Politics

As one who has served the state government for half the 'senior, secretariat years' while the other half of this period was at the Centre, one could be a little distant from parochial quarrels. Incidentally, governments were almost always in confrontational mode and one is quite used to the issues and tensions involved.

One is taken aback by the ease with which the spectacular verdict delivered by voters in West Bengal has been superseded by headlines about the political violence that broke out thereafter. It is most unfortunate that clashes, injuries and deaths have taken place and one can only bemoan the fact that this tragic tradition has remained intertwined with elections in the state for half a century, if not more. No major party is free from blame and the newly-invigorated state BJP promises to be more than adept in this domain.

This left-liberal group decided to swing in Mamata Banerjee's favour this time and its numbers surely helped supersede the negative anti-incumbency votes.

It is quite uncanny that the birth centenary of Satyajit Ray, 2 May, 2021, also happens to be the very day on which the results of the bitterest and longest drawn elections in Bengal’s history are being revealed. When one comes to think of it, this coincidence is as poetic as the legendary filmmaker's cinema, because Bengal's politics has always been inextricably linked to its cinema.

One has never seen people in other states and cities of India so genuinely bothered about elections in Bengal. Many are actually petrified that nothing can hold back the BJP if the quintessentially secular bastion of Bengal capitulates.

I had the unique opportunity to observe from within the functioning of the Narendra Modi administration for over two years, as head of the national public broadcaster. I resigned before my term, when I could take it no more. I witnessed at close quarters the collapse of the apparatus of governance, which invariably invites catastrophes of the type we are suffering now.

Some 46 years ago, I left a blue chip company to join the IAS and while many of my colleagues there retired with tens of crores of rupees, some in hundreds as well, my savings and investments at the end of almost 42 years are too embarrassingly small to mention. Be that as it may, the experience that I picked up is worth millions, as is the feeling, however misplaced, that one has served the nation — in spite of odds. The India of today is, however, dramatically different from what it was four decades ago and it feels good to think that we have contributed to many of the changes.

Sunil Arora retired on April 13 with the dubious distinction of being the most controversial Chief Election Commissioner in recent memory. His was a surprise selection for the post as his name had figured in the PR woman Nira Radia tapes. Accused of helping the BJP with several decisions, he led the Election Commission in key decisions in holding the elections to five Assemblies including West Bengal’s, the most crucial one.

ভারতের অন্য লোকেরা বলে বাঙালি ভোট নিয়ে বেশি বাড়াবাড়ি করে আর রাজনীতিতে এতই ব্যস্ত থাকে যে, অর্থনীতির জন্যে কোনও সময়ই নেই। এ কথাটি অনস্বীকার্য যে, রাজনীতি আমাদের মধ্যে অনেকখানি মজ্জাগত। এবং তার সঙ্গে সঙ্গেই মনে রাখতে হবে যে, স্বাধীনতা সংগ্রামে বাঙালির দেশপ্রেম, উৎসাহ, সাহস ও বলিদান সত্যিই অতুলনীয়।

India has always been proud of its culture, some elements of which can be traced back to five millennia. Such cultural continuity is indeed, quite rare to find. Besides, culture has played a unique role in getting together and coalescing widely different ethnic and linguistic groups—including those influenced by foreign cultures—across the vast subcontinent into one identifiable civilisation.

২০১৬ তে যখন ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের রাষ্ট্রপতি নির্বাচনের প্রচারে তাঁর সেই কুখ্যাত, কুৎসিততম ভাষা ব্যবহার করছিলেন, ঠিক তখন স্ট্যানফোর্ড বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের অধ্যাপক কীথ জে বাইবি (Keith J. Bybee) তাঁর 'How Civility Works' (সৌজন্যতা কী করে সফল হয়) বইতে বেশ কয়েকটি মৌলিক প্রশ্ন তুলেছিলেন। তিনি তাঁর দেশ কি করে ধাপে ধাপে এক অসভ্য বর্বর রাষ্ট্রে পরিণত হচ্ছে বোঝার চেষ্টা করেছিলেন। সাধারণ মানুষের উগ্র ব্যবহার থেকে শুরু করে তিনি সামাজিক ও রাজনৈতিক জীবনের বেশ কয়েকটি দিক তুলে ধরেছিলেন। তিনি অন্যান্য বিষয়ের সাথে সামাজিক মিডিয়ার ভূমিকা ও অশালীন ভাষার ব্যবহার নিয়ে আলোচনা করেছেন কিন্তু তিনি গবেষক, তাই নৈতিকতা নিয়ে প্রশ্ন করেন নি বা ইতিবাচক প্রস্তাবও দেন নি।

“India was saddened by the insult to the tricolour on Republic Day” stated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a few days ago. He was referring, obviously, to the mayhem that broke out when farmers, their friends and enemies, streamed into Delhi on January 26.

A personal sense of betrayal has overtaken some of us who spent so much time and energy to assist the broadcasting industry in setting up what was perceived to be the state-of-the-art technology of television viewership- measurement. One should have realised though that the finest of systems can always be sabotaged.

জানি না প্রধানমন্ত্রী নরেন্দ্র মোদী জুলিয়াস সিজ়ারের সেই বিখ্যাত তিনটি কথা ‘ভেনি ভিডি ভিচি’, যার অর্থ ‘আমি এলাম, আমি দেখলাম, আমি জয় করলাম!’ শুনেছেন কি না। তাঁর কলকাতার ঝাঁকিদর্শনের শেষে মনে হয় মাথায় এই উক্তিটিই ঘুরছিল। যদিও গণতন্ত্রে জয়-পরাজয়ের ব্যাপারটা সিজ়ারদের হাত থেকে সম্পূর্ণ ভাবে নিয়ে নিয়েছেন ভোটাররা। নির্বাচনের আগে কলকাতা এসে নেতাজির ১২৫তম জন্মবার্ষিকীর উদ্‌যাপন উদ্বোধন করে বাংলার মানুষের হৃদয়ে পৌঁছবার এই গরম গরম তৎকালের টিকিট তিনি ছাড়বার পাত্র নন।

It has surely been quite a different Republic Day this time, and its unfortunate events will not fade as easily as the details of more spectacular performances on Rajpath. Not only because of the unexpected action that took place way beyond the agreed venues. But with the internet down, or certainly not at its best, and real-time coverage tapering off, one is not certain what exactly happened in Delhi from 2 pm onward.

When the suave Arun Jaitley introduced his electoral bonds scheme in 2017, few could understand then that it was a very smart sleight of hand operation that legitimised funding of political parties even by suspiciously anonymous donors. By April 2019, the ruling party had bagged 95% of these very opaque funds, but we may never know what quid pro quos were given to the benefactors.

Eyes popped open when the Chief Justice of India (CJI) pulled up the government twice, on October 8 and November 17, for its faulty affidavits in the Tablighi Jamaat case. The court was visibly annoyed that the government was not responding clearly about its steps to control communally provocative media. Television viewers saw how viciously the Tablighi’s congregation in Nizamuddin in March was held responsible for spreading the coronavirus everywhere.

It is a pity that after managing to control the rates of infection, recovery and mortality from the coronavirus reasonably better than five other comparable metropolises, Calcutta now appears determined to tease its fate during Durga Puja. When the coronavirus appeared in tiny numbers, knee-jerk, unplanned, nationwide lockdowns were clamped down with a lot of drama, with politics and image-building taking precedence. The social media was inundated with hate-filled messages targeting West Bengal’s special incompetence in combating the pandemic, ignoring the fact that most other states were floundering as well.

Enough is enough — says Bollywood and many others who are sick and tired of toxic trial by media and daily abuses hurled on tabloid television. Terms like “dirt”, “filth”, “scum”, “druggies”, “cocaine and LSD drenched” and “the dirtiest industry in the country” have been freely used by some obviously-interested channels in the past few weeks, that went on lynching the reputation of film personalities with just wisps of their ‘evidence’.

Despite truckloads of criticism that are heaped on all governments all over the world, they are still looked upon to restore peace and order. In general, they are expected to be fairer than those who are involved in parochial civil or criminal disputes among citizens. Of course, local-level policemen and other overlords can get really nasty if their interests or their oversized egos are hurt. Many also develop vested interests, with or without gratification, and yet, the system creaks along, everywhere.