We didn't know the 23-year-old girl, who was brutally abused and severely injured in a Delhi bus, not even her name. Yet over the past few days, somehow, she developed a bond of relationship with millions of people all over the globe - young and old, men and women, boys and girls, rich and the poor - who prayed for her recovery and also protested against her assault.
Even when she was shifted to Singapore and news poured in that her condition was worsening, millions of people were hoping against hope. After all, the brutality faced by the young, aspiring girl, struck India's moral chord.
One can only hope that the exemplary courage shown by the 23-year-old will awaken a crippled society to stand up against all forms of human abuse.
But chances are few and far between.
Even when India was outraged by the brutality meted out to the medical student, a teenager in Punjab committed suicide after repeated requests to start an investigation against an incident of atrocity inflicted on her fell on deaf ear. Neither the unspeakable brutality nor the public anguish stopped the perpetrators from committing heinous crimes, even babies and children were not spared.
India takes pride in its sense of aesthetics and moral values. For generations the stalwarts of Indian society have worked hard to uphold those values. The death of the 23-year-old girl miles away from India, in Singapore, and many others in India have once again proved that the beasts within us are not tamed yet, despite our talks of high values and morality.
Undoubtedly it is time for action, but it is also time for reflection and self-introspection. We should start the reform process from within ourselves before blaming others for failing in their share of responsibilities.
Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a London-based journalist and a media consultant.
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com
All comments are personal.
Tuesday
From my notebook on Narendrapur
August 21, 1985: Usha Ranjan Sen entered Class X, Section A, at the start of a period after lunch break. Incidentally, it was the last English lesson before the revision monthly test, which would be followed by the Pre-Test and then the Test, leading to the school-leaving Madhyamik Examination. Sadhan-da, as he was also known, had planned to revise some of the difficult pieces like "Where The Mind is Without Fear" and "Narayan Hemchandra".
Entering the classroom he quipped: "No more stories today." Sitting next to the door, it was my responsibility to close it at the start of a lesson, and while doing so I responded: "But Harchand Singh Longowal has been assassinated." After some persuasion, Sadhan-da reluctantly agreed and delved into what was a mesmerising lecture not on English Literature but on Indian Politics.
More than 25 years after leaving my school in Narendrapur when I look back, this seamless interaction with the teachers is one of the many things that I cherish most. The institute may be one of the premier schools in West Bengal, if not in India, but we were encouraged to think beyond our textbooks and the teachers wouldn't confine themselves only within the academic syllabi.
I still remember Sadhan-da talking about his experience of living in Jagannath Hall as a student of Dhaka University, his interactions with renowned physicist Satyendra Nath Bose - who as far as I can recall was the Prefect there. He also spoke about and how Prof B B Roy of the English Department of then the Ripon College nominated him as the sole candidate for the inter-university debate in Lahore, then part of undivided India. The topic of the debate, Sadhan-da told us, was on the Two-Nation theory as floated by the All India Muslim League and he had argued that "the two nations would always hiss but never kiss" to win the prize as the best debater, but his university was disqualified as there was only one contestant from there instead of two - one speaking in favour of the motion and the other against.
October 31, 1984: The students of the Class IX Section B were eagerly waiting to watch the cricket one-dayer between India and Pakistan at Peshawar as their Bengali teacher Benu Sanyal made his way into the classroom in the first period with his Japanese-made portable television set. Finally, the match didn't take place and later in the day it was known that then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had been assassinated by his bodyguards. Benu-da was more of a story-teller than a teacher and his topics ranged from spoonerism to contemporary Indian politics, from travelogue to the artwork of Rabindranath. Many of his students enjoyed the kite-flying attitude towards knowledge rather than being confined only within a list of prose and poetry.
The style of Kalipada Mandal was, however, much different. A great taskmaster and a disciplinarian, Kalipada-da, with his meticulous style and mechanical precision made sure that we not only learnt the subject well but also managed to assimilate every bit of it. Rabindranath Palodhi on the other hand would add a gloss of glamour and flamboyance to the context of everything he taught.
Utmost dedication
I was probably one of the unlucky few in Narendrapur who was never part of the classes of two stalwarts - Ajit Sengupta and Ajit Chatterjee. They along with many others symbolised what dedicated and value-based teaching was. Fellow students who were lucky to be part of Ajit Sengupta's Life Science classes would say that he spoke and conducted himself with such confidence that listening to him, standing in his usual style on one-leg with the other resting on the table, did tantamount to nothing short of believing and understanding. But his towering personality, which exuded authority to the brim, crumbled and he broke down in tears for not being able to be by the side of his students during the Madhyamik Examination in the spring of 1985.
Ajit-da (Sengupta) had injured himself very badly while negotiating with his moped in the morning of the very day when the boys of the 1985-batch were due to appear for their Life Science test. Ajit-da was supposed to accompany the boys to the examination centre at St Lawrence School, as was the practice in Narendrapur of subject teachers providing last minute support and confidence to the students appearing for the exam. Unable to be with his students before the examination, he was seen sobbing and weeping as we went to see him in the afternoon.
In the following months he taught the next batch of students in a hall near his dingy room behind Saradananda Bhavan, despite having a severe injury in his thigh. Two dining hall staff would literally lift and place him on a platform, but once Ajit-da started with his lecture he would be in his usual elements.
Ajit Chatterjee on the other hand would flesh out the complexities of history and render them with story-telling simplicity. Sporting a dhoti and a shirt and holding an executive diary, Ajit Chatterjee was very soft-spoken and down to earth given his vast experience in teaching and breadth of knowledge in History. Many years after leaving Narendrapur, I came across Ajit-da (Chatterjee) at Nandan and later heard that he passed away under very tragic circumstances.
Home away from home
Narendrapur was not only a residential school for many of us, but a true home away from home, where we were looked after with no less dedication and affection than our parents. Amal-da (Swami Shivatmananda) would often pull us up for not wearing enough woollies during the winter months. He also took on the guardians for not giving proper attention to the boys. That cleanliness and timeliness were nothing short of godliness is something many like me picked up from Narendrapur. The dedication of many non-teaching staff, in the libraries, dinning halls, kitchens, hostels and playgrounds were no less than our teachers.
All comments are personal.
Entering the classroom he quipped: "No more stories today." Sitting next to the door, it was my responsibility to close it at the start of a lesson, and while doing so I responded: "But Harchand Singh Longowal has been assassinated." After some persuasion, Sadhan-da reluctantly agreed and delved into what was a mesmerising lecture not on English Literature but on Indian Politics.
More than 25 years after leaving my school in Narendrapur when I look back, this seamless interaction with the teachers is one of the many things that I cherish most. The institute may be one of the premier schools in West Bengal, if not in India, but we were encouraged to think beyond our textbooks and the teachers wouldn't confine themselves only within the academic syllabi.
I still remember Sadhan-da talking about his experience of living in Jagannath Hall as a student of Dhaka University, his interactions with renowned physicist Satyendra Nath Bose - who as far as I can recall was the Prefect there. He also spoke about and how Prof B B Roy of the English Department of then the Ripon College nominated him as the sole candidate for the inter-university debate in Lahore, then part of undivided India. The topic of the debate, Sadhan-da told us, was on the Two-Nation theory as floated by the All India Muslim League and he had argued that "the two nations would always hiss but never kiss" to win the prize as the best debater, but his university was disqualified as there was only one contestant from there instead of two - one speaking in favour of the motion and the other against.
October 31, 1984: The students of the Class IX Section B were eagerly waiting to watch the cricket one-dayer between India and Pakistan at Peshawar as their Bengali teacher Benu Sanyal made his way into the classroom in the first period with his Japanese-made portable television set. Finally, the match didn't take place and later in the day it was known that then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had been assassinated by his bodyguards. Benu-da was more of a story-teller than a teacher and his topics ranged from spoonerism to contemporary Indian politics, from travelogue to the artwork of Rabindranath. Many of his students enjoyed the kite-flying attitude towards knowledge rather than being confined only within a list of prose and poetry.
The style of Kalipada Mandal was, however, much different. A great taskmaster and a disciplinarian, Kalipada-da, with his meticulous style and mechanical precision made sure that we not only learnt the subject well but also managed to assimilate every bit of it. Rabindranath Palodhi on the other hand would add a gloss of glamour and flamboyance to the context of everything he taught.
Utmost dedication
I was probably one of the unlucky few in Narendrapur who was never part of the classes of two stalwarts - Ajit Sengupta and Ajit Chatterjee. They along with many others symbolised what dedicated and value-based teaching was. Fellow students who were lucky to be part of Ajit Sengupta's Life Science classes would say that he spoke and conducted himself with such confidence that listening to him, standing in his usual style on one-leg with the other resting on the table, did tantamount to nothing short of believing and understanding. But his towering personality, which exuded authority to the brim, crumbled and he broke down in tears for not being able to be by the side of his students during the Madhyamik Examination in the spring of 1985.
Ajit-da (Sengupta) had injured himself very badly while negotiating with his moped in the morning of the very day when the boys of the 1985-batch were due to appear for their Life Science test. Ajit-da was supposed to accompany the boys to the examination centre at St Lawrence School, as was the practice in Narendrapur of subject teachers providing last minute support and confidence to the students appearing for the exam. Unable to be with his students before the examination, he was seen sobbing and weeping as we went to see him in the afternoon.
In the following months he taught the next batch of students in a hall near his dingy room behind Saradananda Bhavan, despite having a severe injury in his thigh. Two dining hall staff would literally lift and place him on a platform, but once Ajit-da started with his lecture he would be in his usual elements.
Ajit Chatterjee on the other hand would flesh out the complexities of history and render them with story-telling simplicity. Sporting a dhoti and a shirt and holding an executive diary, Ajit Chatterjee was very soft-spoken and down to earth given his vast experience in teaching and breadth of knowledge in History. Many years after leaving Narendrapur, I came across Ajit-da (Chatterjee) at Nandan and later heard that he passed away under very tragic circumstances.
Home away from home
Narendrapur was not only a residential school for many of us, but a true home away from home, where we were looked after with no less dedication and affection than our parents. Amal-da (Swami Shivatmananda) would often pull us up for not wearing enough woollies during the winter months. He also took on the guardians for not giving proper attention to the boys. That cleanliness and timeliness were nothing short of godliness is something many like me picked up from Narendrapur. The dedication of many non-teaching staff, in the libraries, dinning halls, kitchens, hostels and playgrounds were no less than our teachers.
There was an aura of inspiration in Narendrapur, which probably had its impact on not only the good but also on the many mediocre students like me. I still remember how a veteran boxer Gauri Shankar Maity, also known as GSM, totally transformed my ability in Mathematics and that too in Class X. After I failed in the second monthly test - scoring 13, which was also my roll number. For GSM the coincidence was a record of sorts - he literally made me do the sums on the blackboard for the rest of the year, stating that his heart was not strong enough to climb the podium. GSM was annoyed that I missed out eight marks in the Mathematics paper in Madhyamik. However, me and my parents were on cloud-nine. In hindsight, the exercise carried out by GSM by making me do the sums on the blackboard in front of 14 fellow-students made me stage-free. This had an impact on my two-decades as a professional journalist both in India, and for the BBC World Service between 1999 and 2012 in London.
Another legendary teacher Nilachal-da (Nilachal Samanta) - the brother of former Bollywood director Shakti Samanta - would explain every problem in such minute detail that Mathematics became a child's play. In Class VIII, Nilachal-da showed us the half-gold and half-silver medal that he was awarded by the University of Calcutta, and looking back I can now realise the significance of his common parlance that he would have broken all academic records had he got a teacher like him.
Teachers like Satya-da (Satya Ranjan Sarkar) and Gour-da (Gour Hari Bhuiyan), both from the Chemistry Department, would make sure we understood the subject well and also had the best study material in hand. I still remember how Gour-da taught us to use simultaneous equations to balance chemical equations, rather than memorising them.
The emphasis on character building was no less important in Narendrapur. It was mandatory to go for the physical training sessions in the morning and sports in the afternoon. Arun-da (Arun Das) would use every possible opportunity to explain the importance of physical fitness with scientific precision.
Dilip-da (Dilip Kumar Bose), on the other hand, was obsessed with students sitting straight in classrooms. His belief was that sitting straight was not only an act of discipline but was also essential for proper understanding. Dilip-da once thrashed me in Class VII for bending on the floor while he was teaching us Geography. Now when I see my daughter lean on the bed during her lessons and complain about not understanding whatever she reads, I realise the importance of what Dilip-da used to tell us.
Dilip-da (Dilip Kumar Bose), on the other hand, was obsessed with students sitting straight in classrooms. His belief was that sitting straight was not only an act of discipline but was also essential for proper understanding. Dilip-da once thrashed me in Class VII for bending on the floor while he was teaching us Geography. Now when I see my daughter lean on the bed during her lessons and complain about not understanding whatever she reads, I realise the importance of what Dilip-da used to tell us.
Even more than quarter of a century after I left Narendrapur, it still remains one of my cherished places. I am deeply indebted to my teachers and others who guided and supported me to achieve whatever little I have in my life.
Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a journalist and media consultant.
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com
Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a journalist and media consultant.
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com
Saturday
Many questions to answer over nurse's death
Jacintha Saldanha has now become a household name not only in Britain but also in many other countries around the globe. The dedicated nurse, who was committed to serve the sick and the frail, took her own life apparently out of distress and humiliation of being duped by a prank call made by two Aussie DJs, who impersonated members of the British royal family.
The suicide notes left by Mrs Saldanha have reportedly been critical of the DJs and staff members of the King Edward VII hospital, where the mother of two was employed. Mrs Saldanha's death has left an "unfillable void" in her family. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs Saldanha's husband Benedict Barboza and their children Junal and Lisha.
Mrs Saldanha's death has raised many questions at different levels.
- Are prank calls or impersonation desirable or acceptable in any form of journalism or for that matter in the media?
- Did the DJs and their Editor or Producer follow the best practice by not telling Mrs Saldanha that they had indulged in a prank call and impersonation, and they would broadcast the conversation or its content?
- Was it ethical to make fun at the cost of someone?
The mishap has also raised more ethical questions about the mode of operation and the code of conduct of journalists and broadcasters at a time of cut-throat (unprincipled or ruthless) journalism in an age of fierce competition.
Editors often ask their reporters to beg, borrow or steal to get exclusive stories so that they can save their backs or have edge over their competitors. Incidents like the phone-hacking in the UK are serious pointers to the fact that the custodians of journalistic ethics are not engaging themselves in the best possible ways.
When I first joined the BBC more than 13 years ago, I was told that it was unethical to record or photograph someone without informing the person concerned. The failing became even more serious if that recording or photograph was used for broadcast without informing the person concerned, and sometimes even a formal permission was necessary unless the matter related to public interest.
The radio station in Australia which allowed making the prank call and cleared it for broadcast has to answer these questions. Others in the media fraternity also needed to learn serious lessons from the sad and untimely demise of a caring mother and a loving wife.
The authorities at the King Edward VII Hospital have to clear the air about the treatment meted out to the Indian-born nurse after the prank call.
- Why a nurse on duty had to take a call from outside?
A nurse was competent to serve the sick and the frail but the work of a receptionist called for different skill sets.
- Has the hospital authority failed in providing timely and adequate support to the grieving family of Mrs Saldanha?
- Was Mrs Saldanha pulled up or treated unfairly because she was an immigrant?
Being an Indian myself, I have seen people being pulled up or ridiculed for being immigrants and also for their Indian English and accents.
If Britain is serious about integration in an age of globalisation, when there is free flow of goods, services and people, the politicians, policy-makers and intellectuals need to ponder over the real issues surrounding the death of Mrs Saldanha.
British parliamentarian of Indian origin Keith Vaz might have been instrumental, and quite rightly so, in helping and comforting the grieving family of Mrs Saldanha, Prime Minister David Cameron might have been swift in paying his tribute to the caring nurse, but the matter will reach a closure only if the people at the helm in Britain could identify the problems relating to race-relations in the country.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
The suicide notes left by Mrs Saldanha have reportedly been critical of the DJs and staff members of the King Edward VII hospital, where the mother of two was employed. Mrs Saldanha's death has left an "unfillable void" in her family. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs Saldanha's husband Benedict Barboza and their children Junal and Lisha.
'Beg, borrow or steal'
- Are prank calls or impersonation desirable or acceptable in any form of journalism or for that matter in the media?
- Did the DJs and their Editor or Producer follow the best practice by not telling Mrs Saldanha that they had indulged in a prank call and impersonation, and they would broadcast the conversation or its content?
- Was it ethical to make fun at the cost of someone?
The mishap has also raised more ethical questions about the mode of operation and the code of conduct of journalists and broadcasters at a time of cut-throat (unprincipled or ruthless) journalism in an age of fierce competition.
Editors often ask their reporters to beg, borrow or steal to get exclusive stories so that they can save their backs or have edge over their competitors. Incidents like the phone-hacking in the UK are serious pointers to the fact that the custodians of journalistic ethics are not engaging themselves in the best possible ways.
When I first joined the BBC more than 13 years ago, I was told that it was unethical to record or photograph someone without informing the person concerned. The failing became even more serious if that recording or photograph was used for broadcast without informing the person concerned, and sometimes even a formal permission was necessary unless the matter related to public interest.
The radio station in Australia which allowed making the prank call and cleared it for broadcast has to answer these questions. Others in the media fraternity also needed to learn serious lessons from the sad and untimely demise of a caring mother and a loving wife.
Unfair treatment
The authorities at the King Edward VII Hospital have to clear the air about the treatment meted out to the Indian-born nurse after the prank call.
- Why a nurse on duty had to take a call from outside?
A nurse was competent to serve the sick and the frail but the work of a receptionist called for different skill sets.
- Has the hospital authority failed in providing timely and adequate support to the grieving family of Mrs Saldanha?
- Was Mrs Saldanha pulled up or treated unfairly because she was an immigrant?
Being an Indian myself, I have seen people being pulled up or ridiculed for being immigrants and also for their Indian English and accents.
If Britain is serious about integration in an age of globalisation, when there is free flow of goods, services and people, the politicians, policy-makers and intellectuals need to ponder over the real issues surrounding the death of Mrs Saldanha.
British parliamentarian of Indian origin Keith Vaz might have been instrumental, and quite rightly so, in helping and comforting the grieving family of Mrs Saldanha, Prime Minister David Cameron might have been swift in paying his tribute to the caring nurse, but the matter will reach a closure only if the people at the helm in Britain could identify the problems relating to race-relations in the country.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Thursday
When secularism is symbolic
Many years back - probably at the height of the Bofors controversy or may be during the countrywide "Rathyatra" by L K Advani - I read a story about India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. I can't recollect the source of the publication now, neither can I vouch for the veracity of the information.
The story goes like this: Nehru used to contest from the then Phulpur parliamentary constituency (which is much different from what it is now) in Uttar Pradesh. Before an election, a rumour was doing the round that Nehru has converted to Islam.
During that point in time, both the politics in the state of Uttar Pradesh and also in India were hugely influenced by high caste Hindus, especially Brahmins. The dominance of the likes of Hemabati Nandan Bahuguna, Kamalapati Tripathi, Narayan Dutt Tiwari in UP politics, and later the influence people like Kalraj Mishra and Lalji Tandon enjoyed, say it all.
Fearing that the upper caste Hindus, especially the Brahmins would be antagonised by this piece of news - rumour though be it - Nehru's campaign managers published a poster showing him doing "tarpan" - a Hindu act of remembering the predecessors, standing head-shaved and bare-bodied at Triveni (considered holy as it is the confluence of the three rivers - Ganga, Jamuna and now extinct Saraswati).
What role the posters played was not exactly known, but Nehru managed to skip through the elections.
As I was going through some of the articles on the 20th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, this story came to my mind.
The Shah Banu case and the opening up of the Ram Janmabhoomi happened when I was in school. Rajiv Gandhi had just come to power with a resounding majority and many people were expecting some real change. When Advani started his "Rathyatra", I was in a Kolkata college. Finally, when the disputed Babri Mosque was razed, I was just a few months in Calcutta University. So the rise of a new brand of politics, which was shaping the political landscape in India during that point in time, was analogous to the life-paths of many like me.
I still remember the uneasy calm that prevailed in the vicinity of Belgharia - the place where I lived - after the demolition of the Babri Mosque, with political parties taking out silent processions and their cadres wearing black badges. Now when I think back, they seem more like a symbolic protest rather than trying to get to the core of the problem.
The way communalism, communal politics and the issues attached to them have been dealt by a majority of the Indian politicians was mostly symbolic, and here in lies the context of the story relating to Nehru that I started with. Right from the time of Nehru, practising secularism has been seen more as a ceremonial act, which depicts symbolism, rather than encouraging people to take it as a way of life.
But for generations people in the sub-continent have lived amidst religious and communal amity. I heard from my grandparents how their Muslim neighbours looked after them in Barishal, now in south-east Bangladesh.
My paternal grandfather was a teacher in a high school in Bhola, then part of Barishal, historically known for dacoity or banditry. His social position gave him the privilege to decide the career-paths of many students in the Muslim-dominated area. Couple of my grandfather's students confided to me after his death in 1979 that they would have taken up the family profession of dacoity had he not thrashed and severely reprimanded them for neglecting their studies. On many occasions, my grandmother told me, even Muslim students would go for their marriage only after seeking blessings from my grandparents.
There was no symbolism then - no artificial effort to demonstrate that Hindus and Muslims are alike. The reality is they are not - not least because they belong to different religions, but because every individual is unique in itself.
Because of social norms in the early 20th century, Hindu Brahmins wouldn't have food in the house of Muslims. It may be good or bad - one might agree to it or might disagree, but that was the social practice then and people would abide by it, without any mere gesture of symbolism. And because there was no symbolism, the inter-personal relationships were genuine.
My grandmother would tell me that the parents of Muslim students getting married would send rice, fish, sweets, and other raw materials needed for cooking a sumptuous lunch and even dresses for their teachers and their families so that they could also be part of the celebrations. In return, the teacher would visit the venue of the ceremony and give his blessings to the newly-wed.
This is not to say that I am defending the social practises which were in place then. All that I am trying to say is that for secularism to succeed it should be a way of life rather than being a well-orchestrated symbolic gesture.
Many Muslims visit their Hindu friends during religious festivals, like Saraswati Puja etc. and in some cases even per take 'prasad' (sanctified food). It also works the other way round. A person who is secular in heart and soul would accept this as something natural, but the one who believes in symbolism would try to project it as a great success story of secularism.
This is what most of the Indian politicians and people in higher echelons of society have been doing. It is this symbolism of secularism which is one of the reasons behind the high place that the Nehru-Gandhi family enjoys in Indian politics. In the family (and also in the actions of its members) there is an artificial representation of the so-called "secular India". Recall, how Indira Gandhi used to seek the formal support of the Imam of Jama Masjid before every election.
And Congress is not the only political outfit demonstrating symbolic secularism.
Despite denouncing the path of religion in politics, the Left Front in West Bengal nominated a vitriolic person like Kalimuddin Shams, for successive elections, as its candidate from Kabitirtho or allied with a communal force like the Indian Union of Muslim League in Kerala. More recently, when Mamata Banerjee attends rallies she makes sure that a hijab-like cloth is around her head - as if that symbolism serves the purpose of the deprived Muslims in India. On the other side of the spectrum, L K Advani carried out a countrywide "Rathyatra" for a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri Mosque and then termed the day when the controversial structure was brought down as the saddest in his life.
After the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992, many people predicted that the politics of 'Hinduttwa' (the pre-eminence of the Hindus) would become dominant in India. The reality, however, has proved them wrong. Pluralism still remains a dominant force in India, but it is often vitiated by politicians offering sops to certain sections without genuinely caring for their well-being.
If sops would have worked, the Muslims wouldn't have been the most deprived and impoverished in India.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
The story goes like this: Nehru used to contest from the then Phulpur parliamentary constituency (which is much different from what it is now) in Uttar Pradesh. Before an election, a rumour was doing the round that Nehru has converted to Islam.
During that point in time, both the politics in the state of Uttar Pradesh and also in India were hugely influenced by high caste Hindus, especially Brahmins. The dominance of the likes of Hemabati Nandan Bahuguna, Kamalapati Tripathi, Narayan Dutt Tiwari in UP politics, and later the influence people like Kalraj Mishra and Lalji Tandon enjoyed, say it all.
Fearing that the upper caste Hindus, especially the Brahmins would be antagonised by this piece of news - rumour though be it - Nehru's campaign managers published a poster showing him doing "tarpan" - a Hindu act of remembering the predecessors, standing head-shaved and bare-bodied at Triveni (considered holy as it is the confluence of the three rivers - Ganga, Jamuna and now extinct Saraswati).
What role the posters played was not exactly known, but Nehru managed to skip through the elections.
As I was going through some of the articles on the 20th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, this story came to my mind.
'Ceremonial act'
The Shah Banu case and the opening up of the Ram Janmabhoomi happened when I was in school. Rajiv Gandhi had just come to power with a resounding majority and many people were expecting some real change. When Advani started his "Rathyatra", I was in a Kolkata college. Finally, when the disputed Babri Mosque was razed, I was just a few months in Calcutta University. So the rise of a new brand of politics, which was shaping the political landscape in India during that point in time, was analogous to the life-paths of many like me.
I still remember the uneasy calm that prevailed in the vicinity of Belgharia - the place where I lived - after the demolition of the Babri Mosque, with political parties taking out silent processions and their cadres wearing black badges. Now when I think back, they seem more like a symbolic protest rather than trying to get to the core of the problem.
The way communalism, communal politics and the issues attached to them have been dealt by a majority of the Indian politicians was mostly symbolic, and here in lies the context of the story relating to Nehru that I started with. Right from the time of Nehru, practising secularism has been seen more as a ceremonial act, which depicts symbolism, rather than encouraging people to take it as a way of life.
But for generations people in the sub-continent have lived amidst religious and communal amity. I heard from my grandparents how their Muslim neighbours looked after them in Barishal, now in south-east Bangladesh.
Nothing artificial
My paternal grandfather was a teacher in a high school in Bhola, then part of Barishal, historically known for dacoity or banditry. His social position gave him the privilege to decide the career-paths of many students in the Muslim-dominated area. Couple of my grandfather's students confided to me after his death in 1979 that they would have taken up the family profession of dacoity had he not thrashed and severely reprimanded them for neglecting their studies. On many occasions, my grandmother told me, even Muslim students would go for their marriage only after seeking blessings from my grandparents.
There was no symbolism then - no artificial effort to demonstrate that Hindus and Muslims are alike. The reality is they are not - not least because they belong to different religions, but because every individual is unique in itself.
Because of social norms in the early 20th century, Hindu Brahmins wouldn't have food in the house of Muslims. It may be good or bad - one might agree to it or might disagree, but that was the social practice then and people would abide by it, without any mere gesture of symbolism. And because there was no symbolism, the inter-personal relationships were genuine.
My grandmother would tell me that the parents of Muslim students getting married would send rice, fish, sweets, and other raw materials needed for cooking a sumptuous lunch and even dresses for their teachers and their families so that they could also be part of the celebrations. In return, the teacher would visit the venue of the ceremony and give his blessings to the newly-wed.
This is not to say that I am defending the social practises which were in place then. All that I am trying to say is that for secularism to succeed it should be a way of life rather than being a well-orchestrated symbolic gesture.
Many Muslims visit their Hindu friends during religious festivals, like Saraswati Puja etc. and in some cases even per take 'prasad' (sanctified food). It also works the other way round. A person who is secular in heart and soul would accept this as something natural, but the one who believes in symbolism would try to project it as a great success story of secularism.
Political hypocrisy
This is what most of the Indian politicians and people in higher echelons of society have been doing. It is this symbolism of secularism which is one of the reasons behind the high place that the Nehru-Gandhi family enjoys in Indian politics. In the family (and also in the actions of its members) there is an artificial representation of the so-called "secular India". Recall, how Indira Gandhi used to seek the formal support of the Imam of Jama Masjid before every election.
And Congress is not the only political outfit demonstrating symbolic secularism.
Despite denouncing the path of religion in politics, the Left Front in West Bengal nominated a vitriolic person like Kalimuddin Shams, for successive elections, as its candidate from Kabitirtho or allied with a communal force like the Indian Union of Muslim League in Kerala. More recently, when Mamata Banerjee attends rallies she makes sure that a hijab-like cloth is around her head - as if that symbolism serves the purpose of the deprived Muslims in India. On the other side of the spectrum, L K Advani carried out a countrywide "Rathyatra" for a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri Mosque and then termed the day when the controversial structure was brought down as the saddest in his life.
After the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992, many people predicted that the politics of 'Hinduttwa' (the pre-eminence of the Hindus) would become dominant in India. The reality, however, has proved them wrong. Pluralism still remains a dominant force in India, but it is often vitiated by politicians offering sops to certain sections without genuinely caring for their well-being.
If sops would have worked, the Muslims wouldn't have been the most deprived and impoverished in India.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Friday
Hagiology in our genes
Indians, they say, are obsessed with people's life stories. So much so that we fail to critically assess the works and evaluate the contributions of great personalities, and rather elevate them to the pedestal of divinity. Our fascination for hagiology has contributed to M K Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Thakur, Subhash Chandra Bose and even Jawaharlal Nehru look like demigods.
The passing away of eminent litterateur Sunil Gangopadhyay and the subsequent reactions remind me of this trait, especially among the Bengalis. Moreover, our liking for hagiology knows no bound when someone has passed away. We simply push anything critical about that person under the carpet, probably for fear of being branded as uncivil, although it is hypocritical to be concealing ones unsavoury feelings with untruthful flowery praises
Sunil Gangopadhyay, undoubtedly, was a great writer. The way he looked at things around him, manifested his inner feelings, his choice of words and expressions - all carry the hallmarks of a profound thinker. Although an admirer of his writings, especially his lucid prose - despite his open expression of first love for poetry, I am neither qualified nor competent enough to comment on his literary skills. Being an admirer of someones literary or creative skills, however, doesn't necessarily mean that one has to fall in line with whatever that person says about every other thing in life.
Despite being a creative person and his literary works dealing with intricate human emotions, Sunil Gangopadhyay was conspicuous by his non-expression of sensitivity after the killing of innocent people in Nandigram and the brutal use of force in Singur. It was within his democratic rights to be a votary of the Left Front, but that didn't necessarily entitle him to undermine those who took to the streets after the killings on 14 March 2007. He even branded some of the vocal protesters as being "holier than though". (Anandabazar Patrika, 26 October 2012)
Sunil Gangopadhyay was a great thinker, and quite justifiably had a particular view on development, but someone else was also entitled to infer that he (Sunil Gangopadhyay) was totally indifferent and even ignorant about the life world of those who relied for generations on land. It was extremely difficult for someone with an urban bias to realise the importance of land to farmers. And by his own admission, Sunil Gangopadhyay's work was generally based around urban life.
Undoubtedly, Sunil Gangopadhyay was a custodian of the Bengali language, but his suggestions that all the shops in Bengal should have Bengali names or names written in Bengali, and no advertisement should be allowed in the state other than in Bengali smacked of parochialism and also suffered from short-sightedness, especially in this age of globalisation.
In fact, we are so self-absorbed and pedagogic that we hardly care to look beyond our myopic vision. Rather than critically assessing a person we resort to hagiography. Paying respect for us means conferring sainthood, especially to the deceased.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
The passing away of eminent litterateur Sunil Gangopadhyay and the subsequent reactions remind me of this trait, especially among the Bengalis. Moreover, our liking for hagiology knows no bound when someone has passed away. We simply push anything critical about that person under the carpet, probably for fear of being branded as uncivil, although it is hypocritical to be concealing ones unsavoury feelings with untruthful flowery praises
Sunil Gangopadhyay, undoubtedly, was a great writer. The way he looked at things around him, manifested his inner feelings, his choice of words and expressions - all carry the hallmarks of a profound thinker. Although an admirer of his writings, especially his lucid prose - despite his open expression of first love for poetry, I am neither qualified nor competent enough to comment on his literary skills. Being an admirer of someones literary or creative skills, however, doesn't necessarily mean that one has to fall in line with whatever that person says about every other thing in life.
Despite being a creative person and his literary works dealing with intricate human emotions, Sunil Gangopadhyay was conspicuous by his non-expression of sensitivity after the killing of innocent people in Nandigram and the brutal use of force in Singur. It was within his democratic rights to be a votary of the Left Front, but that didn't necessarily entitle him to undermine those who took to the streets after the killings on 14 March 2007. He even branded some of the vocal protesters as being "holier than though". (Anandabazar Patrika, 26 October 2012)
Sunil Gangopadhyay was a great thinker, and quite justifiably had a particular view on development, but someone else was also entitled to infer that he (Sunil Gangopadhyay) was totally indifferent and even ignorant about the life world of those who relied for generations on land. It was extremely difficult for someone with an urban bias to realise the importance of land to farmers. And by his own admission, Sunil Gangopadhyay's work was generally based around urban life.
Undoubtedly, Sunil Gangopadhyay was a custodian of the Bengali language, but his suggestions that all the shops in Bengal should have Bengali names or names written in Bengali, and no advertisement should be allowed in the state other than in Bengali smacked of parochialism and also suffered from short-sightedness, especially in this age of globalisation.
In fact, we are so self-absorbed and pedagogic that we hardly care to look beyond our myopic vision. Rather than critically assessing a person we resort to hagiography. Paying respect for us means conferring sainthood, especially to the deceased.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Wednesday
Our Pujo Their Christmas
 |
| Courtesy: Prabashi |
We were supposed to manage the holiday season - from the Christmas to the New Year, with skeleton staff. I was told that a cab would pick me up from home as there were no public transport on that day.
As I woke up on the Christmas Day, the place in West London where I lived seemed like a forbidden city. Few vehicles sped through the Great West Road, I couldn't see a single person on the streets and all the shops had their shutters down. It was a sort of cultural shock for someone from Kolkata, where Christmas Days are specifically chosen for, party, picnic, feast and celebration.
The Asian cabbie who drove me to work told me that he was working since the night before as there were fewer drivers on the road.
"The White people generally do not work on a Christmas Day," he said, and it was a good opportunity for him to make a few bucks.
To my surprise he explained that Christmas was a very private affair in Britain and people generally visit their parents and the elderly relatives on that day, have quiet lunch and retire early to gear up for the Boxing Day Sale.
For someone from Kolkata, where every opportunity is for festivity and fun, it was a huge dampener.
My colleague and myself had to work flat out given the big story on board, with a bare minimum service available in the Bush House canteen and all the shops in Aldwych closed.
At the end of the day as another cabbie drove me past the Harrods in Kensington on my way home, I was a dejected soul. Expectations were high as 1999 was the last year of the millennium and I had thought that Christmas would be huge fanfare in Britain.
At the end of the day, the only luxury was my former colleague Vishnu Shankar and his wife Sabita Bhabi treating us with warm and delicious Indian cuisine and the company of their two lovely daughters Annapurna and Divya.
That was my first Christmas in London. Compare that with the din and bustle of the Christmas Day back home. And to compare the Christmas Day with the Durga Puja would be absolutely outlandish and bizarre.
Durga Puja is marked by all-round festivity. New dresses, delicious meals, pandal hopping, mouth-watering food, catching up with old friends and what not - the chains of control are taken over by uninterrupted merry-making.
Prabashi, a registered charity set up by a group of enthusiasts in Hounslow, wants to re-create that air of festivity and merry-making at a place which they call their second home. Their endeavour is to bring the East to the West so that one can complement the other.
Please visit the website of Prabashi (http://www.ukprabashi.org/) for more information, and join in the celebrations of the good over evil.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Tuesday
Tracing the roots of corruption in India
Historically the Britishers are infamous for their manipulative skills and nobody knows it better than the Indians. Many blame the deep stain of corruption in the Indian society as an after effect of the British rule. Veteran journalist and author Buroshiva Dasgupta, in his guest post for the Stray Thoughts, traces the history of corruption in independent India and questions whether it is the manipulative legacy of the British rule which is to be blamed for the flurry of fraudulent activities or is it that we the Indians have turned out to be morally corrupt.
"Some say the Indians learnt well two things from the British during their two hundred year rule – one is the English language and the other - corruption. The Indian universities were set up in the Oxford and Cambridge model and they continue to cling to the old rules – but their soul (progressive education) has fled. In administration, the British introduced the "steel frame" and could manage to move resources fast across the country and then to the outer world – through the railways and through the steamliners. But within the system, things like "baksheesh" and speed money kept up the momentum.
Today, the world seems to move more according to the American models – whether in education or in economy or administration. We are limping in education, failing to break out of the British mould; but surprisingly, have caught on to the fast ways of the underworld of international economy. We are part of networks of the "hawala", the Swiss banks and the overseas tax-free havens. Money changes hand in lightning speed and are stashed away in many forms all over the world.
The recent "white" paper on the "black" money, which the erstwhile finance minister - and the present President of the country, Pranab Mukherjee - placed before the Parliament has only tried to "whitewash" the misdeeds of the government by stating how the present UPA government has "effectively" reduced the outflow of the country’s financial resources to Swiss bank and international tax havens ( Thank God, he at least admitted that such things happen !).
The Prime Minister defends the "Coalgate", refuses to scrap the coal deals with private beneficiaries, saying that no irregularities have been noticed in the matter by his office. Yet it was the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) which bartered the natural resources – this time coal – without auction, and the beneficiaries included relations of Congress leaders and ministers. Even a manufacturer of underwear is a beneficiary – what really has he got to do with coal except speculate and make money?
The Prime Minister couldn’t wriggle out this time from the blame because he was holding the Coal portfolio during the distribution, though during the distribution of the airwave (spectrum), the PMO could shift the blame on to the former Telecom Minister A Raja. And we thought the PM was an honest person.
But let us face the hard facts.
Some people will continue to blame the British for introducing the culture of speed money to rob the Indian resources; but we Indians, over the years, seem to have turned out to be a morally corrupt nation. We don’t even hesitate to sell our children on the pretext of poverty. We rob Peter to pay Paul. We don’t hesitate to sell our air, water, earth and its underground resources – even for a pittance. We steal goodies from public transport like the railways, airlines and the shipliners. We cut down the trees and sell them off. Village sarpanchs buy Bolero cars and German shepherd dogs on money guaranteeing jobs for the villagers. The bureaucracy - or the steel frame which the British created to rob the nation and carry the resources overseas - continues with the robbery, but now it is for themselves.
About our politicians, it is less said the better. Just take the example of the Bellary mines on the border of states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. China needed steel to construct the massive stadiums for the Beijing Olympics. India supplied the iron ore – not officially, but illegally - from the Bellary mines. All the laws of the land – whether it is of mining, labour, factory, land or environment – were broken, clearly at the connivance of the political powers both at the state and centre. The two Reddy brothers made fortunes and we find the political leaders - whether of the Congress or the BJP, it does not matter – openly patronizing them. The picture of BJP leader Sushma Swaraj blessing the two Reddy brothers holding her palms over their heads is there on the internet for everybody to see. She does not even care to disown the picture.
The Congress party saved its skin on the Commonwealth Games scandals – where sports equipment supply deals where made with companies which did not even physically exist - by a finding a scapegoat in Suresh Kalmadi, just as the 2G scam was dumped on Raja. It started in the times of Jawaharlal Nehru with the Mundhra case, continued with the Bofors Guns during Indira and Rajiv Gandhis, Harshed Mehta during the regime of P V Narasimha Rao and now the deluge during Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. BJP talks of honesty but many of the present day scams have their origins during their regime. And now we have the Sushma Swarajs and the Yeddurappas.
At the micro level, if we scan the Left parties at the state level – in West Bengal for example where they ruled for 34 years – we find them no better. Pampered sons of ministers squandered public money; forged certificates and packed universities and colleges with "party followers"; allowed realtors to get away with murder since they swelled the party coffers. The scale of corruption may be smaller in comparison with the national picture; but given the charges, and opportunities, we never know what they would have done nationally (Jyoti Basu was once offered the PM’s chair!) - because the politicians, once in chair, acquire the same hue.
What should the common man do?
Seek refuge in the Anna Hazares and the Ram Devs in fighting corruption? Possibly, over the years we have corrupted our moral fibre and can trust no one. Once a rage – and described as the new Gandhi or the messiah – now walks into politics. Power, if he achieves it, will corrupt him too. Ram Dev too it is said has political ambitions. Where does the civil society stand, or the movements like the "OccupyWall Street" or the social media? Impatience towards the media is on the rise – just as it happened in the pre-emergency days. Cartoonists are being jailed. We, certainly, are in troubled times. A "manthan" – or a great churning – is on. The outcome bodes ill."
"Some say the Indians learnt well two things from the British during their two hundred year rule – one is the English language and the other - corruption. The Indian universities were set up in the Oxford and Cambridge model and they continue to cling to the old rules – but their soul (progressive education) has fled. In administration, the British introduced the "steel frame" and could manage to move resources fast across the country and then to the outer world – through the railways and through the steamliners. But within the system, things like "baksheesh" and speed money kept up the momentum.
Today, the world seems to move more according to the American models – whether in education or in economy or administration. We are limping in education, failing to break out of the British mould; but surprisingly, have caught on to the fast ways of the underworld of international economy. We are part of networks of the "hawala", the Swiss banks and the overseas tax-free havens. Money changes hand in lightning speed and are stashed away in many forms all over the world.
The recent "white" paper on the "black" money, which the erstwhile finance minister - and the present President of the country, Pranab Mukherjee - placed before the Parliament has only tried to "whitewash" the misdeeds of the government by stating how the present UPA government has "effectively" reduced the outflow of the country’s financial resources to Swiss bank and international tax havens ( Thank God, he at least admitted that such things happen !).
The Prime Minister defends the "Coalgate", refuses to scrap the coal deals with private beneficiaries, saying that no irregularities have been noticed in the matter by his office. Yet it was the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) which bartered the natural resources – this time coal – without auction, and the beneficiaries included relations of Congress leaders and ministers. Even a manufacturer of underwear is a beneficiary – what really has he got to do with coal except speculate and make money?
The Prime Minister couldn’t wriggle out this time from the blame because he was holding the Coal portfolio during the distribution, though during the distribution of the airwave (spectrum), the PMO could shift the blame on to the former Telecom Minister A Raja. And we thought the PM was an honest person.
But let us face the hard facts.
Some people will continue to blame the British for introducing the culture of speed money to rob the Indian resources; but we Indians, over the years, seem to have turned out to be a morally corrupt nation. We don’t even hesitate to sell our children on the pretext of poverty. We rob Peter to pay Paul. We don’t hesitate to sell our air, water, earth and its underground resources – even for a pittance. We steal goodies from public transport like the railways, airlines and the shipliners. We cut down the trees and sell them off. Village sarpanchs buy Bolero cars and German shepherd dogs on money guaranteeing jobs for the villagers. The bureaucracy - or the steel frame which the British created to rob the nation and carry the resources overseas - continues with the robbery, but now it is for themselves.
About our politicians, it is less said the better. Just take the example of the Bellary mines on the border of states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. China needed steel to construct the massive stadiums for the Beijing Olympics. India supplied the iron ore – not officially, but illegally - from the Bellary mines. All the laws of the land – whether it is of mining, labour, factory, land or environment – were broken, clearly at the connivance of the political powers both at the state and centre. The two Reddy brothers made fortunes and we find the political leaders - whether of the Congress or the BJP, it does not matter – openly patronizing them. The picture of BJP leader Sushma Swaraj blessing the two Reddy brothers holding her palms over their heads is there on the internet for everybody to see. She does not even care to disown the picture.
The Congress party saved its skin on the Commonwealth Games scandals – where sports equipment supply deals where made with companies which did not even physically exist - by a finding a scapegoat in Suresh Kalmadi, just as the 2G scam was dumped on Raja. It started in the times of Jawaharlal Nehru with the Mundhra case, continued with the Bofors Guns during Indira and Rajiv Gandhis, Harshed Mehta during the regime of P V Narasimha Rao and now the deluge during Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. BJP talks of honesty but many of the present day scams have their origins during their regime. And now we have the Sushma Swarajs and the Yeddurappas.
At the micro level, if we scan the Left parties at the state level – in West Bengal for example where they ruled for 34 years – we find them no better. Pampered sons of ministers squandered public money; forged certificates and packed universities and colleges with "party followers"; allowed realtors to get away with murder since they swelled the party coffers. The scale of corruption may be smaller in comparison with the national picture; but given the charges, and opportunities, we never know what they would have done nationally (Jyoti Basu was once offered the PM’s chair!) - because the politicians, once in chair, acquire the same hue.
What should the common man do?
Seek refuge in the Anna Hazares and the Ram Devs in fighting corruption? Possibly, over the years we have corrupted our moral fibre and can trust no one. Once a rage – and described as the new Gandhi or the messiah – now walks into politics. Power, if he achieves it, will corrupt him too. Ram Dev too it is said has political ambitions. Where does the civil society stand, or the movements like the "OccupyWall Street" or the social media? Impatience towards the media is on the rise – just as it happened in the pre-emergency days. Cartoonists are being jailed. We, certainly, are in troubled times. A "manthan" – or a great churning – is on. The outcome bodes ill."
Thursday
Netaji mystery: Declassification holds the key
The nationalistic zeal of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - my patriotic hero, has inspired many Indians. Netaji's disappearance is still shrouded in mystery. Journalist and author Anuj Dhar has been relentless in his effort to untangle the jigsaw. Anuj Dhar's latest book: India's Biggest Cover-Up , has created flutters in many quarters, both within India and outside. In his guest post for Stray Thoughts, Anuj Dhar argues that "Declassification holds the key to cracking the Netaji mystery." This guest post is Stray Thoughts' tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
"In 2007 my friends and I were in the middle of an RTI (Right to Information) quest to seek release of over 200 secret records used by the Khosla Commission to support the official theory of Netaji's reported death in Taiwan at the close of the World War II (WWII). The Ministry of Home Affairs was refusing to declassify them and the Information Commissioner AN Tiwari (later Chief Information Commissioner) was left with no option but to ask them point blank why it could not be done.
After a while, Tiwari, a former Secretary to the Government of India, received a letter from his friend, the then home secretary. The letter was marked "Secret" but Tiwari could hardly conceal his sense of bafflement after going through it. He told us that the home secretary was not in favour of the disclosure of the records because doing so "may lead to a serious law and order problem in the country, especially in West Bengal".
In 2012 if there's any issue concerning Subhas Chandra Bose that requires our urgent attention it is of the gratuitous state secrecy around him. As you read this, heaps of classified records and files relating to Netaji are lying in different ministries and agencies. I do not think apart from Bose any other pre-independence national icon of ours has had the dubious distinction of having so much of classified material about him. Often there are claims, some of which are right, that secret files about Netaji exist in other countries. But then, how are we going to ask foreign governments to release them when our own is sitting on a pile of its own making?
Just to give you an illustration, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is holding 35 classified files concerning the man, a large number of Indians think was the main reason the British left India in 1947. Most of these files are about the reported death. Nearly 10 of the PMO's Netaji files carry the "Top Secret" stamp.
The situation is more or less the same across the government. The Ministry of Home Affairs, I came to know during my RTI-related efforts, is holding secret thousands of pages about Bose's fate. This has got to be joke because most "enlightened" people of the country -- senior journalists and eminent Bengali thinkers included, I have the gumption to say-- have made up their minds that the Bose mystery is just gas.
But gas it surely is not. The Ministry of External Affairs has secret files about Netaji and so has the Intelligence Bureau, some 76 of them. In fact, only a former Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB) can actually tell how many files are there exactly and where they have been kept. That is such a shame, you would say. Yes, that is, and this is precisely the issue our generation must confront before it's too late. Those before us failed miserably for a variety of reasons.
Thus far, the Netaji mystery has been dominated by two contrasting outlooks. The first is the views of conspiracy theorists, Bose's blind followers and Jawaharlal Nehru's fiercest critics. The scenario projected by them hasn't escaped the notice of any of us. The other side is that of the intellectuals, especially the "I know it all", many of whom cannot stand any talk of the possibility that Bose might have lived on after the date of his reported death. That's why we find that in last six decades there's not been any proper research by any reputed researcher into the matter. Those who did touch upon the issue ended up giving sketchy details.
So, like it or not, the controversy remains in circulation, unresolved. Therefore, it is high time we did something to cap the controversy for once and all. The accepted wisdom that "there's no use of raising this issue now" must be re-judged in the context of transparency, vital for any great democracy. This country needs openness in the realm of history as well. Irrespective of the views one holds about Netaji or his fate, to ask for comprehensive declassification of all records about him would be a sensible thing to do.
It would be most appropriate if this demand is first raised from the states where Netaji was born and lived. In January this year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself made public statement that it was such a shame that the last word on Netaji's death was yet to come out. Well, a great shame it indeed is and the root cause of it is the inexplicable stand of our government in keeping records about Netaji secret and our inability to ask it to release them.
For argument's sake, if it were to emerge tomorrow that the Government of West Bengal was holding a secret file into the possible killing of Rizwanur Rahman, I'm sure the media and people would lunge at the throats of the officials, demanding its immediate release. So what stops them today from seeking release of Netaji files? No, this is not an issue of the past. The Mukherjee Commission upholding the public view was rejected by our Government in 2006 without assigning any reason, and we simply watched the spectacle.
In last few years we have seen people hitting the streets seeking justice for ordinary people, never posing any of the questions that have been raised by Netaji's admirers since 1950s. "What is the use of it since he is not going to come back alive?" And so we have wasted 50 years and files have piled up in North and South Blocks. Let's end this farce now. As of today, I think there won't be anything better to signal its end than to request the honourble Chief Minister of Bengal to call for an end to the secrecy that has made Subhas Chandra Bose an even bigger enigma than he really was."
Anuj Dhar is a New Delhi-based independent researcher. His latest book "India's Biggest Cover-Up" is available through Reader's Service outlets in Kolkata, such as One World Book Stop (Park Street), Dey's Book Store, Dasgupta and Company, Chakraborty & Chatterjee (College Street).
You may also get the book online.
Flipkart: http://goo.gl/f0LCu
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India's Biggest Cover Up by Anuj Dhar. Rs.450, Save 25%. Buy India's Biggest Cover Up, All India Free Home Delivery. 9380828691, 9789380828695 |
Friday
Mamata's Maoist mania: A recipe for failure
Initially, Mamata Banerjee was in a mode of denial about the existence of the Maoists in Bengal - like the erstwhile Left Front government in the state, and now the same Maoists have turned out to be omnipresent for her. The fluctuating positions of the Bengal chief minister only speaks of how the politicians change their stance to suit short-term gains. It is indeed unfortunate that people have to live with such wavering politicians cutting across party lines, without much choice on offer.
Mamata Banerjee has the rare ability of making personalities popular, and her Maoist (also read opposition) mania has only added to that credential. Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra of Jadavpur University and his septuagenarian neighbour Subrata Sengupta have shot into fame, albeit for the wrong reasons, thanks to her mercurial attitude.
Even after the goons belonging to the Trinamool Congress harassed the two professionals, she could have infused reason by either keeping away from the controversy or by leaving it to the law enforcing agencies to investigate the allegations. Instead, the chief minister chose to intervene on a matter which lies within the purview of the officer in-charge of a police station. By echoing the views of what the Trinamool Congress activists were arguing, she diminished her own position from being the administrative head of the state to a mere party leader.
Being a street fighter has always added to Mamata Banerjee's advantage. Even after becoming the chief minister, she has demonstrated her proximity to the "ordinary others", rather than portraying an air of false intellectualism. But her proximity to the cause of the ordinary man doesn't necessary mean that she needs to comment on each and every issue in public domain. Often politicians tend to overlook the fact that silence sometimes is louder than words.
The way Mamata Banerjee has conducted herself in the Park Street molestation and many other cases have only demonstrated that she needs to go a long way to muster the skills expected of an able administrator. The inept handling of successive events can in the long run even undermine her authority to preside over the same people, who more than a year ago elected Mamata Banerjee with a thumping majority.
Another trait which brings Mamata Banerjee closer to the masses is her simple lifestyle. Many consider it to be symbolic to muster political gains, yet it is not easy to control oneself when the ultimate authority of running the show lies with her. She has not only single-handedly decimated the CPI-M in the state, but is also calling the shots in the functioning of the coalition at the centre. In such a situation it is not unusual to consider oneself as the ultimate repository of power and act in a reckless manner, without much propriety. Fortunately, such a thing has not happened in the case of Mamata Banerjee, despite being so close to power for such a long time after rising from a very humble background.
Despite such demonstrable strengths, Mamata Banerjee's actions often seemed very flimsy and bereft of any rhyme or reason. The way she conducted herself on many occasions, especially on her interactions with the opposition, even after becoming the chief minister of a state only speaks of her lack of manoeuvring skills expected of a seasoned politician. Her angry remarks against the Maoists and seeing their handiwork on every note of dissent may in the long run be construed as a symptom of chronic fear and insecurity, which can be damaging for the people of the state, the Trinamool Congress and its supremo.
Undoubtedly, Mamata Banerjee is a crafty politician, probably she is raising her pitch only to polarise the political space in Bengal, between the Trinamool Congress and others. However, the danger of such a polarisation is that the middle ground gradually gets depleted, leading to exposition of extreme positions, which is not conducive to the politics of pluralism and tolerance.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Mamata Banerjee has the rare ability of making personalities popular, and her Maoist (also read opposition) mania has only added to that credential. Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra of Jadavpur University and his septuagenarian neighbour Subrata Sengupta have shot into fame, albeit for the wrong reasons, thanks to her mercurial attitude.
Even after the goons belonging to the Trinamool Congress harassed the two professionals, she could have infused reason by either keeping away from the controversy or by leaving it to the law enforcing agencies to investigate the allegations. Instead, the chief minister chose to intervene on a matter which lies within the purview of the officer in-charge of a police station. By echoing the views of what the Trinamool Congress activists were arguing, she diminished her own position from being the administrative head of the state to a mere party leader.
Being a street fighter has always added to Mamata Banerjee's advantage. Even after becoming the chief minister, she has demonstrated her proximity to the "ordinary others", rather than portraying an air of false intellectualism. But her proximity to the cause of the ordinary man doesn't necessary mean that she needs to comment on each and every issue in public domain. Often politicians tend to overlook the fact that silence sometimes is louder than words.
The way Mamata Banerjee has conducted herself in the Park Street molestation and many other cases have only demonstrated that she needs to go a long way to muster the skills expected of an able administrator. The inept handling of successive events can in the long run even undermine her authority to preside over the same people, who more than a year ago elected Mamata Banerjee with a thumping majority.
Another trait which brings Mamata Banerjee closer to the masses is her simple lifestyle. Many consider it to be symbolic to muster political gains, yet it is not easy to control oneself when the ultimate authority of running the show lies with her. She has not only single-handedly decimated the CPI-M in the state, but is also calling the shots in the functioning of the coalition at the centre. In such a situation it is not unusual to consider oneself as the ultimate repository of power and act in a reckless manner, without much propriety. Fortunately, such a thing has not happened in the case of Mamata Banerjee, despite being so close to power for such a long time after rising from a very humble background.
Despite such demonstrable strengths, Mamata Banerjee's actions often seemed very flimsy and bereft of any rhyme or reason. The way she conducted herself on many occasions, especially on her interactions with the opposition, even after becoming the chief minister of a state only speaks of her lack of manoeuvring skills expected of a seasoned politician. Her angry remarks against the Maoists and seeing their handiwork on every note of dissent may in the long run be construed as a symptom of chronic fear and insecurity, which can be damaging for the people of the state, the Trinamool Congress and its supremo.
Undoubtedly, Mamata Banerjee is a crafty politician, probably she is raising her pitch only to polarise the political space in Bengal, between the Trinamool Congress and others. However, the danger of such a polarisation is that the middle ground gradually gets depleted, leading to exposition of extreme positions, which is not conducive to the politics of pluralism and tolerance.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Wednesday
India @ 65: Memories and hope
Sipping my morning tea on Wednesday, I tuned in the television as I do every day. Surfing channels after watching the travel news and weather on the BBC's Breakfast Show, I found the NDTV showing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort. It's India's Independence Day, I said to myself, slightly disappointed that I couldn't wake up early enough to watch the flag-hoisting ceremony live, as I do every year.
On my way to work, I was awash with memories of independence day celebrations. As a child it was a very special day for me. I felt standing in apt attention during the flag hoisting ceremony and saluting the tri-colour was a fitting tribute from a young boy to his predecessors, who laid down their lives for our motherland. Often my voice would get choked and eyes moistened while singing the national anthem.
In our childhood days, it was a practice to expose the young to the golden days of Indian freedom struggle. We were shown movies on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Kshudiram Bose, Bhagat Singh and many others. May be those films had their reverberations on my young mind as I used to stand in pride in front of the unfurling tri-colour.
Whenever I used to be in my hometown of Belgharia, I used to attend the independence day celebrations at my local club Udayan. After the flag hoisting, a picture of Netaji used to be garlanded. This was followed by a parade, and saluting the tri-colour used to be my proudest moment. The sweets and savouries (jilipi and singara) were a bonus for the kids.
Often I have dreamt of being born when India was fighting for her independence and had become free. The description of the time when India gained freedom still evinces my interest and stirs my imagination. As a child Netaji was my hero and he still continues to be my greatest patriot. As a young boy, whenever I would have seen a statue of Netaji, be it by the side of B T Road at Baranagar or at the five-point crossing at Shyambazar or at the Maidan, I used to salute him and the expression of respect filled with pride would amuse others, often causing laughter.
As I matured and was exposed to more reading about Indian independence, I felt that probably Netaji was more of an emotional person and those with emotions rarely succeed in the craft of politics, but his love for our motherland India was unflinching. Netaji seeking the support of Germany and Japan only shows his eagerness to make India free. Notwithstanding the ideological allegations that many have against Netaji, he still remains my patriotic hero.
Many years back when I was doing a radio feature on Shyam Benegal's film Netaji -The Last Hero for the BBC, I came across Netaji's daughter Anita Bose Pfaff and her economist husband, Martin Pfaff. Our interaction at the Indian Gymkhana Club in Osterley was indeed a great experience and I still hold the cassette with their interviews as a prized possession.
When I mentioned to Anita Bose Pfaff that Netaji was my childhood hero and I used to slaute his statue, she burst out in laughter, but was very measured in her assessment. She had no complaints about being so far away from India, despite her father being one of India's greatest leaders. Her husband Dr Martin Pfaff is a very open-hearted and jovial person. He told me that he always enjoyed the care and attention that a 'Bangali-barir jamai' (son-in-law of a Bengali household) gets in India.
As India celebrates the 65th anniversary of its independence, the nation is faced with many challenges but the remarkable achievements also can't be overlooked. There is poverty, hunger, disease, malnourishment, illiteracy, unemployment - and all of them are daunting tasks which India as a nation needs to take on in its stride. But India has also shown what it has on offer for the world and how it can shape the global order. She has bestowed a sense of pride to her people, which will undoubtedly instill greater self-confidence to ensure bigger successes in the future.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
On my way to work, I was awash with memories of independence day celebrations. As a child it was a very special day for me. I felt standing in apt attention during the flag hoisting ceremony and saluting the tri-colour was a fitting tribute from a young boy to his predecessors, who laid down their lives for our motherland. Often my voice would get choked and eyes moistened while singing the national anthem.
In our childhood days, it was a practice to expose the young to the golden days of Indian freedom struggle. We were shown movies on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Kshudiram Bose, Bhagat Singh and many others. May be those films had their reverberations on my young mind as I used to stand in pride in front of the unfurling tri-colour.
Whenever I used to be in my hometown of Belgharia, I used to attend the independence day celebrations at my local club Udayan. After the flag hoisting, a picture of Netaji used to be garlanded. This was followed by a parade, and saluting the tri-colour used to be my proudest moment. The sweets and savouries (jilipi and singara) were a bonus for the kids.
Often I have dreamt of being born when India was fighting for her independence and had become free. The description of the time when India gained freedom still evinces my interest and stirs my imagination. As a child Netaji was my hero and he still continues to be my greatest patriot. As a young boy, whenever I would have seen a statue of Netaji, be it by the side of B T Road at Baranagar or at the five-point crossing at Shyambazar or at the Maidan, I used to salute him and the expression of respect filled with pride would amuse others, often causing laughter.
As I matured and was exposed to more reading about Indian independence, I felt that probably Netaji was more of an emotional person and those with emotions rarely succeed in the craft of politics, but his love for our motherland India was unflinching. Netaji seeking the support of Germany and Japan only shows his eagerness to make India free. Notwithstanding the ideological allegations that many have against Netaji, he still remains my patriotic hero.
Many years back when I was doing a radio feature on Shyam Benegal's film Netaji -The Last Hero for the BBC, I came across Netaji's daughter Anita Bose Pfaff and her economist husband, Martin Pfaff. Our interaction at the Indian Gymkhana Club in Osterley was indeed a great experience and I still hold the cassette with their interviews as a prized possession.
When I mentioned to Anita Bose Pfaff that Netaji was my childhood hero and I used to slaute his statue, she burst out in laughter, but was very measured in her assessment. She had no complaints about being so far away from India, despite her father being one of India's greatest leaders. Her husband Dr Martin Pfaff is a very open-hearted and jovial person. He told me that he always enjoyed the care and attention that a 'Bangali-barir jamai' (son-in-law of a Bengali household) gets in India.
As India celebrates the 65th anniversary of its independence, the nation is faced with many challenges but the remarkable achievements also can't be overlooked. There is poverty, hunger, disease, malnourishment, illiteracy, unemployment - and all of them are daunting tasks which India as a nation needs to take on in its stride. But India has also shown what it has on offer for the world and how it can shape the global order. She has bestowed a sense of pride to her people, which will undoubtedly instill greater self-confidence to ensure bigger successes in the future.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Sunday
London 2012: In true spirit and style
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| London 2012 is a tribute to the city's indomitable spirit |
Arguing the case for London in Singapore, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair was all praise for the city, and here we were stuck in the Piccadilly Line the very next morning. Many of us were pouring our hearts out only to call the bluff of the people running London. Little did we know then that one of the most vibrant cities of the world was under a severe terrorist attack, but London's public transport system never regained the faith of many over the past seven years.
Since then, till the very last day - 26 July 2012, I had my doubts about the possibility of any success of London 2012. Over the years the public facilities have crumbled in London causing huge discomfort for the residents and visitors. The cuts in public finances made London the melting pot of protests throwing the city into chaos and disarray. The tough negotiations that followed between the government and the trade unions cast further doubts over the smooth sailing of London 2012.
In the end though, I must admit, London 2012 has been a huge success. As the terrorists who masterminded the attacks of 7 July 2005 failed to undermine the indomitable spirit of the Londoners, similarly all those who questioned London's potential, including myself, to host a successful Olympics were proved wrong. All the doubts and apprehensions were thrown out of the window as life in London, during the Games, was reasonably normal.
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| Volunteers can take pride in making the Games a success |
As I was watching the spectacular closing ceremony of London 2012, I was trying to figure out the real heroes of the Games. Undoubtedly, the athletes and the other participants, irrespective of how they performed, provided the necessary life to the Games. All those who worked so hard over the past seven years to make London 2012 a success deserve to be duly credited for what they have delivered. The members of the armed forces, the transport workers, the security staff, the people working in food stalls and thousands of others in airports, train stations and in many other places, all have made valuable contributions to the success of London 2012.
Yet for me the real heroes were the thousands of volunteers who provided their service without the expectation of any reward other than the personal satisfaction of being associated with this great Games. Clad in magenta tabards, these volunteers always retained their smile and maintained their cool wherever they were at whatever time of the day. Their motto, as a 60-year-old volunteer told me at the Excel Arena, was to uphold the true spirit of London of being friendly and helpful.
On a personal note, the legacy of London 2012 has been the opportunity of being part, even if it was only as a spectator, of this truly global event, which was indeed a unique experience for me. Never before did I feel so proud to be a Londoner, especially after the ease with which London managed the Games.
For my eight-year-old daughter, it was a demonstration and celebration of her British identity. Over the past two weeks she was literally glued to the television, apart from the events that we watched at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre and at the Excel Arena. Every time Britain won a medal, she waved the Union Jack with pride and her joy was doubled only to find that the men's 10,000m and 5,000m gold winner, Mo Farah, took to athletics when he was a resident of our London Borough of Hounslow.
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| For two weeks London was the melting pot of world cultures |
As Britain wakes up on Monday morning after a very successful Olympics, the British economy will still be in double dip recession, yet the nation can take pride in its indomitable spirit, which once withstood the terrorist attacks from making a dent in London, and gather strength in coping with the difficult days ahead with much greater confidence.
And the 70,000 who volunteered in London 2012, will definitely cherish the memory of being part of the greatest show on earth and making valuable contributions to its success.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Monday
London 2012: Facelift, fiasco and fear
I was pleasantly surprised to have a no-glitch journey to work on Monday, 30 July 2012, the first working day after the opening of the London Olympic Games. The tube was unusually empty, and my journey from Piccadilly Circus along Regent Street was more like a stroll rather than a brisk walk interrupted by the usual stream of visitors.
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| Volunteers had all the time to pose for the camera |
In the tube, I was seated next to two London 2012 volunteers who were saying how lucky they were to be part of this great event. It is indeed a special moment for the youth in this country to have the flavour of a high profile work experience, especially at a time when jobs are few and far between.
However, not everybody is interested to be part of the great experience. The G4S fiasco speaks not only of the inefficiency of the organisation assigned with the responsibility of providing the necessary security for the London games, but also about the apathy of a section of the youth to excel themselves.
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| Oxford Circus, London's celebrated shopping district was unusually quiet |
People at the helm of affairs in Britain are yet to come to terms with the geo-political reality that their heydays are over and British history is no longer synonymous to the phenomenal changes taking place all around the world. Notwithstanding their tall claims, Britain in particular and Europe in general are the biggest losers in the socio-economic upheaval that is shaping the world today as a fall out of the current phase of globalisation.
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| Shops are even hiring models to lure customers |
The economic fulcrum has tilted to the East, and coupled with the demographic dividends that the oriental countries are reaping, they have rendered Britain and Europe forces of the past.
Performers often ensure their superiority and success by the way they manage human emotions, which is intrinsically linked to the societal changes that take place around the world, and Danny Boyle is no exception. That Britain is now a backbencher in the global arena - both politically and economically, probably tempted him to rely on the golden days of the past rather than the harsh reality of the present.
I must admit that initially I was overwhelmed by the opening ceremony of London 2012 - its treatment of the trajectory of the modern civilisation and synchronising it with that of Britain, the cerebral component, the suave and sophisticated approach rather than a blatant exhibition of national might, as was demonstrated four years ago in Beijing.
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| The Dutch tourists tried to boost themselves up |
However, since Saturday morning, Friday night's euphoria evaporated and gave way to a more realistic assessment of things.
If China exhibited the national might of the present, Britain tried to showcase why it was ahead of others in the past. Moreover, Boyle and his advisors were so sipped into the glory of Britannia of the past that they probably overlooked that Olympics after all is an organic - not archaic - global event and the world has moved a long distance away from the period which epitomises the heydays of Britain.
Despite the best of efforts to portray an acrobatic Queen, accompanied by an iconic on screen James Bond, probably to demonstrate an interface of a monolithic monarchy and its dwindling empire (receding influence of Britain in geo-politics) with a fast changing moment of time, yet her grumpy face often scripted with gestures of disinterest - like surveying the nails of her fingers, extremely dull peach attire and an out of fashion hair-do were symbolic of the fact that 2012 was not a time to cheer for Britain.
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| Activities to drum up the spirit haven't had much success so far |
The empty seats in the games venues, an exceptionally quiet afternoon in the heart of London on the first working day of London 2012 were stark reminders that the best of Britain was over.
Prime Minister David Cameron and his spin doctors may be trumpeting that London 2012 will lift Britain from the miseries of a double dip recession, but as the latest figures show, the socio-economic woes are much deep-rooted and profound than it catches a politician's eye.
If the thin crowd at the Piccadilly Circus or the empty shops at Regent Street are any indication, the worst for Britain is not over yet.
All comments are personal.
All comments are personal.
Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Friday
Hell in Hounslow: London's dirtiest borough
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| An alley beside a popular shop on Staines Road is a fly-tipping hotspot |
In 2010, Hounslow streets were labelled second dirtiest in England, following compilation of the Audit Commission league table figures by the campaigning trade union, GMB.
This time however, Hounslow was adjudged the dirtiest London borough on the basis of a study of the combined figures of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, and it was published last week by the council's own overview and security committee.
The day the results of the latest finding was made public, I went around some areas of central Hounslow, notoriously known for illegally dumping rubbish and fly-tipping.
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| Dumping rubbish in backyards, as on Clipstone Road, is like hiding head in sand |
The lackadiasical and often "feather-touch" approach of the Hounslow Council is also to be blamed. In theory, they claim to be doing their best, in reality, however, they often shrug off their responsibilities, making it easy for the errants to go scot free. Adequate actions are not taken even after the necessary complaints and reporting procedures are complied with by the responsible residents.
After Hounslow streets were labelled second dirtiest in England, Councillor Corinna Smart, then Lead Member for Environment, had written to me stating: "The GMB figures date back to 2008 and there has been some improvements since then. But overall there is clearly much more that must be done. So we need to take a long hard look at the current cleansing regime and respond more swiftly when residents report litter, dumped rubbish and graffiti. That's why one of our pledges is Grimebusters 24/7 Phone line to respond to graffiti, litter and dumped rubbish."
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| Despite tall promises nothing has changed in Cromwell Street |
This is a communication I received from a Hounslow Council official after complaining against rubbish dumping: "I visited the area in Hanworth Road between Clarence Terrace and Derby Road on Wednesday 23rd June, no rubbish or litter was seen. I have on previous occasions seen domestic black bags along this stretch. I have emailed the Waste and Recycling team to ask for an officer to look into this problem, I think the domestic premises do not have a rear area to store their waste between weekly collections, so a solution needs to be found."
The reality, however, is that even today bin bags are dumped ahead of schedule at the junction of Clarence Terrace and Hanworth Road, sometimes on the very day of bin collection, hours after the rubbish has been disposed off by the council staff. Many people are making big money by renting out every inch of their properties without providing the basic facilities to the tenants, like an area to dump rubbish ahead of the scheduled bin collection day.
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| On any day a bin bag can be seen at the Clarence Terrace-Hanworth Road junction |
Dog fouling is another serious problem facing Hounslow. The concerned department dealing with this issue are cash-strapped and short-staffed. They often seek information from the complaining residents. While many residents are willing to offer their help, they do not necessarily have the information about the errants and the authority to deal with the issue. I had previously suggested that those with pets pay an additional amount as council tax to deal with the financial black hole of the department dealing with dog fouling.
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| Even relatively well off places, like Williams Drive housing professionals, are no diffferent |
Over the past few years, I tried to understand the reasons behind the apathy of the Hounslowites to keep their borough nice and clean. I tried to find out if there is any co-relation between the profile of the borough residents and their attitude towards general cleanliness.
According to the figures available from the Office of National Statistics based on the findings of the 2001 census, "Hounslow is generally economically buoyant, providing approximately 140,000 jobs and has an important role to play in the health and well-being of West London, London and the UK as a whole."
The figures also reveal that unemployment is relatively low in Hounslow, over three per cent according to the 2001 census (lower than the similar figures in London and England), with "one in six adults working full-time" and almost two-thirds working part-time, on wages higher than the corresponding average figures in Greater London."
The annual average household gross income in Hounslow, according to the 2001 figures, is around £38,000, with a large number of professionals choosing the borough as their place of residence.
However, the education figures are not that promising with the GCSE attainment level (52.1%) in Hounslow schools being lower than the national average (53.7%), as per the 2005 figures, although there are some signs of improvement in recent years.
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| Many landlords, like this one at Station Road -St Stephens Road junction, rent out properties for hefty profit without providing all amenities |
There is also a demand for the people renting out their properties for hefty profits to take a share of the blame. There are allegations that those who are renting out their properties often do not provide the minimum amenities, like dedicated bin areas etc., to the tenants forcing them to dump rubbish in the open.
Whatever be the reasons, it goes without saying that the crux of the problem in Hounslow is much more deep-seated and complicated than it seems from the outside. However, it is high time that both the council authorities and the residents take their call before it gets too late and Hounslow becomes the rubbish capital of the country.
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