Kolkata Korner

We Don't Want Him Back
This is another move that could land the state government, especially ChiefMinister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in yet another mess. It appears PrasunMukherjee, who was shunted out of the post of Commissioner of Kolkata Policefollowing a public outcry over his alleged role in separating Rizwanur Rahmanfrom Priyanka Todi, would be rehabilitated in full glory and honour as Bengal'sDirector General of Police. Mukherjee may stand exonerated by the CBI once itsprobe report into the death of Rahman is made public. But in the eyes of themasses, he stands severely indicted, and not least because of what he said afterRizwanur's death. 

Let's refresh our memories of Mukherjee's shameless, repulsive andcondemnable utterances at a press meet two days after Rizwanur's death:"After taking care of the daughter for 23 years, if the family finds onemorning that she has left them to start a new life with an unknown youth,parents cannot accept it. The reaction of the Todi family was natural,"Mukherjee had said, adding "The Todi family reacted because Rizwanur'ssocial and financial status did not match theirs". Is such a person, aperson who holds such beliefs and even expresses them publicly, fit to be in thepolice force, much less preside over it? Kolkatans need to launch a campaign todefeat this move to make this man Bengal's top cop.

Nasty Thefts
For many months now, thefts of air-conditioners, copper wires connecting themachines and surgical tools and other equipment of operation theatres were beingreported from government hospitals. All these hospitals, including the state'spremier referral hospital (SSKM), are supposed to be well guarded and that thethefts were taking place with regular frequency trumped the cops. It was longsuspected that insiders, primarily the Grade IV staff who reside within thepremises of these hospitals, were involved. But nothing could be done againstthem--ones the police suspected of complicity could not even bequestioned--since they are aligned with the CITU. 

It has not come to light that these insiders were helping touts of privatehospitals steal AC machines and other equipment with the objective of paralyzingthese operation theatres. The motive is simple: if patients cannot get operatedupon at government hospitals, they'll be forced to shift to the more expensiveprivate hospitals that are the ultimate beneficiaries in this nasty game. Thisis what the cops have disclosed, but none of these touts have been nabbed forthe simple reason that they enjoy the protection of the CITU-affiliated Grade IVemployees of the government hospitals! A senior police officer told me that hisforce is helpless; if any guilty staff (and police have conclusive evidence ofinvolvement of government hospital staff in these thefts) is arrested, the restwill resort to crippling strikes and the result would be much worse--allhospitals would get paralysed, not just their operation theatres. Should I saythat this can happen only in communist-ruled Bengal?

At Snail's Pace
For two years now, we've heard ministers and bureaucrats talking about theEast-West Metro project connecting Ramrajatala in Howrah to Salt Lake orRajarhat. At times, we heard the project has been scrapped. Now, it appears thatthe public investment board has cleared the project and two senior babus areflying off to Tokyo to negotiate terms and conditions for the massive loan fromthe Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) that'll fund 65% of theproject. Once through, the agreement reached between JBIC and the Bengalgovernment would have to be approved by the Diet (Japan's Parliament) and ourown Parliament. Then, a special purpose vehicle called the Kolkata Metro RailCorporation would be formed and another detailed project report would beprepared before work finally starts. The reason I've listed all these steps isto caution all those who want to leap in joy at Kolkata getting this much neededproject--it'll take a minimum of five (and I'll be happy to be proved wrong, butmy estimate is based on the past pace of progress of the Tollygunge to Dum Dummetro line and the largely overhead Tollygunge to Garia section now) years forwork to even start and after that, a decade, if not more, to complete it. Sofolks, let the bubbly mature for another 15 to 20 years at least.

Pater Familias

Our city father, Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee, has waded into an avoidablecontroversy. Infuriated over the Calcutta High Court ordering the Kolkata BookFair out of the Park Circus Maidan, the Mayor lambasted the court and the judgesin strong and disrespectful terms and incited a band of so-called intellectuals(all owing allegiance to the CPI-M, of course) into defying the order andrevolting against it. What's worse, he violated an earlier court order banningthe book fair from the Maidan and held a token and protest book fair there.Bhattacharjee is a senior lawyer himself and ought to have known theramifications of his utterances and actions. That he was so brazen in hisdefiance of the Calcutta High Court leads one to suspect other motives. 

Bhattacharjee has got close to some office-bearers of the Publishers &Booksellers' Guild which, as I've stated in an earlierpiece, earns a huge sum of money every year from the fair and is opaque inits expenses. It is suspected some people benefit from the Guild's deep pockets.Can we be blamed if we start suspecting that those who've been making loudnoises against the Court order and are demanding that the fair be taken back tothe Maidan are driven into doing so by ulterior motives? Meanwhile, the Mayorwould be well-advised to solve pressing civic issues in Kolkata instead ofsplitting hairs (oh, he has just a few strands left) over the book fair.

Thank The Army
Thank God the army is the custodian of the Maidan. All those untidy Left-aligned'intellectuals' who've been demanding that the Maidan be taken away from thearmy must realize what will then become of this vital patch of green that areKolkata's lungs. It is only because custody of the Maidan rests with the armythat it's still pristine and green. Or else, it would have vanished by now.Perhaps it would have become a huge slum; political parties wouldn't have beenable to resist carving it out and settling their vote banks in it. Or it wouldhave, at best, become part of the concrete jungle that's Kolkata with uglybuildings, narrow roads and unbearable pollution. Even a hint of a suggestion totake the Maidan away from the army and place it in the hands of venal, corruptand disgusting politicians (that's where power ultimately lies) must besuppressed immediately. Kolakatans need to bless their stars that the Maidanbelongs to the army. And it's best kept that way, for the sake of the city andits choked residents.

Not Again!
This is another 'gem' from Mamata. Like her paintings, she perhaps lets herimagination also run wild. How else could she come up with a statement the otherday that the bird flu that's wreaking havoc in Bengal is man-made (read: CPI-Mmade)? She justifies her charge thus: the state government ignored all initialwarnings about the spread of this virus and took no steps to stop this spread.It only started acting when things got out of hand. Her reason is that the stategovernment wanted to cripple poor folks in the village and make them moredependant on government (or CPI-M) largesse before the panchayat polls in orderto ensure that they all vote for the party! Large sections of Bengal's ruralpopulace, especially in the districts that came under the grip of the virusinitially, were slowly turning against the CPI(M) and were asserting themselves,demanding more from the government. That was a dangerous trend and these peoplehad to be beaten back into submission, Mamata said. The virus presented aGod-gifted opportunity. But wait; Mamata's assertions may sound far-fetched andfantastic initially, but knowing the CPI(M) and its nefarious ways, can wedismiss them outright? I would say not. Think of it--it is easier to dictateterms to a man driven to penury and desperation than one who can somehow makeends meet.

Tailpiece
Talking about making ends meet, there was this talk show on a Bengali TVchannel where the anchor tried to be bilingual and try his hand (tongue?) atEnglish. The topic was recent stock market movements and rising prices.Commiserating with poor folks, he (the anchor) solemnly said: "They'refinding it more and more difficult to make their ends meet". Quite a feat,won't it be, to make their ends meet?