Kolkata Korner

Cola Wars

While the cola-wars rage on in many parts of India, they haven't affected Buddha's Bengal at all. Even though Marxist Kerala imposed a total ban on production and sale of Pepsi and Coke, Bengal chose to look the other way in order to sustain its image of being an investor-friendly state. First, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ducked the issue by lobbing the ball on to New Delhi's court, saying it was up to theunion government to take a call on the issue. Isolated bans by individual states, he asserted, wouldn't serve any purpose. And he saw no contradiction between Kerala CM Achutanandan's tough and dogmatic stand against the two MNCs and his market-friendly one. What's more, he got party apparatchiks Sitaram Yechury and Biman Bose to back him. Bose said Bengal cannot impose a ban based on reports of laboratory analyses on cola samples in Kerala. And Yechury said Bengal and Kerala have different perspectives. Another senior CPI(M) leader said the people of the two states speak different languages! All spoken like true Marxists who preach andpractice different when out of, newly or well-established in, power.

But Then...

But to give the Marxists their due, their interpretation of the analyses of Cola samples carried out by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board were correct. The results showed that Pepsi and Coca-Cola manufactured in West Bengal had residues of pesticides just a little more than the permissible limits. But, as the CPI(M) leaders rightly pointed out, that was due to groundwater contamination and many food products using ground water have similar residues. Hence, theColas were nowhere as dangerous and lethal as the Centre for Science & Environment decreed them to be. If Coke and Pepsi are to be banned on the basis of these reports, why not other soft drinks and a whole range of foodproducts? asked the Bengal Marxists. And, they added, what about the water that millions in India are consuming? Has the CSE carried out analyses of all food products, including water, that Indians consume? What Bengal's Marxist brigade left unasked was: isn't the CSE targeting the two cola giants in an unfair and vindictive manner? In fact, letters have appeared in newspapers in West Bengal from readers wondering if the CSE is acting at the behest of some vested interests. The Bengal government has now advised the two companies--Coke & Pepsi--to use surface water (of which there's plenty) instead of groundwater. Just shows how staying in power for so long can turn even rabid leftists into pragmatists.

Pinkos, Or Pinkies?

The metamorphoses from red to pink was inevitable. And nothing illustrates this better than Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's opposition to emulate Achutanandan. Yet another example was provided this week by the militant Centre for Indian Trade Unions' indecision over inclusion of the IT and ITeS sectors in the proposed general strike on December 14. During a general strike on September 29 last year, CITU activists stopped IT and ITeS workers from going to their offices at Salt Lake in Kolkata. The actionembarrassed and angered the Chief Minister, who asked the CITU to lay off these two sunrise sectors that, he believes, would drive the state down the road to prosperity. He assured IT and ITeS companies that no future strike would affect them. And, for good measure, he added that trade unionism cannot be allowed in sectors that have to work 24x7 to serve clients abroad. But such statements made CITU hardliners bristle with rage. CITU boss M.K.Pandhe raised the issue at a CPI(M) politburo meeting, but it remained unresolved. The CITU's indecision needs to be seen in this light: clearly, there's a fierce battle on within the trade union between hardliners and the'pinkies' (those following Buddha's pragmatic line). And from available indications, the 'pinkies' will win and IT and BPO workers will continue to work undisturbed. Capitalism in Bengal is on course, thank you.

Land For Cars

This week has provided more than the usual share of examples to prove that Marxist Bengal has drifted quite some distance away from its Communist moorings. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has taken off his velvet gloves and announced he's ready to deliver some hard blows to farmers at Singur who're opposing the government's move to requisition their farmlands for the Tata Motors (Rs one lakh car) project. The CPI(M) and its affiliates like the CITU and the Krishak Sabha (peasants' front) had met with mixed success in convincing the farmers to hand over their lands. A substantial section of the farmers, as well as the contract labourers working on the farms and the share croppers, have been vehemently opposing the government's move and have vowed to hold on to their lands. The CM's patience ran out on Thursday when he announced that the farmlands would be acquired, come what may. And the police would be deployed to tackle the recalcitrant farmers. Bhattacharjee can't understand why farmers, and those backing them, refuse to see the benefits of industrialisation. Wonder what his fellow-partymen in other states who'reopposing similar acquisition of farmlands would have to say. But then, they're Communists and they'd surely find some justification for theirhypocrisy...

Fallen Hero

How icons fall! Sourav Ganguly, the unchallenged hero to all Bengalis (and many non-Bengalis as well), has reduced himself to a commoner these days. His bad form, ungentlemanly conduct and ill-advised moves have all contributed to his fall from that iconic status he enjoyedtill even a couple of months ago. Remember the spontaneous outrage in Bengal (and other parts of India as well) to his exclusion from team India? Remember those public demonstrations in his favour and the Chappel-bashing thatfollowed? Today, no newspaper devotes even a small space to Ganguly. The popular refrain is that he brought it unto himself,especially with that e-mail blaming Dalmiya for his exclusion from the team. That single mail made Gangulyappear to be a characterless, scheming, ungrateful and opportunistic wimp. So widespread is Bengal's revulsion towards him that when an English daily here published an editorial saying people ought to step down from their posts at the right age instead of clinging on ungracefully (the editor, by all indications, meant V.Kurien), readers thought the editor had Ganguly in mind. And they wrote in to support the contention, saying Ganguly ought to abandon all hopes of ever being part of team India.

Hilsa Arrives

This column has, a few weeks ago, expressed alarm over reports that Hilsa may be scarce this year. But, to the collective relief of all Bengalis, the delectable fish has been arriving in the markets by the truckloads. The prices, too, are affordable. And since it's raining in Kolkata and other parts of Bengal, every Bengali worth his Gitanjali has been savouring fried hilsa with khichdi these rain-soaked days.