Peace Process
There has been a very welcome development this week--Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has agreed to sit for talks with ruling Left front parties, including the CPI(M), to pave way for peace at Nandigram. The anarchy that was prevailing there could not have continued for long and Mamata has done well to climb down from her stand that no talks would be possible till the perpetrators of the March 14 bloodbath are brought to book. The CPI(M) has also shed its arrogance to allow a leader of a juniorpartner--Ashok Ghosh of the Forward Bloc--to act as convenor of the proposed peace meetings instead of insisting that the much-reviled Biman Bose be in charge of it. Credit for this, to a large extent, goes to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who has been, post March 14, instrumental in putting a leash on hardliners in his party who pushed for an aggressive stance on Nandigram. That a state government report on the Nandigram situation specifically mentions the role of armed CPI(M) cadres indulging in provocative acts there speaks volumes about the semblance of bipartisanship that Bhattacharjee is trying to display. All this is fine, but there has to be greater will and sense of accommodation on both sides to bring the situation back to normal at Nandigram.
The Hiccups
But then, as they say, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip. Mamata and other Opposition parties want the process to kick off with a state-level meeting, while the CPI(M) wants local-level peace meetings first. At the local level, fear, hatred and misunderstandings run so deep that it'll take a long time for people belonging to the opposingcamps--the Bhumi Uched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) and the CPI(M)--to start living together in harmony. Already, the BUPC has set impossible terms: only CPI(M) workers, it says, and not that party's leaders, would be allowed to return to their homes; police camps won't be allowed as of now on BUPC strongholds and that those returning would have to sever links with theCPI(M). Mamata and others who have been spearheading the BUPC would do well to restrain their cadres and drive some sense into them. The CPI(M), on its part, should immediately disarm its cadres. But all this is easier said than done; and even if and when done, the residual animosity and mistrust would mean that at least for the next few decades or two generations, residents of Nandigram would be at daggers drawn. Perhaps it would be best, for their own sake, to re-locate them in different areas of Bengal. And then, a chemical hub could come up in Nandigram! Did I hear Mamata let loose a string of expletives?
Pochis-e Baisakh
This is one day that Bengalis love to feel proud on: the birth anniversary of the Bard ofBengal! Bengalis organize cultural programmes (featuring Rabindrasangeet and Tagore's dance dramas) in perhaps every nook and corner of the city (Bengal has onlyone--Kolkata--in case you didn't know), towns and villages. It's become quite a senseless ritual by now: microphones blare Tagore's songs set in that typical lazy tune Tagore favoured and people with literary pretensions take to the stage to extol the virtues of a man they can never ever measure up to. For Bengalis, celebrating Tagore's birth anniversary means singing (mostly offkey) Rabindrasangeet or hearing them. No attention in paid to debating, discussing, upholding or living by Tagore's ideals. In fact, few, if any, among present-generation Bengalis even know what Tagore's ideals, his philosophy and what he stood for or advocated really are. And while Bengalis celebrate this day so enthusiastically, even if mindlessly, it would be worthwhile to remember what Tagore once said about his fellow-Bengalis: "Saat koti santaner hey mugdha janai, rekhecho bangali koriya, manushkoroni". Loosely translated, that would read: "Hey proud mother of seven crore (the Bengali population at that time) people, you have made them Bengalis, but not humans!"
Puerile Proposal
Advertisement
At a function to celebrate Tagore's birth anniversary, writer Sunil Gangopadhyay suggested that learning Bengali be made compulsory in Bengal's schools. This should apply to all schools, irrespective of their medium of instruction. Gandopadhyay, thus, wants to burden the already over-burdened students with an extra subject that they may not want to learn at all and that may hold no use or utility for them in their lives. Why on earth should a student of a Hindi or Urdu medium school have to learn Bengali? They already have to learn a second language (something thatonly students in India have to), and forcing them to learn a language that may well be alien to them is just not right. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was present on the occasion, said he'd examine Gangopadhyay's suggestion instead of rejecting it outright as he should have done. Gangopadhyay is one of those Bengalis who still believe the world revolves around Bengal and Bangla. He was a driving force behind that retrograde step of renaming Calcutta as Kolkata. The ideas he propound ought to be consigned to the garbage vats of history; the vats that are marked 'toxic'. Gangopadhyay, I suspect, may well have been motivated by selfish commercial interests while making thissuggestion--a larger number of people who can read Bengali would, he may have thought, translate into a larger market for his books.
Basu For Prez
No way! Those putting forth this idea can't be serious. And even if they are, the very thought needs to be nipped in the bud. Jyoti Basu, a man who has the distinction of being the longest-serving Chief Minister of a state in India but has rightly earned notoriety for presiding over the dismal decline of his state. A person who brought ruin to Bengal and its people through pursuance of regressive and vile policies based on dogma and a political philosophy that should have no place in this world. And many people in Bengal, especially its rulers as well as rootless leaders of the CPI(M) in Delhi like to believe Basu is a great man who's fit to be President of the country. What are Basu's achievements? Anyone can count hundreds of his failures. So why does Basu deserve to be India's President? Just because he had served as CM for so many terms? Indians also need to be on guard against attempts by the commies to push anothercomrade--Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee--as a Presidential candidate. That would be equally calamitous for India. A communist occupying such a post would definitely be the first step towards India slipping into the dark ages as a communist country and we all need to be vigilant against that. And in order to prevent such a catastrophe, we, the democratic and democracy-loving citizens, should press for banning the communists. The communists believe in one-party rule and, wherever they're in power (like Bengal), they throttle opposition. So why should they be allowed to take advantage of the freedom they'd deny others to gain strength?
Bad Dress Sense
Bengal's cops, at least the ones that are in the Rapid Action Force (a misnomer, for they're anything but rapid) and the armed police battalions, have taken to donning battle fatigues like that sported by army personnel. These pot-bellied, unfit, sloppy, beedi-smoking and pan-chewing, corrupt, inept and inefficient cops make a disgusting sight lounging around in the trademark uniform of our smart and disciplined soldiers. These cops slouch, sprawl and laze around the public places they're deployed at, thus insulting the battle fatigues that should beworn by, and look proper only on, members of our armed forces. Bengal's cops are trying, in vain, to look like our soldiers. What they should be toldis that simply donning the camouflage battle fatigues won't change their image. For that, they need to be trim and fit, smart, honest and upright and, above all, fearless. And that's simply asking for too much from our police force. Khaki is what suits them the best and khaki is what they should always wear.
Reducing Traffic
The transport department has, recently, taken a laudable step by introducing air-conditioned buses on some routes within the city and its suburbs. As has been mentioned in this column acouple of times in the past, buses and other forms of public transport should be encouraged. There are just too many cars on Kolkata's roads, and a large number of these cars are taxis. People who travel by taxis would find these air-conditioned buses an attractive, cheaper and more comfortable proposition. If more and more people who travel by taxis take to traveling by these buses, that means that many taxis off the city's roads. Not only will that mean lesser congestion, it would also translate into lesser fuel consumption, thus lesser pollution and even reduced outgo of precious foreign exchange. The transport department needs to introduce such buses on all major routes and increase the frequency of these buses. The state government should also invest in other forms of mass rapid transport like fast trams, trailer buses and fast trains on elevated tracks. All these need a lot of investment, but finding private players shouldn't be a difficult task. Especially if attractive incentives are offered. It would make more sense to offer incentives to those investing in mass transit than those proposing to manufacture, say, a Rs one lakh car that'll only add to road congestion.
