Will The Muslim Quota Save The Left?
The West Bengal government has done it again. It has been trying every trick in the book to win back the trust – read votes – of the Muslim population in the state, which it lost during Nandigram. That’s when large numbers of people protesting the acquisition of their land were killed by alleged CPIM goons. A sizeable number of those who lost their lives were Muslim. One of the first acts of appeasement by the CPIM-led government was to hound out Taslima Nasrin, who has over the years become a convenient scapegoat for anyone looking for a symbol of anti-Islamism, whatever the merits or demerits of that dubious distinction may be. But as the results of the Parliamentary elections of 2009 proved, WB Muslims were not to be fooled by such gimmicks. This time around the WB government has made a smarter move. It has grabbed the opportunity to introduce a quota system for the Muslim community’s poor in the job market. Announcing a 10 per cent reservation in employment for the economically, educationally and socially backward Muslims, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said, “We have decided to accept the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and will take steps to implement it.” The haste with which WB acted – it didn’t even wait for the centre’s decision on recommendations – smacks of votebank politics. But then, if implemented correctly, this is at least expected to have some positive impact on the community’s poor. And therefore likely to cut some ice. The thing to watch out for is how the non-Muslim poor (those who compete for the same jobs, that is) will react to this reservation (though there are already reservations in place for SCs, STs and OBCs in the state) and whether or not with this step, the Left government will go someway in being forgiven. And of course, how the judiciary treats the matter, should the scheme be taken to court, as it has been in Andhra, where the High Court quashed the government scheme.
The Immortal Flame
When great leaders die, especially in India, there are always labels of “immortality” placed upon them by their fans and followers. Chants of ‘so and so amar rahe, amar rahe,’ can be heard resonating through the air as their funeral processions pass through the streets and thoroughfares. What exactly is meant by this has never really been made clear. It is assumed that in this context immortality means that the good name of the deceased person would continue to inspire generations of people to doing good things. When Jyoti Basu died on January 17, similar slogans were of course chanted for him. The city of Calcutta reverberated with cries of “Jyoti Basu amar rahe.” During his lifetime Basu was never allowed to go away. He was not allowed to step down as chief minister and after serving more than four terms he virtually pleaded with his party to let him go on health grounds. Even then he was not allowed to give up his membership of the Politburo. Some pointed out that Basu pre-empted this and wanted to continue to serve the people even after his death by donating his body for medical research. But no one quite understood just how much more significant these shouts of “amar rahe” would prove to be in the case of Basu. The CPIM organized a rally in Calcutta’s Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday, February 7, ostensibly to protest price rise. It was attended by some 6,00,000 people. The unofficial figure was put at ten lakh. The buzz is that the rally was actually held as a show of strength of the CPIM party. Suddenly it appears that the CPIM may, just may, win back lost ground before the Assembly elections next year. Interestingly, the face on the posters and banners mounted on trucks and vans, which went about announcing the rally was that of Jyoti Basu. And in the crowd there were hundreds of people wearing Jyoti Basu masks.
Boi Mela Cynics
Boi Mela, the International Book Fair in Calcutta, has just ended. Cynics claim that after 34 years, the fair, which once upon a time used to be the Kumbh Mela of the book world, has lost some of its sheen. They point out that time was when ‘probashi Bangalis’ or ‘outstation Bengalis’ would time their visits to Calcutta to coincide with Boi Mela. And they lament its decline. They say that with the mushrooming of book fairs not just in the city and the state but also across the country, people no longer have to look forward to just this one annual event. Some say that the dwindling interest in the book fair is a result of the shift in venue from the traditional Maidan in the centre of town to the outskirts. Others blame it on the alleged diminishing interest in books and reading. But then, cynics will be cynics and Calcutta is chock-a-block with cynics. In truth, anyone visiting the book fair this year would know that there is not an iota of disinterest either in books or reading. Men, women and children, old and young were jostling for space inside most of the stalls, pouring over books. Every day for two weeks, hundreds of people descended onto the fair ground and there were serpentine queues in front of the ticket counters. During this time the most common question heard on the streets of Calcutta, in buses and trams, in colleges and schools, in offices and cafeterias, was the same one that the cynics will tell you used to be asked back in the golden age of reading: “Have you been to Boi Mela yet?” And if you hadn’t, you didn’t quite belong. And you still don’t.
Green Outside, Katatel Inside?
The green auto has run into trouble again. After the initial protests – in Calcutta there is always a period of protest when something new is introduced – when in August 2009, auto drivers refused to switch to the “environmentally-friendly” three-wheelers, claiming that their old, pollution-causing vehicles were cheaper to maintain, the drivers were pretty much forced to comply. This is because the Calcutta High Court told the administration to clamp down on disobedient drivers or else face the consequences. Now the drivers are complaining that there are only 18 Liquid Petroleum Gas stations for the approximately 12,000 green-and-yellow autos that operate on the streets of Calcutta. In other words, there is no fuel to run these eco-friendly autos. Inadequate fuel supplies may pose only a minor problem, however. The rumour is that in reality about half of these “green” autos are actually the same old pollution-causing clunkers, and that they run on the same old toxic-concoction called ‘katatel’ but the auto owners and drivers have cleverly camouflaged them by paining them green and yellow to avoid getting caught.
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The South Calcutta Tea Club
In winter mornings, an old man, wearing a patchy coat and trousers, is often spotted in a Calcutta neighbourhood, pushing a cart selling ready made hot tea. Lemon…ginger… black pepper. His little mobile tea stand is named, grandly, “The South Calcutta Tea Club.”
