent is not required for governmental acquisition of land) were not ready to let go of.
On Wednesday, it now appears that the carefully pre-planned violence (for The Telegraph's report of the Kolkata Police's opinion, see this, and click to enlarge the map to see how the riot spread) depended on rumours of evicting the busties along and around Bridge No. 4, otherwise known as the Park Circus connector, to kick into action. Police reports and interviews of protesters indicate that a systematic spreading of rumour and panic worked the areas adjacent Park Circus into frenzy. Demographically, Park Circus, Ripon Street, Entally and the CIT Road/Darga Road area are amongst the economically disadvantaged sections of the city, and from a social context of large families with low income, it also houses a good section of the city's school dropout and formally unemployed youths -- a group whose sense of being victimised by the State is easy to work on. On Wednesday close to 12,000 (The Telegraph puts the number between 12,000 to 15,000) of these young men took to the streets, taking positions of low rooftops and darting into bylanes, hurling bricks and soda bottles from carefully accumulated stacks.
Although the protest -- organised by the All India Minority Forum, the Furfura Sarif Muzadeedia Anath Foundation and the Jamait Ulema-i-Hind -- had a twelve-point protest agenda, and Idris Ali (President of the AIMF and member of the Congress Party) kept repeating his solidarity with the people of Nandigram on television, creating a vague cause-and-effect correspondent between the Nandigram violence and 21st's riot, the rioters' cry demanded only the eviction of Tasleema Nasrin. Given the profile of the average protestor-turned-rioter, it is doubtful they read Tasleema's book (and this is not so much to show intellectual condescension as to point out that the book, apart from being generally unavailable, is written in Bengali, and most of the rioters did not seem to speak much Bengali), a doubt sustained by the media, who had swarmed the areas since the beginning of the rally and followed the riot through its course. When asked why they were calling for the writer's expulsion, the young men retorted that their leaders asked them to, since she had abused Islam. On being asked whether they had read her books, they said they did not. While in this case the rumour may have been sustained by a degree of truth, the point is that to the people who took to the streets demanding her expulsion, Tasleema's disparaging of Islam was unverified information taken at face value. Thus, what fuelled Wednesday's Islamic youth fury was two pieces of received information: one, that a part of their living area would be demolished and they would be evicted, and two, that a woman of the faith had abused their religion.
Finally, the police. It is no secret that in this State the police is almost always in compliance with the party currently in power, and it is widely held that they employed unnecessary violence on the 14th of March and since (see the CRPF officer in charge of Nandigram's reaction to police behaviour here), and have been drawing flak from all public quarters, especially the local the combined forces of the city's 'intelligentsia' and Star Anondo. The police didn't do themselves any favours by arresting about sixty of the city's prominent glitterati from the Nandan compound during the Calcutta Film Festival for protesting against the Nandigram violence, something which in part led to the march on November 14th. However, what people tend not to remember is what the media rhetoric was before 14th March. The Telegraph -- and indeed it's electronic counterpart, Star Anondo -- who have recently been retrospectively critical of the police for their actions on March 14th, had this (text and link archived at Development Dialouges here) to say in February, going so far as to begin the editorial with "Violence has only one antidote: counter-violence".
On Wednesday, however, the police showed a great deal of restraint, if reports are to be believed, and since the reports came from media houses which have been their harshest critics recently, there is not much space for doubt. It is certainly true that all the police had permission to use was their batons and tear gas, even when the trouble escalated into a riot-situation, when open-firing is considered a justifiable course of action. When questioned about the paltry number of police -- 250 -- deployed to control the situation and the reluctance to open-fire, Police Commissioner Goutam Chakravarti said, not without bitterness, I should imagine, that the Kolkata Police did not open-fire even when provoked because "It would have been called unconstitutional". The adjective had, in fact, been used by the High Court to describe police action in Nandigram on 14th March, and not without reason. This might in part have prompted the State government to ask the Army to mediate in what some consider haste, but if the police were denied means to control the situation -- video footage actually shows them running for cover from the pre-planned sustained missile attack -- the decision of calling the Army in does not seem particularly hasty.
There is space for debate about whether a non-partisan police force would have the moral authority to deal with the riot as established methods demanded. First, I cannot credit the existence of a police force that is completely unbiased. Functioning as it does under the elected government, no tool of administration can make independent decisions. Secondly, once outsiders -- and I use the term deliberately -- like the NDA's representatives begin commenting on minority exclusion or community-specific losses, falling in, for once, with a section of the liberal media and public-domain academics who tend to decontexualise each religious, ethnic or racial issue and seek to address them with the same rhetoric of oppression or marginalisation or victimisation, the entire issue of police firing on or even lathi-charging a mob in a Muslim-dominated area would become the chief source of fuel to the communal/partisan politics fire.
At a time of such inter-community tension (I am obviously not talking merely of Hindu-Muslim relations here) and especially when the Home Ministry reports a growing base of fundamentalist infiltration of Bengal and India via the porous Bangladesh borders (not that it was a surprise), we can ill-afford to create such a volatile political and religious situation. We have enough militant religiosity of both the Hindu and Muslim kind, enough sectarian forces battling it out with the State's defence mechanisms and enough legacies of race/caste hatred as it is. Freedom of expression is a very, very valuable right that the liberal democracies have won for their citizens, and all I ask is for it to be used with consideration and responsibility, with a horizon beyond immediate short-term gains in mind.
I ask this, not of politicians, for I don't believe in fairies any more, but I do ask this of the national and local media, and I ask this of our intelligentsia: academics, actors, directors, artists, authors, singers. And I ask this of teachers and community leaders. Or we're headed down the road to perdition, global capitalism et all, and there will be few breaks on our way.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
It was only about Taslima: Idris Ali
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2007-11-23&usrsess=1216188832016&clid=22&id=204839
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Nov. 22: Perhaps realising the protest against Taslima Nasreen’s visa extension would incite more passions than the “recapture” of Nandigram, Mr Idris Ali, president of All India Minority Forum today did an U-turn. He said yesterday’s protest was solely against Taslima Nasreen’s prolonged stay and not related to the Nandigram issue in any way, as was reported in the press.
Incidentally, the protestors had claimed yesterday that Nandigram was also one of the issues, apart from the controversial Bangladeshi writer.
“We have not mixed up issues as has been reported. We were not agitating against the violence in Nandigram, we were only protesting against the visa extension of Ms Taslima Nasreen as we strongly believe that she has no right to stay in this state,” Mr Ali said.
He met the Iman of Tipu Sultan Masjid, Syed Md Murur Rahman Barkati, this evening but refused to comment on whether they have planned any further protests. “We have not yet planned but will be discussing it over soon.”
Denying allegations that the forum was behind yesterday's violence, Mr Ali said, “We were protesting peacefully as planned but police arrested about 200 people in the morning, even before violence erupted.
The arrest in fact sparked off the violence.” He also added that police has booked the people on charges of rioting, unlawful assembly, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servants from duty, and causing damage.
Mr Ali said the blueprint of the movement submitted by the forum to the police had mentioned that peaceful agitation will be carried out only in the Park Circus area and not near KC Das as claimed by the city police chief. “We had about 60 representatives of the forum and were only confined to the Park Circus area as per our plan. We never said we will also be agitating near KC Das at Esplanade.”
He added, “Our men were not involved in the violence that spread to Moulali, Ripon Street-AJC Bose Road crossing, Dorina Crossing, Beniapukur, Taltala, Kareya, Entally, Park Street, Topsia, Park Street and Sundari Mohan Avenue.
“I do not know whether they were hoodlums or any group but they were not members of our forum.”
Mr Ali has filed a case against Mr Biman Bose, state Left Front chairman and Benoy Konar, senior CPI-M leader, for making derogatory comments about the High Court. He said if necessary steps are not taken against them, people will lose faith in the judicial system. He demanded urgent hearing of this case.
Asked if he has heard whether Taslima Nasreen has left the city, Mr Ali said, “I have no information in this regard. I have not heard anything so far.”
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Traffic comes to a standstill for the fourth day
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=176850
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Nov. 17: Traffic in central parts of Kolkata came to a standstill for a few hours this afternoon with the CPI-M organising a rally in Rani Rashmoni Square to protest against the “forces trying to create anarchy in Nandigram”.
To add to the chaos, a forum of scientists and academics ~ Teachers And Scientists Against Maldevelopment (TASAM) also staged a sit-in-demonstration at the same time opposite Metro Cinema Hall to protest against the state-sponsored violence in Nandigram.
This was the fourth consecutive day that traffic was disrupted for several hours in the city with people protesting against the violence in Nandigram. While the anti-Left people representing all walks of life brought out a rally on Wednesday, the city had to face the brunt of a procession brought out by the Leftist intellectuals, artistes, film and theatre personalities and students on Thursday.
On Friday it was a four-hour shut down called by the Pashimbanga Milli Ittehad Parishad ~ a joint forum of 12 Islamic committees, as well as Chat puja processions, which threw traffic in the city out of gear.
Today's rally by the ruling party, mainly targeted against yesterday's judgement of the High Court, was attended by heavyweight leaders of the party including Mr Biman Bose, Mr Binoy Konar, Mr Asim Dasgupta and Mr Subhash Chakraborty. Thousands of party cadres from adjoining districts poured into the city on trucks, matadors and other hired vehicles. Nearly 3,000 DYFI supporters marched along SN Banerjee road to take part in the rally, throwing traffic out of gear.
A senior police officer said traffic was mostly affected in central Kolkata. Traffic came to a standstill on JL Nehru road, Brabourne road, SN Banerjee road among others. Dorina Crossing and Moulali had to be closed for nearly an hour. North-bound traffic was diverted via Mayo road to keep the situation under control. With central Kolkata being blocked, traffic in other parts of the city also had to bear the brunt. The pace slowed down considerably and traffic jams were also reported from several parts. Meanwhile, the sit-in-demonstration by the forum of teachers and scientists also drew a crowd and added to the woes. A section of the city’s anti-Left intelligentsia, including Maheshweta Devi, Sunanda Sanyal, Debabrata Banerjee, Bibhutibhusan Nandi and RSP leader Mr Manoj Bhattacharjee, also took part in the demonstration.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Punch and Judy show :Mrinal Sen loses credibility
Editorial
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=176713
It has taken Mrinal Sen exactly 24 hours to reduce an incredibly massive people’s protest to a Punch and Judy show. His participation in Wednesday’s rally of intellectuals against the CPI-M and the next day's procession by so-called pro-CPM celebrities is either a classic instance of dithering or, what seems more likely, a calculated flip-flop. Clearly, he has tried to humour fellow-travellers on both sides of the fence as state patronage is so very essential if the performing arts are to flourish. He had, after all, inaugurated the Kolkata Film Festival barely a week ago. In the event, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's Mrinalda may not have let the Chief Minister or his party down. He has definitely let down the 60,000 people, in effect denuding the impact of the spectacular, if silent, protest against the operation at Nandigram. Unwittingly or otherwise, he has confirmed the Chief Minister's impression that the jhola brigade isn't consistently Leftist, still less uniformly intellectual, a loosely-used term if ever there was one.
In retrospect, hoi-polloi ought to have been in the vanguard of the anti-CPM mahamichil, an overwhelming, perhaps even unprecedented, demonstration of people’s power. Instead, stars, starlets and do-gooders of the ladies’ coffee-meet variety exploited the photo-opportunity to the hilt. As did Mr Sen on both days, making sure that he was panned by the TV cameras. On Wednesday, he was protesting against the “recapture” of Nandigram; Thursday saw him joining the chorus line of pro-party, pro-government slogans. The effect verges on the comical. And his attempt to establish a common link is worse than a fatuous justification. The Chief Minister may have “hugged me”, but the 60,000 he pretended to lead are not convinced. By acting as a hound today and a hare tomorrow, a distinguished film-maker has lost his credibility.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Rallying support, either way
The Statesman
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=176680Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Nov. 15: One rally was buoyed by star power, another by religion as both called for peace to return to Nandigram. But while one was in support of the powers-that-be, the other was in condemnation of the CPI-M and the chief minister.
A rally comprising Leftist intellectuals, artistes, film and theatre personalities and students wasn’t as large or spontaneous as yesterday’s people’s protest against the CPI-M’s strategy to “recapture” Nandigram. But it had heavyweight star visitors, such as Bengal’s most prized export to the Mumbai film industry ~ Mithun Chakraborty ~ and Soumitra Chattopadhyay among others. Chakraborty, however, did not speak in the same voice as the party’s most staunch supporters.
In another rally, approximately 60,000 Muslim representatives from across the state gathered at Esplanade this afternoon to attend a meeting called by Milli Ittehad Parishad. The rally was organised to protest against the government’s role in Nandigram as well as on the issue of Rizwanur and granting asylum to noted Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. The protestors also burned Nasreen in effigy at Dorina Crossing. Mr Siddiqullah Chowdhury, convenor of the meeting, said: “The chief minister should have resigned immediately after what his cadres did at Nandigram.” On Friday, the city will virtually come to a halt as 12 different Muslim organisations have unanimously called to paralyse the state for four hours from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Mr Chowdhury also declared that on 24 November, Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Hind supporters would march to Nandigram and he also appealed to other political parties to join them.
Mr Sultan Ahmed, Trinamul Congress leader, who was also present at the meeting, appealed to the masses to dislodge the Left Front government to end the atrocities of CPI-M cadres. He also held the state government responsible for police excesses in the Rizwanur case.
Mr Chowdhury also said that Sachar committee report showed how the Muslims are neglected by the state government. He and other leaders have demanded that Urdu be accepted as an official language and that the state government should pass the bill in Assembly for this to be recognised. Leaders of the minority community demanded that the state government should recommend to the Centre that Tasleema Nasreen’s visa should not be extended.
At the Leftist intellectuals’ rally, actor Mithun Chakraborty put a damper on the crowd’s initial euphoria over his presence with his apolitical words. “I am not a politician and have nothing to do with politics. I am strongly against violence and any perpetrator of violence, no matter who that may be. I only stand for West Bengal,” the actor said to people who gathered in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at one end of Mayo Road after participating in a rather thinly-attended rally that started around 4.30 p.m. from opposite the Cricket Association of Bengal’s office. One rally participant was heard saying disgustedly to another: “Mithun simply saved his skin by avoiding strong words. What does he mean by saying he is not for any political party?”
Almost all the intellectuals and artistes who spoke to the assembled crowd said they wanted peace to return to Nandigram, and urged those who had become homeless in the events that have been taking place since 3 November, to return home. Soumitra Chattopadhyay said: “Many people have been able to return home, those who had been displaced earlier. Now we must call back all those who are still homeless.”
Filmmaker Tarun Majumdar said he wanted all the homeless to be able to come back to Nandigram. “I simply want peace to return to Nandigram. I hope all of you want the same,” he added. Chuni Goswami urged people in Nandigram to forget the past, put differences behind them and come back to their homes, while magician PC Sircar Junior said the “left hand should stop fighting with the right hand.” Mayor Mr Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said he had come to the rally as a citizen, and not the mayor of Kolkata.
He urged those present in the rally not to be swayed by “lies being circulated by the media” and said there was no move for land acquisition in Nandigram.
Other artistes and intellectuals who attended the rally were Utpalendu Chowdhury, Badshah Mitra, Rupankar, Biplab Chattopadhay, Usha Ganguly, Raja Sen, Wasim Kapoor, and others.
The Telegraph
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071116/asp/calcutta/story_8339882.aspContrast marks the twins - MARCH WITH THE HARE, RALLY WITH THE HOUNDS | |||
Calcutta witnessed two processions on two days — one starry, apolitical and silent, the other starry, state-backed and gimmicky. Metro was in both to spot the differences — and one curious commonality. Crowd count Wednesday: At least 60,000 people marched from College Square to Esplanade to protest the lawlessness in Nandigram. Volunteers in the silent procession put the figure closer to the 100,000 mark. Thursday: The number of participants at the rally for “peace and development of Bengal” from Eden Gardens to the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road fell short by a zero (6,000), according to unofficial estimates, while the official police figure stood at 15,000. Police presence Wednesday: As the procession prepared to start from College Street at 1pm, it found its path blocked by normal weekday traffic. The police had taken no steps to allow smooth passage to the silent march. Finally, the sheer numbers forced traffic to part. Police presence was paltry. Traffic snarls were localised. Thursday: At least 500 policemen, led by deputy commissioner (south) Jawed Shamim, were on duty hours before flag-off at 4pm. Traffic along parts of Park Street, Chowringhee, Red Road and Esplanade was diverted and parking zones made no-parking for a few hours to make way for the rally. The traffic snarls spread far and wide. Sights and sounds Wednesday: The march was silent, with only a few groups breaking out into “We shall overcome” along the way. At Esplanade, there were a few songs of protest. Thursday: Song and dance by Adivasi groups, pro-CPM speeches, voices of support for the government, relief at peace returning to Nandigram, ugly comments against some newspapers and TV channels. Celebspotting Wednesday: Mrinal Sen, Sankha Ghosh, Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Anjan Dutt, Goutam Ghose, Usha Uthup, Mahasveta Devi, Jogen Chowdhury, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Joy Goswami, Bibhas Chakraborty, Suvaprasanna, Mamata Shankar, Saoli Mitra, Koushik Sen, Parambrata Chatterjee, Debleena Dutt... Thursday: Mrinal Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Mithun Chakraborty, Sova Sen, Arindam Sil, Anindita Sarbadhicary, P.K. Banerjee, Subodh Sarkar, Chuni Goswami, P.C. Sorcar (Jr), Usha Ganguly, Biplab Chatterjee... Common link Mrinal Sen: “Just because I was at the rally yesterday does not mean that I cannot be at this gathering today,” argued the veteran film-maker on the Mayo Road dais on Thursday. His presence at Wednesday’s rally had raised eyebrows, as he is a Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee favourite and had inaugurated the film festival last week. “I met him (the chief minister) in Nandan (after the rally) for over an hour. He said he was aware of all developments and hugged me. I am all for peace in Bengal,” concluded Sen. | |||
 |
After a While.
Salut!
As a new contributor to the Development Dialogues, and as a somewhat erratic blogger I shall erm, begin?
It's been a while since I have blogged, and it's been a while since many people saw a peaceful protest march of wednesday's dimensions. Beginning at College Square, 60 thousand plus odd people neatly marched through College Street, Nimal Chunder Street, S.N.Banerjee Road right upto Esplanade. A while back many of us had stopped believing in democracy in the wake of state sponsored terrorism. But then I saw a sweet vendor clutch his wares and join the throng, I saw about twenty burkha clad women join in on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, and a little child hold a banner high from the relatively precarious vantage point of his father's shoulders.
From all walks of life people walk. I believe in democracy once again.Stomachs start rumbling once we pour into Esplanade. Some squat with cha, we listen for a while and then move into the heart of New Market as the voice of an eminent artist fades into the evening air. I am listening to the intelligentsia but then again I am hungry.
After a while, I say. After a while I will be back. For many years nobody has analysed the carefully camouflaged fascism of this government. We have had an excuse of an Opposition, the leader of which seems to be a jatra star. Histrionics notwithstanding, why couldn't the State produce some worthy politicians with some vestiges of humanity in them? Why did we even attempt to laud the innate hypocrisy of the ruling party some years back when a nonagenarian newt (that astutely corrupt political lizard!) handed over the reigns to our distinguished silver haired poet politician? Excellent, he is bringing in investors! What a guy! What a Stud! What a good guy. So clean. A dettol rinsed antiseptic image. Born to an ideology, however.
The hope of all Bangali bhadrolok has failed us.The sensitive intelligentsia now shudder at his Stalinism, his Nero-ism, his Hitler-ism, in short they have seen him enjoy a film (a film?!) when thousands are dying not very far away from the cultural capital, the city of joy!
And he won't do a thing about it.
Mind it, this particular party killed indigenous industry completely by trade-unionism and all sorts of virulent policies, and now they want to bring in the most obnoxious multinational chains and endorse cultural capitalism. This is the part that have been organised along compltely fascist lines for a long long time especially in rural Bengal. A Lakshman Seth could see that a man was never seen again, probably because he was chopped into little pieces and fed to his own dog.
Eveybody knew about the cadres. Everybody knew about the sort of violence they were capable of on occasions like bandhs. Perhaps nobody believed that carnage was possible. We sat here and condemned Hindutva and RSS and thought what Gujarat had come to. If Narendra Modi is Naradham Modi, what does that make Budhha babu?
It was wonderful to see a lakh or so persons at Esplanade. Celebrities criticizing the Goverment without fear. Ordinary persons collecting aid. But when I returned after some slight refreshment I thought;how does it help? What is it really? Could it really help Nandigram? Is this merely another exercise to alleviate the pain caused to the (sensitive) urban conscience?
Because we couldn't prevent a Nandigram. Most don't even know what actually happened there and what the issues were. Those following developments through January-March-November still couldn't predict the massive turn that the jomir lorai would take. The Governor was "unconstitutional" for being a good human being, for protesting.
I don't know where we are headed after this. The present condition of the State is disgusting everybody. I do know this. Many of the younger generation today don't know of the long and rather dismal rule of CPM and the rather horrible policies adopted in the course of de-indutrialization. They don't care. They just don't like the State. They don't want to stay. They want to go far far away. Perhaps just to escape.
Do they want to return? Perhaps.
After a while.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Kolkata walks for peace in Nandigram
The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Kolkata_walks_for_peace_in_Nandigram/articleshow/2541733.cms
15 Nov 2007, 0147 hrs IST
KOLKATA: It was a procession Kolkata had never seen before. Lines from "We shall overcome", a staple of the Left movement, rent the air. But there was no sloganeering, no shouting.
Neither was there any political baggage. Thousands on Wednesday joined hands to march in the rally called by Left-leaning intellectuals to protest against CPM's violent re-capture of Nandigram.
For many, it signified a break from the past. Faces of artists, thespians and writers one would expect to see in a Left rally were holding posters condemning the government and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
"We haven't deviated from Leftist ideology. It is the government which has turned fascist," said playwright Bibhas Chakraborty.
But the biggest surprise was the presence of Mrinal Sen. The filmmaker, one of the staunchest supporters of Left policy, marched for just five minutes. But in those five minutes, he crossed a barrier not just ideological, but personal as well.
Flanked by filmmakers Goutam Ghosh and Anjan Dutta, Sen was waiting on the pavement near the Kolkata Municipal Corporation as the rally neared the end of its destination. There was loud cheering as Sen, known to be close to Bhattacharjee, slowly walked to join the rest.
Asked to comment on friends like Sen and others in the artist and intellectual fraternity turning hostile, Bhattacharjee replied philosophically, saying change was inevitable in life.
"I've heard about it. I have seen many ups and downs. Only time will tell if there is any significance in this. The good relations that I shared with many of them will remain. I've kept watch and I am aware of what's going on where," Bhattacharjee said.
Earlier in the day, the ranks of the rallyists swelled as Bengali playwrights, painters, poets, actors, filmmakers, teachers, doctors, students, executives and common men streamed into College Square, from where the rally began.
Filmmakers Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh, playwrights Bibhas Chakraborty, Kaushik Sen and Saonli Mitra, poet Joy Goswami and artists Suvaprasanna and Sanatan Dinda stood with hundreds of others as those marching ahead argued with the police to let them pass. Writer Mahasweta Devi also joined them.
The rally took the route that scores of other processions take nearly every day in Kolkata. It went straight till the SN Banerjee Road-Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road crossing before turning right towards Esplanade. It took the procession about three hours to cover the 3.5-km stretch. By then the ranks had swelled to over 50,000.
"The turnout was spontaneous. It is time for all political parties to drop arms and work for peace," said Goutam Ghosh.
In a counter-move, a section of intellectuals will organise a rally in support of the government on Thursday. Does this mean that polarisation of the intelligentsia in Bengal is complete? "There is no question of polarisation. We don't support what the CM has said. That's why we have taken to the streets. Time will decide who are the real Leftists," said poet Shankha Ghosh.
Kolkata pours heart out, silently
Hindustan Times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=11afb7fe-6163-4940-a7d8-b60e1bcb2ec6&&Headline=Kolkata+pours+heart+out%2c+silently
http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/
Drimi Chaudhuri,
Hindustan Times
drimi.chaudhuri@hindustantimes.comIt was Woodstock without music. And the sound of silence was deafening enough to shake the foundations of Writers’ Buildings and Alimuddin Street.
As the river of humanity flowed through the city from College Square, thousands joined spontaneously on the way to Esplanade. On Wednesday, Kolkata came to a standstill.
People in large numbers overshadowed the Who’s Who of the Bengali intelligentsia with their spontaneity. Students, lawyers, corporate executives, teachers and others joined hands with actors, television stars, filmmakers, authors, poets and intellectuals in condemning the forcible recapture and the killings at Nandigram by CPM cadres.
At the head of the mammoth procession was filmmaker Mrinal Sen, flanked by filmmakers Gautam Ghosh and Kaushik Ganguly, along with singer-filmmaker-actor Anjan Datta. Although Sen joined in the last leg of the procession, filmmakers Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh, artists Jogen Chowdhury, Suvaprasanna and Sanatan Dinda, theatre personalities Bibhas Chakraborty, Saonli Mitra and Kaushik Sen, poet Joy Goswami, author Sirshendu Mukherjee, singer Purnadas Baul, actors Parambrata, Bidipta Chakraborty and Debolina Dutt, among many others, walked all the way.
And at every step, hundreds of people joined in to match pace, adding steam to the anger, anguish and despair that have accumulated with news of the killings trickling in from Nandigram.
Although activists of various political parties opposed to the CPM were also present at the march, none of them brandished party standards or screamed slogans, in keeping with the spirit of silence.
Most wore black badges that simply said dhikkar or shame, in an attempt to embarrass Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. If one poster had a picture of Karl Marx and carried the caption “Not In My Name”, another quoted ‘Raja Dhik’ from Satyajit Ray’s Hirak Rajar Deshey, in reference to Bhattacharjee.
Till 5pm, the gathering was estimated to be around 60,000 people, while the tail of the procession still remained around 3km away.
An octogenarian was heard saying, “I have never seen such a rally, where nobody has been forced to come. Yet millions gathered to register their protest.”
People’s protest against CM’s ‘pretence’
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=176590
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Nov. 14: What seemed like an unending stream of people marched from College Square to Metro Channel in Esplanade, from 1 p.m. today with the end of the People’s March coming in front of Elite cinema hall by around 3.45 p.m. Unofficial estimates put the strength of the rally at more than 50,000. Participants in the silent rally were registering their protest against “state-sponsored terror” in Nandigram.
Banners they held aloft screamed “Bullets to ensure your ballot, Mr CM?”; “Post-modern fascism: Tiananmen Square-Afghanistan-Iraq-Myanmar-Pakistan-Nandigram”; “We are carrying the dead body of democracy”; another showed a picture of a woman screaming and bore the message: “Where is the West Bengal Women’s Commission?” Many wore black badges that said “dhikkar” or “fie”.
People from all walks of life participated in the rally. The last time Mrs Swagata Basu (63), former lecturer of Scottish Church College, participated in a rally was when Mr Siddhartha Shankar Ray was chief minister. “I had to raise my voice against gross injustice in Nandigram. The way the chief minister yesterday justified violence there is most objectionable,” Mrs Basu said.
Ms Jayanti Sen (68) leant on a stick as she marched along with the rally. “We have lost all faith in the chief minister. The way he is talking about ‘them’ and ‘us’ is unbecoming of a head of state. The government has become a mere puppet in the hands of goons.”
Moon Moon Sen and fellow students from St Xavier’s College felt that what the ruling party was supporting was people in Nandigram being killed and raped.
Bystanders lent their support to the people's march ~ some of them had rushed from their homes or offices nearby to watch the rally go by. “What happened in Nandigram didn't even happen during Hindu-Muslim riots before the formation of Pakistan. The people who were killed were simply trying to protect their own homes,” said Mrs Nupur Pal, housewife.
Mrs Padma Majhi, domestic help, said: “The state government had something to gain; that’s why they killed all those people. I fully support the rally and would have taken part had it not been for work.”
As buses and cars waited at a crossing, CTC and CSTC bus conductors discussed among themselves the situation in Nandigram. “This rally was necessary. We don't care that the rally is holding up traffic; in fact we support the cause fully,” said a CTC bus conductor.
Md Umar, fruit seller, said: “People are dying in Nandigram every day. I support this rally fully. The strength of this rally sends one message: we will not vote for a government that does not look after the interest of the people.”
Almost the entire coterie of intellectuals, litterateurs and artistes took part in the rally; with the notable exception of Soumitra Chattopadhyay. Even Mrinal Sen, noted filmmaker and a Leftist intellectual very close to the chief minister, was at the rally. Sandip Ray was unable to participate in the rally because of work.
He said: “It is unfortunate that I was not able to participate in the rally. I very much wanted to and I will be very happy if the result of this rally is positive.”
Mamata Shankar, Joy Goswami, Kaushik Sen (who was compeer of the programme held at Metro Channel where a massive crowd congregated after the march), Anjan Dutt, Bibhas Chakraborty, Shaoli Mitra and many others took part in the rally.
“We never expected such a large turnout. In fact, we were very tense when some intellectuals announced that they would not participate in the rally if certain political parties took part in it. I must thank the parties, especially the Trinamul Congress and Congress, for being sporting and staying away from the rally,” Kaushik Sen said.
Sen added that Mrinal Sen’s presence in the rally was most encouraging. “He called me around 11.45 a.m. today to say that he felt our cause was justified. Although he said he did not agree with us on all points, he said he wanted to join us.”
Silent march organised by concerned citizens
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071115/asp/frontpage/story_8551235.asp
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071115/asp/calcutta/story_8550956.asp
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The monopoly of political parties over the masses was broken on Wednesday as thousands poured into the heart of Calcutta to condemn the manner in which CPM cadres recaptured Nandigram.
Turnout: 60,000 to 100,000 (variance because of official and unofficial counts)
What’s new? Record turnout, considering no party bussed in or hired hands to step up footfall
Telling moment: The tail end moved two hours after the rally started from College Square
Big surprise: The presence of Mrinal Sen
Clarion call of conscience heard in silent march through city heart | |
| A STAFF REPORTER | |
A sea of humanity swept in silence through the heart of the city on Wednesday as Calcutta rose in peaceful revolt against the lawlessness in Nandigram. Not a party flag was seen and not a political slogan was uttered, but the message was loud and clear as over 60,000 people joined the march from College Square to Esplanade. There were teachers and students, artists and actors, singers and poets, office-goers and businessmen, even monks and nuns as the clarion call given by the city’s intelligentsia drew Calcuttans by the thousands. “Nandigram symbolises state-sponsored terrorism, where governance doesn’t exist at all,” said Monalisa Mukherjee, an assistant manager of a private bank. “I was filled with terror hearing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee speak in terms of ‘our people’ and ‘their people’ on Tuesday,” added Disha Advani, marching by Monalisa’s side. The silent protest march set off from College Square around 1.15pm and even at 5pm the tail of the apolitical mahamichhil had not reached Destination Esplanade. “We knew many people would join the protest, but had no clue that the turnout would be so phenomenal,” said Anindo Sen, who put the crowd count at close to a lakh. Hundreds of onlookers joined the march as it proceeded through College Street, Nirmal Chander Street and SN Banerjee Road before terminating at Esplanade. For once, commuters left stranded by the march shouted words of encouragement to those causing the standstill. “Apnara egiye cholun. Amra apnader shaathe achhi (Keep marching, we are with you),” shouted an elderly man from a tram on College Street. “We are not following any individual, ideology or political party. We are just listening to our conscience,” said Lilian Mukherjee, a second-year student of Presidency College. Among the marchers were a few victims of the Nandigram atrocities. Jhuma Sahu, a Class IX student of Sonachura High School, fled the “war zone” on the night of November 8. “We would have been killed if we had stayed back,” stated Jhuma. Jharna Giri, Jhuma’s classmate, left Sonachura with her family on November 9. “Who can live in constant fear of being killed? My father has been arrested; he is innocent,” cried Jharna. At the Esplanade congregation, Rupam sang Apon kaje ochol hole cholbe na; Usha Utthup belted out Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the wind and Nandigram Nandigram don’t worry Nandigram. An ailing Mahasweta Devi, who walked the entire stretch, had the last word: “Amader ektai naam, Nandigram.” When chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was asked to react to the people’s rally and the presence of Mrinal Sen and the like, he said: “I know all about the rally. I have been watching the developments and am taking note of everything. I will not name anyone but I have had a good relationship with many of the people (at the rally) and I will continue to do so. Both life and the world are ever-changing.” |
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