Troubled galaxy destroyed Dreams, Chapter 294
Palash Biswas
Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
| Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 | |
 Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 | |
| Type of eclipse | |
|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.0696 |
| Magnitude | 1.0799 |
| Saros | 136 (37 of 71) |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 398 s (6 min 38.8 s) |
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 24°12′36″N 144°06′24″E / 24.21°N 144.10667°E / 24.21; 144.10667 |
| Max. width of band | 258.4 km |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Partial eclipse | 23:58:18 (Jul 21) |
| Total eclipse | 00:51:16 |
| Central eclipse | 00:54:31 |
| Greatest eclipse | 02:35:21 |
The solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 was the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting as much as 6 minutes and 39 seconds in some places.[1] It caused tourist interest in eastern China, Nepal and India.[1][2][3]
The eclipse was part of Saros series 136, as was the record-setting solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. The next event from this series will be on August 2, 2027.[4] The exceptional duration was a result of the Moon being near perigee, with the apparent diameter of the Moon 8% larger than the Sun (magnitude 1.080) and the Earth being near aphelion[5] where the Sun appeared slightly smaller.
This was the second in the series of three eclipses in a month, with the lunar eclipse on July 7 and the lunar eclipse on August 6.
Visibility
It was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Maldives, northern Pakistan and northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, northern Philippines, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati.
Totality was visible in many large cities, including Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Gaya, Dinajpur, Siliguri, Tawang, Guwahati, Chengdu, Nanchong, Chongqing, Yichang, Jingzhou, Wuhan, Huanggang, Hefei, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Huzhou, Suzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo and Shanghai, as well as over the Three Gorges Dam.[6][7] According to some experts, Taregana[8][9] in Bihar, India was expected to be the "best" place to view the event.
A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including most of Southeast Asia (all of India and China) and north-eastern Oceania.
Duration
This solar eclipse was the longest total solar eclipse to occur in
the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13,
2132. Totality lasted for up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds, with the
maximum eclipse occurring in the ocean at 02:35:21 UTC about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of Japan. The uninhabited North Iwo Jima island was the landmass with totality time closest to maximum, while the closest inhabited point was Akusekijima, where the eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 26 seconds.[10]
Reaction
Indian scientists observed the solar eclipse from fighter jets.[11] The Chinese government used the opportunity to provide scientific education and to dispel any superstition.[12] Since the solar eclipse occurred almost exactly 10 years after the Falun Gong
movement was banned, it was feared that Falun Gong would use this event
to show that the heavens are displeased with the Chinese government.[13]
Images
 Solar eclipse from Anhui, China | |||
References
- ^ a b AFP: Solar eclipse sparks tourism fever in China
- ^ Scientists: China the best place to observe longest solar eclipse in 2,000 years_English_Xinhua
- ^ Indian students on solar eclipse 'odyssey' to China - Yahoo! India News
- ^ AUGUST 2, 2027 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
- ^ [1]
- ^ NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 July 22
- ^ Weather conditions for cities in China during the July 22 eclipse (Chinese)
- ^ Eclipse gives Bihar village its days in the sun - Yahoo! India News
- ^ Longest
& Total Solar Eclipse 2009: NASA declares Taregana in Bihar is the
Best Location to View Surya Grahan | News-Relay.com | News-Relay.com -
Online Breaking News Portal, ... - ^ Island « Total Eclipse.Jp
- ^ http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23956&Itemid=62
- ^ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-07/20/content_8447027.htm
- ^ 防法輪功迷信造謠 中央指示科學賞景有因 (Stop Falun Gung spreading superstition, central government orders scientific viewing) Ming Pao 20090722
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Solar eclipse of 2009 July 22 |
- Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009: Time & Place in Indian cities
- NASA homepage for July 22, 2009 total solar eclipse
- The Longest eclipse of the 21st century time – July 22 2009
- Solar Eclipse July 2009 time in India
- The 21st century’s longest total solar eclipse to be Internet broadcast worldwide
- How To Watch July 22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse Live On Web
- City of Brass at Beliefnet.com: The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century
- Solar Eclipse Could Create Chaos AP
- Watch Solar eclipse live from Guwahati
- Solar Eclipse July 2009 time
- July eclipse is best chance to look for gravity anomaly New Scientist
- Solar eclipse: All roads lead to Bihar
 | Solar eclipses |  |
|---|---|---|
| Previous eclipse Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009 (annular) | Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 (total) | Next eclipse Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 (annular) |
| Previous total eclipse Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 | Next total eclipse Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010 |
| [hide] Solar eclipses | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lists of eclipses | Antiquity · 19th century · 20th century · 21st century · Eclipses seen from: China / the United Kingdom | |
| Individual eclipses | Mursili's eclipse · Assyrian eclipse · Battle of Halys · Crucifixion darkness and eclipse · July 11, 1991 · August 11, 1999 · June 21, 2001 · December 4, 2002 · November 23, 2003 · April 19, 2004 · April 8, 2005 · October 3, 2005 · March 29, 2006 · August 1, 2008 · January 26, 2009 · July 22, 2009 · January 15, 2010 · July 11, 2010 · November 13, 2012 · November 3, 2013 · April 29, 2014 · March 20, 2015 · March 9, 2016 · August 21, 2017 · July 2, 2019 · December 14, 2020 · December 4, 2021 · April 20, 2023 · April 8, 2024 · August 12, 2026 · August 2, 2027 · July 22, 2028 | |
| On other planets | ||
| Related topics | ||
CPI(M) leader shot dead in West Midnapore
Midnapore (WB), July 22 (PTI) A CPI(M) leader was shot
dead by Maoists when he was working in his fields this morning
in Belpahari in West Midnapore, the sixth victim of the ultras
in the district this month.
The Maoists, who have called a bandh today in a number
of states including West Bengal, shot dead Belpahari branch
secretary of the CPI(M) Phagu Baskey at Madhupur village for
working during the shutdown, police said.
Earlier on June 10 Maoists had killed two CPI(M)
supporters Baren Mahato and Gurucharan Mahato of Sisri
village, near Lalgarh, and on June 14 two others followed by
another recently in the district.
Meanwhile, People's Committee Against Police Atrocities
blocked roads by felling trees at Bamal, Kadasole, Kantapahari
and other places.
Week of starvation kills widow |
| OUR CORRESPONDENT |
Ranchi, July 21: An The Palamau “Her “It |
In paying tributes to martyrs, Didi strikes at Communist roots
Express news serviceTrinamool Congress chief and Union
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday paid tributes to martyrs of
agitations in the past seven decades in the state — from Tebhaga in
1946 to Nandigram in 2007. So, among those who shared the dais with the
Trinamool chief at Esplanade were not only relatives of victims who
lost their lives in the various movements launched by Communists like
the Tebhaga movement (in the interest of share-croppers) and Food
movement of 1959, but also relatives of those who lost their lives in
the Nandigram agitation against the Communists.
The rally was also
attended by the families of Tapasi Malik and graphic designer Rizwanur
Rehman. In fact, Rizwanur’s mother Kishwar Jehan was among the speakers
who addressed the rally.
By involving the
families of the victims of the Tebhaga and Food movements — at the
centre of the Communist upsurge in Bengal launched by the undivided
Communist Party of India — Banerjee has attempted to hijack the core of
the Communist ideology in Bengal.
Centre sends forces to end GJM blockade
rushed 700 paramilitary personnel to open the crucial national highway
(NH-31 A), connecting Sikkim with the rest of the country, amid the
ongoing indefinite bandh called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in
support of ...
Express Buzz - Zee News - Press Trust of India - VoiceofSikkim - Do you have it in you?
Email this story |
 |
| (Top) Solar eclips seen in Calcutta; School students were watching the rare cosmic event. ( The Telegraph pictures) |
Calcutta, July 22 (PTI): The city observed 91 per cent of the total solar eclipse despite a cloudy sky early this morning.
The sun looked like a crescent as the moon's shadow passed between the sun and the earth for a few minutes from 6:20 AM.
People
gathered on rooftops and at vantage points to have a glimpse of the
celestial event, though the eclipse was partially visible here.
Hundreds of people descended on the Hooghly river ghats to have a dip during the eclipse.
Several
NGOs, and scientific organisations organised viewing of the event
besides the Birla Museum which organised a projection of the eclipse on
screen for viewers
Basu ICU at home | |
| SANJAY MANDAL | |
Calcutta, July 18: Jyoti Basu’s bedroom will be converted into a virtual intensive care unit with life-saving equipment to ensure the 95-year-old CPM leader does not face a crisis like last Sunday’s when he twice fell unconscious. Doctors at AMRI Hospitals, Salt Lake, today said Basu could be released on Monday if his health remains stable. “He slept well last night and has taken his food adequately. The sodium and potassium levels are within normal limits. Basu is slowly being mobilised out of bed and is likely to be released on Monday after a final review by all members of the medical board,” said T.S. Kuckrejja, executive vice-president, AMRI, Salt Lake. Basu was put on a wheelchair today for the first time since being admitted. “The medical board has suggested that before shifting Basu to his Salt Lake residence, we should arrange a medical set-up there,” a senior AMRI official told The Telegraph. The unit at Indira Bhavan will have a cardiac monitor, pulse oximeter, defibrillator, Ambu bag, oxygen cylinders and a suction machine (see chart) as well as emergency drugs. Doctors and trained nurses will man the unit round the clock. On July 12, Basu became unconscious twice while brushing his teeth in the bathroom. The attending nurse, Madhabi Biswas, could not find his pulse or record his blood pressure and provided cardiac massage to revive him. Madhabi will be part of the new unit following a request from Basu. CPM state secretary Biman Bose has conveyed to AMRI that the party would pay for the equipment. “Bimanbabu wanted AMRI to facilitate the procurement of these equipment,” a hospital official said. Sources said it would cost around Rs 5 lakh to set up the unit. According to them, standby equipment would be provided by tomorrow and these would be replaced once the new equipment are procured. | |
 |
Mamata’s sonar Bangla (2011-) In a surging sea of support, a makeover splash | |
| OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | |
Calcutta, Mamata The But now they all sounded like a blueprint for action because she seems so close to snatching power from the CPM. “I This Other The As the crowd braved rain, it was more a chief minister-in-the-making who addressed the gathering from the pulpit. In “CPM Mamata In Shedding The Mamata AICC Rao |
Barriers Break At Mega Mamata Rally
Ten yearsback, a crowd of 10,000-12,000 would trickle down to Esplanade to listen to
Mamata Banerjee on Shahid Diwas. On Tuesday, 1.5 lakh
downpour to cheer her. The massive turnout is an indicator to the change in
equations that Bengal politics has seen in recent years, with the Opposition
throwing a credible challenge to the Left Front regime for the first time.
Neither the heavy shower nor the jostling that broke iron barricades
could dampen the magic spell cast by Mamata. Her triumph in the panchayat, Lok
Sabha and municipal polls and increasing clout in national politics have
rejuvenated her supporters. The sizzling energy could not be missed in Trinamool
Congress' show of strength on Tuesday.
While political observers in
Bengal are keenly looking towards the Assembly polls, some two years away, the
grassroots supporters had no doubt on Tuesday that Mamata would be the next
chief minister. From the villager from a remote Cooch Behar area to a Kolkatan
from Tollygunge, the Trinamool chief was the beacon of hope.
The
indications were there in the Shahid Diwas rally that Mamata Banerjee addressed
on July 21, 2008. At that point, the winds of change had just started blowing. A
year later, the winds have swept CPM off most municipalities, panchayats and Lok
Sabha seats. Now, the mood now is clear all eyes on 2011.
It was a
roar, more than a cheer, that greeted Mamata when she stepped on the dais on
Tuesday afternoon amid a heavy downpour. There was a sudden surge towards the
platform to see her from up close. Senior party leaders struggled to keep the
crowd under control. The pressure built up until an iron barricade collapsed.
After a bit of a melee, the crowd evened itself out.
The rain eased
up, and by the time Mamata took the microphone, the skies had cleared.
"Dekhechhen, akash haaschhe (See, the sky is smiling)," she told the
spellbound janata. The leader who loves talking in metaphors reminded her
supporters that any battle can be won if fought bravely.
"If you can
brave rains and storms, you can do anything. You did not budge despite the heavy
rain and now the sky has cleared. Face the battle ahead and you will win," she
said.
All day, thousands of supporters streamed to the meeting
venue, sitting on top of buses and clinging to trucks. Many had reached the
previous day and spent the night at bus stands, railway stations dharamshalas or
even the open road to grab a space close to the dais.
The morning
started bright and sunny but soon transformed into a cloudy, wet day as it
started raining. The crowd still swelled. The jostling grew so severe at times
that Mamata had to move to the edge of the dais and wave frantically to her
supporters to keep them in place.
"We have come to listen to her.
Whatever she tells us, we will follow. Our dream is to see her as chief
minister," said Rajat Sardar from Hasnabad.
Mamata's mantra was
simple. "We are calling for change, for creating better human beings and a
better Bengal. We should remember that people are watching us," she
said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4805084.cms
Mamata showcases a responsible face
KOLKATA: The human sea at the
Trinamool Congress gathering in Esplanade on Tuesday saw the birth of a mature
politician — Mamata Banerjee,
alternative to the Left rule in West Bengal.
Springing from the
grassroots to challenge the CPM hegemony at a time when most Opposition leaders
had given up, Mamata broke barriers by bringing on stage the martyr families of
the Tebhaga Movement and Food Movement of 1966, which had helped the Left Front
come to power in 1977.
But success has made her more sensible. Mamata
asked her supporters — who listened to her speech undeterred by a downpour
— to “behave politely” and not to resort to impromptu
blockades without the permission of the leadership.
“People
are in distress. Food prices are soaring. Let us not add to their inconvenience.
No one should block roads without my permission, or that of the state leaders
when I am away in Delhi,” Mamata said, eyeing a change in the next
Assembly election.
Not once did she want the Centre to clamp Article
356 in Bengal. All that she wanted from Delhi was seizure of illegal weapons in
possession of the CPM.
Her call for change became more credible as
writer Mahasweta Devi openly announced from the dais that she wanted to see
Mamata as the next chief minister. Flanked by Congress general secretary Keshav
Rao and SUCI state secretary Provas Ghosh, Mamata also sent out signals that the
alliance was stable and would continue till the 2011 Assembly
poll.
Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Manas Bhunia, was not
on stage, but Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Rahul
Gandhi sent Mamata SMSes during the rally, which Rao read out to the crowd:
“Best wishes. Let us proceed together.” Union finance minister
Pranab Mukherjee also congratulated Mamata for the huge
gathering.
Mamata is confident that the people would remove the Left
from Bengal “not by CPM’s way of violence, but on a proper
development agenda and with communal amity”. “CPM will not work for
the people’s welfare,” the Trinamool chief said.
The
thousands who had come all the way from the districts to catch a glimpse of Didi
were confident she would make it to Writers’. Making it clear that she was
now thinking beyond Trinamool’s role as an Opposition party, Mamata gave a
hint of her priorities as the leader of the party in power in the state.
“We want to bring about real development in Bengal,” she said.
“We will promote democracy and give a non-partisan administration. We will
recast the education system, improve healthcare and take electricity to every
village. Both agriculture and industry will smile.” Mamata also promised
more jobs if Trinamool comes to power.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mamata-showcases-a-responsible-face/articleshow/4805370.cms
A long way into history: Mamata brings victims of Nandigram and Tebhaga on one platform
| Font Size |
Express News Service
Posted: Jul 22, 2009 at 0352 hrs IST
Kolkata The Tuesday’s rally of Trinamool
Congress in Kolkata was used by the party to pay its respect to people
who lost their lives in various socio-politico movements — from the
1946 Tebhaga movement to 2007 Nandigram land agitation — that took
place in Bengal.
Taking the opportunity to widen her party’s reach,
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee also paid her tributes to those people
who lost their lives in movements that were launched by Marxists like
the Tebhaga movement and 1959 Food movement.
It was a rare occasion to see relatives of those
killed in the Tebhaga movement, which was launched by the communists
for share-croppers, sharing the dias with the family members of those
killed in the police firing in Nandigram.
By paying tributes to these martyrs, Banerjee attempted to hijack the core communist ideology in Bengal.
“We speak for all the martrys of Bengal. We want to
pay respect to them and their families. We should not forget their
contribution to Bengal, be it people killed by police firing in
Nandigram or during the Tebhaga movement,” said Banerjee.
“The CPM failed to give them justice and even
remember them. But we will be on their side. We share their grief. They
have lost their near and dear ones,” she added as the kin of the
victims looked on from a separate stage erected for them.
The rally was also attended by the families of
Tapasi Malik and graphic designer Rizwanur Rehman — victims of high
profile murder cases that had put the Left Front government in a dock.
Kishwar Jehan, mother of Rizwanur Rehman, was among the speakers who
addressed the rally.
“I pray for the souls of those mothers who lost
their beloved like me. I am waiting for justice like them and I hope
one day we will get it. I want no mother to face the same situation in
their lives and therefore I am with Mamata Banerjee,” said Jehan.
ONCE THE LEFT’S MOVEMENT
The TEBHAGA
MOVEMENT was a militant agitation launched by Kisan Sabha (peasants’
front of Communist Party of India) in 1946. At that time share-cropping
peasants had to give half of their harvest to the owners of the land.
The demand of the Tebhaga (sharing by thirds) movement was to reduce
the share given to landlords to one third.
The FOOD MOVEMENT was launched by the CPI in 1959 when the state was suffering from acute food shortage.
MARTYRS’ DAIS
A separate stage was
erected near the main dais where the relatives of the victims of the
movements launched by the Marxists and the Trinamool were seated
together
On the stage were
* Daughter-in-laws of Nilkantha Samantha who died during the Tebhaga movement in 1946
* Mahadeb Bhuiyan, son of Gajendranath Bhuiyan killed during Tebhaga movement
* Keshab Singha, son of Ahalla Batasi Singho, another victim of police firing during the Tebhaga movement
*
Kishwar Jehan, mother of Rizwanur Rehman. Rehman was found dead near
railway tracks after he was forced by senior police officers to break
his marriage with hosiery baron Ashok Todi’s daughter
* Molina Malik, mother of Tapasi Malik. Tapasi was killed allegedly by CPM leaders in Singur
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/a-long-way-into-history-mamata-brings-victims-of-nandigram-and-tebhaga-on-one-platform/492498/
KOLKATA ME JAN Tsunami
I may not know what the newspaper and the journalist who coined this headline, means with this Headline as we understand Tsunami as TOTAL DISASTER!
Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday dedicated her party's victory in the Lok Sabha
elections to the Magsaysay winner Mahasweta
In New Delhi,the CPI(M) politburo has denounced the End Use Monitoring (EUM)
agreement and called the relationship between India and the United
States "one-sided".
"The CPI(M) has always maintained that the nuclear deal
is a quid pro quo for India becoming a military ally of the US. The EUM
will further bind the Indian military to the Pentagon," the statement
read.
The politburo had tough words on its old bug bear, the
Indo-US civil nuclear deal. "Despite the disclaimer by the secretary of
state, the United States is moving to deny India access to enrichment
and reprocessing technology. This is what the G-8 decision amounts to.
Further India has yet to reach a pact with the US for reprocessing
spent fuel supplied by that country."
But alas! our Marxist friends failed to lead the RESISTANCE in this Geopolitics and could never make an issue of Imperialism, Colonisation and ethnic Cleansing! Ironically, Mamata has EMERGED as an unanimous Leader of Resistance against the Marxist Genocide Culture!
What a pity!
Kerala Marxists are in a WORSE condition never before! Just have an idea!
CBI court dismisses petition against Karat and other CPI(M) leaders
Kochi (PTI): A CBI court here on Monday
dismissed a petition seeking to launch contempt proceedings against 12
CPI (M) leaders, including party general secretary Prakash Karat and
three Chief Ministers, for allegedly making "prejudicial" statements in
a graft case involving party's Kerala secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
Dismissing the petition, the CBI court said prima facie the petition was not maintainable.
Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura Chief
Ministers-- V S Achuthanandan, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Manik Sarkar
respectively, Politbureau member S Ramachandran Pillai, Pinarayi
Vijayan and state ministers-- Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Paloli
Muhammedkutty, Thomas Issac, M A Baby, P K Sreemathi and P K
Gurudasan-- are among the CPI(M) leaders against whom contempt
proceedings were sought to be initiated by T P Nandakumar, Editor of
'Crime Magazine'.
The petition claimed that with CBI
submitting the "final report" in the SNC Lavalin case, the matter was
before the court but Karat had discussed the issue in the party forums
on July 11 and 12 and had stated that Vijayan was not involved in any
corrupt practice.
Such statements that a person accused
and facing trial in a criminal case was not involved in corruption
interferes with the due course of justice, the petitioner contended.
- Action against Achuthanandan could have been harsher, says Karat
Thiruvananthapuram, July 19 (PTI)
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, recently axed from Politburo
for indiscipline, could have faced harsher action but was spared
because of his valuable contributions and long service to the party,
CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat today said.
Briefing the
party's lower tiers about the reasons for the action against
Achuthanandan, he said maintaining discipline and upholding the CPI-M's
principles at all levels were vital for the party to carry on its tasks
effectively.
Karat's observations came during his briefing of
the party functionaries on the long-drawn factionalism involving groups
loyal to Achuthanandan and state secretary Pinarayi Vijiayan at zonal
meetings held in Vatakara and Kochi on Friday and Saturday, CPI-M
sources said.
Karat, however, said a veteran leader like
Achuthanandan, who had held several top positions in the party, need
not be given lessons on organisational principles.
Meanwhile,Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leaders
on Monday denounced Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement
against a separate statehood and said that such statements will slow
down the dialogue process.
Meanwhile, people
in Darjeeling breathed a sigh of relief on Monday and were busy
stockpiling rations and other necessary commodities as the GJM relaxed
the indefinite strike for 10 hours. Shops and business establishments
opened for the first time in nine days. In neighbouring Sikkim too,
people used the window period to stockpile necessary items.
On the other hand, three-day bandh called by the People's Committee Against Police
Atrocities affected normal life in the tribal areas of West Midnapore
district on its last day on Tuesday.
The bandh was total at Lalgarh,
Belpahari, Binpur, Jamboni, Jhargram and parts of Goaltore and Salboni,
all of which were reclaimed from Maoists by security forces in the
recent anti-naxal operations.
Expressing surprise over the severity
of bandh for three consecutive days despite the presence of security
forces in those areas, District Magistrate N S Nigam said "It is lack
of coordination."
Meanwhile, PCPA leader Chhatradhar
Mahato held a meeting at Kantapahari to decide on the next course of
action after the police lathi-charge students near Dharampur yesterday.
West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen had apologised for the lathi-charge.
In Midnapore town, the CPI(M) suffered
another erosion in ranks with around 90 partymen, including local
leaders quitting the party.
Asked about partymen leaving and
switching allegiance to the PCPA, District CPI(M) Secretariat member,
Doheswar Sen attributed it to a 'conspiracy' by the Trinamool Congress
and Congress.
Enthused by her party’s landslide victory in the 15th Lok Sabha
elections and setting her sights on the forthcoming West Bengal
Assembly elections in 2011, Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress
chief Mamata Banerjee urged party supporters here on Tuesday to adopt a
“positive and constructive role to oust the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) from State politics in 2011.”
Mahashweta Debi, the eminent writer known as Marxist or Maoist lifelong whom Mamata called ANDOLANER MATRIBHOOMI and the massive Rally was made to honour her clapping for sixty seconds, CLIMAXED the Change sought for, with an OPEN Call to Vote for Ms Mamata Bannerjee and make her the NEXT CHIEF Minister!
"I want the CPM to
go. I want to see Mamata as the chief minister. In 2011, vote her to power,"
said the writer who attended the rally despite failing health. She stood on
stage flanked by singers Kabir Suman, also a Trinamool MP, and Nachiketa and
kissed Mamata's forehead before leaving the dais.
Dramatist Bratya
Basu and painter Shuvaprasanna were the other members of the state's
intellectual community who addressed the rally. The Imam of Tipu Sultan mosque,
SM Noorur Rahman Barkati too exhorted the crowd to bring Mamata to power in
2011.
There were mothers of other "atrocity victims" at the rally.
Kishwar Jahan (mother of Rizwanur Rahman) and Firoza Begum (mother of Nandigram
firing victim Sheikh Imadul) at the rally.
It is the REVOLUTION our INTELLIGENTSIA stands for!
But Mamata cried PROGRESS, RESTRAIN and INDUSTRIALISATION in her concluding speech and did not spare her Election ally CONGRESS for creating DISTURBANCE with spordiac Resistance!
Mamata Banerjee now does not produce FIRE! But she poses as a FIRE ENGINE!
Mamata has transformed herself into the HUMAN Face of UPA Agenda! And yes, she proves as the best ASSET for the MANUSMRITI Hegemony as the screaming headlines and Live Telecast explain very well!
The Marxists have DISCREDITED themselves to such an EXTENT that they may not ENCOUNTER Mamata, the PHOENIX! It is like ECLIPSE Chage!
MARXISM finally ECLIPSED and how long would be the wait for the AWAKENING and EMPOWERMENT, we may never imagine!
Resistance against Genocide Culture and Marxist Gestapo has opened the FLOODGATES of BRAHAMINICAL Fascist Capitalism in Bengal and ironically, no leadership emerges from the Progressive front who may countre the MIRACLES of Mamata!
After decimating the CPIM in the Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chief
and railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday sought
people of West Bengal to oust the ruling Marxists from power in the 2011
Assembly elections.
Addressing a mammoth rally in memory of the Youth Congress
supporters killed by the police at a protest rally on this day 16 years
ago as well as to celebrate the victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Ms.
Banerjee said: “The Trinamool Congress is no more a mere opposition
party in State politics. Just as in the recent Lok Sabha elections, we
have to defeat the CPI(M) in the Assembly elections too… And we will
remove them democratically and politically, without any violence.”
Many Trinamool supporters from all over the State congregated at the rally despite the rains !
“Let it rain. It will usher in a shower of change in West Bengal,”
Ms. Banerjee told the crowd. She offered homage to the victims of
violence during the agitations at Singur and Nandigram.
PRANAB Mukherjee, the DE Facto Prime Minister of Government of India
Incs.
Bannerjee supported by PARIVARTANKAMI Intelligentsia ledby Mahashweta Devi, yet another Brahmin declared War to FINISH the Marxists in a
Historic Rally in Kolkata yesterday! They detailed Every Genocides and
showcased the Families from the VICTIMS, but did NEVER Uttered a single
word on Marichjhanpi genocide! Though they used our film on Marichjhanpi
Genocide during the Election Campaign to mobilse the SC Votes. Matuas
supported Mamata but Mamata did not care to invite Matua mother BINA
PANI Debi. Purna Das Baul was there in the dias. But he had no
opportunuty to sing in the SINGING Rally.
Amendment Act which isused to eject out the Dalit Bengali Refugees out
of India!
Society or Intelligentsia cares for the Aboriginal Indigenous Black
Untouchables Persecuted!
We know how Mamata DISASSOCIATED herself from CHHATRADHAR mahato just before her Government sent Central Forces into Lalgarh!
A three-member Trinamool Congress team will visit troubled Lalgarh
in West Bengal July 28 to study the situation in and around the
enclave, where security forces are carrying out operations to flush out
Maoist ultras.
Making the announcement at a hugely attended "Martyrs' Rally" in the
hub of the city, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said
the delegation will comprise union Minister of State for Rural
Development Sisir Adhikari, Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy
and Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly Partha
Chattopadhyay.
Banerjee criticised the Lalgarh security operation alleging that innocent people were being harassed.
Raising questions about the genuineness of the government claims
about the existence of Maoist rebels, Banerjee said: "How can Maoists
call from the mobiles of CPI-M (state's ruling Left Front major
Communist Party of India-Marxist) leaders? 'Daal mein kuch kala hai
kya?' (Is there something fishy)."
The West Bengal government launched the security operation in
consultation with the central government June 18 to free the area of
the leftwing extremists, who had virtually established a free zone by
torching police camps and CPI-M offices and driving out the civil
administration since November last year.
However, the Trinamool has consistently maintained that the
operation was a ploy by the CPI-M to re-establish its writ in the area
and commit atrocities on political rivals.
Announcing a series of party programmes at the rally, Banerjee said
meetings and processions will be organised in every block July 25
against rising prices.
On July 27, the Trinamool will observe 'Nanur Divas', in memory of
11 party supporters killed in 2000 at Suchpur village of Nanur in
Birbhum district.
The party will hold sit-in demonstrations in all bocks of the state July 31.
The party will hold workers' conventions towards the end of next month and organise booth level workers' conclave Oct 31.
The Trinamool Congress observes July 21 as "Martyrs' Day" every year
in memory of 13 Congress supporters who were killed in police firing
this day in 1993. Banerjee was then in the Congress.
Railway minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday
criticised her election partner Congress without naming it for
bandh on July 17 and said her party did not favour holding such wildcat bandhs
and strikes that invariably land people in distress.
A day before
observing Trinamool Martyrs Day, Mamata told reporters: "Some 40 of our party
activists were killed by CPIM ever since Lok Sabha elections were announced. But
we did not go for any bandh or strike as we know calling bandhs adds to woes to
common people."
The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC)
had declared a 12-hour Bangla Bandh on July 17 in protest against the attack on
its MLAs at Mangalkot, 170 km from Kolkata last week. While Mamata had lent
moral support to the Congress-sponsored bandh, her supporters had refrained from
hitting the city streets for make the bandh a success.
Despite
Mamata’s refusal to give active support to the bandh, the Congress had
received huge support from the common people in making their bandh an
unprecedented success. It is learnt that Mamata isn’t too pleased about
this, according to party circles close to her.
Even when Mamata told
reporters on Monday that All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary
K.Keshav Rao would be attending her rally on Tuesday apart from other senior
state Congress leaders, she did not hesitate to voice her displeasure over the
Congress-sponsored bandh, especially since it was a huge
success.
Mamata’s anxiety over the success of the Congress
bandh has deepened since the party announced a slew of political activities
independently without involving the Trinamool Congress. The Congress has already
announced a month-long agitation programme, including the March to Lalbazar --
the city police headquarters and March to Writers’ Buildings -- the state
administrative headquarters. And in doing this, the Congress did not consult
Mamata Banerjee, just like the party did not give any official intimation to
Trinamool Congress before calling the Bangla Bandh.
Though Mamata has
criticised the Congress indirectly for calling the Bangla Bandh which had caused
trouble to the people, she is also very much aware of the fact that holding a
massive rally to observe Martyrs Day on Tuesday in the heart of the city would
cause serious inconvenience to the people. "I want to apologise to the people in
advance for Tuesday’s rally. But we don’t encourage wildcat bandhs
and strikes. Tuesday’s rally will give direction to our future political
activities," Mamata said knowing well that people in Kolkata will suffer a lot
due to her rally in the heart of Kolkata.
The August 18 assembly
by-elections to two seats of Sealdah and Bowbazar is another issue which the two
opposition parties would have to address jointly. Trinamool Congress sources
said that Mamata was interested to field her candidate for the Bowbazar assembly
seat which falls under the Kolkata North lok sabha seat won by her party
recently.
"The Congress contests Sealdah assembly seat traditionally
and we should not have any objection in allowing the party to fight the seat
this time too. But we want to fight the Bowbazar seat", Mamata reportedly told
her party leaders.
The Congress, it is learnt, might take up the issue
with Mamata Banerjee. AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal, K.Keshav
Rao is likely to discuss the issue with Mamata Banerjee after Tuesday’s
rally.
Addressing the mammoth gathering here to observe
Martyrs Day, Mamata also promised to allow the state administration to function
neutrally, provide a better health service to the people and revamp the entire
education system if she was voted to power in the state.
"The CPIM
can’t work for the people. Neither does the party allows anyone else to
function. Once the CPIM is removed, lakhs and lakhs of unemployed youth in our
state will get jobs. Both industry and agriculture in our state will flourish
together and to do this, we seek your moral support to oust the Marxists from
power in West Bengal," Mamata told a gathering of some 30 lakh people, most of
whom couldn’t even reach the venue in central Kolkata.
All
India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.Keshav Rao, who looks after
the party’s functioning in West Bengal, also attended the rally along with
the Congress MLA, Asit Mal. Rao announced in the midst of the meeting that AICC
chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had both SMSed on his mobile wishing Mamata
success in her venture.
"Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji and Pranab Mukherjee
have sent SMSes wishing Mamata’s gathering a huge success," Rao told the
gathering to loud cheers from the huge crowd.
Underscoring her
party’s unprecedented success in the Lok Sabha elections in the state,
Mamata told the gathering: "Once there had been confusion among many whether it
would be possible to defeat the CPIM in West Bengal. But now it has been proved
that defeating the CPIM is no longer a tough job. We have already defeated the
ruling Marxists in the Lok Sabha elections. And of course, we have to shed blood
for this and we will have to defeat them in 2011 assembly elections. We seek
your moral support."
Addressing her followers, the railway minister
also said that " only sending bio-datas of 5 lakh unemployed youths in Bengal to
me seeking jobs for them in the railways will not solve the problem of
unemployment. Railways have to maintain certain rules and regulations to provide
employment. Only one department of the Union government is not enough for
solving the problem of unemployment and I need to capture the West Bengal
government to provide jobs to everyone."
Indian express presents the HUMANSAPE more professionally! Just see:
At Esplanade, Mamata sees road to Writers’
| Font Size |
Express News Service
Posted: Jul 22, 2009 at 0348 hrs IST
Kolkata
Flush after her stunning performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls,
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today sounded the bugle for
the 2011 Assembly polls at the Esplanade in the heart of the city with
a mammoth rally where lakhs of party workers and supporters poured in
from across the state.
The victory rally, timed to coincide with the
Martyr’s Day in commemoration of 11 Youth Congress workers killed in
police firing in 1993, saw a record turnout that clogged the city
streets, bringing traffic in arterial roads to a standstill for nearly
five hours.
In the company of Magsaysay awardee Mahasweta
Devi, Mamata vowed to deal a final blow the Marxists in 2011 even as
the frenzied crowd and other speakers hailed the railway minister as
the next “Bengal Chief Minister”, who in turn said “Yes, we can”.
Responding in kind, a beaming Mamata unfolded her
roadmap for the post-2011 Bengal, saying the industry and the
agriculture will grow side by side. “Both will flourish under the
Trinamool rule. They will be like two sisters — hashi (smile) aar
khushi (happiness).”
“People are asking what we will do if we come to
power in 2011. I tell them that industry will grow. Agriculture will
grow. Agriculture-based industry would grow. Democracy will grow and
enterprise will flourish in an air of total freedom. We will create
millions of jobs for Bengal’s youths. The CPM has done nothing in the
past 32 years and they will not do anything in future. All these years,
they built the myth that they are invincible. But they have lost the
battle,” the Trinamool chief said amid riotous applause.
Keenly aware that her alliance with the Congress
had contributed to the Trinamool’s victory in the Lok Sabha polls in no
small measure, Mamata was at pains to reiterate her pact with her
parent party and other partners like SUCI. In fact, K Keshav Rao, the
AICC in-charge of Bengal, interrupted Mamata’s speech for a moment to
announce that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and
senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee have sent their goodwill
messages to her.
“It is proved today that the CPM has lost. Under
the CPM regime, people lived miserably. Things will change after 2011.
No one will have to die in Singur or Nandigram for our development
plans,” Mamata said, adding on a sober note that the change will not
about through “blood for blood policy”, but through peaceful means.
“The CPM uses terror against its opponents. But we
will maintain peace and mobilise the people. After the Lok Sabha polls,
the expectations of the people have gone up. We have to play a
constructive and positive role,” the Trinamool chief said to the crowd
who braved rains to hang on to every word. “Once the CPM is removed,
millions of unemployed youths will get jobs. We will prove, yes, we
can,” she said, adding that she needed “support from the Congress, SUCI
and intellectuals and others”.
Others who spoke on the occasion — among them
were Somen Mitra, the former Congressman who is now a Trinamool MP,
Sudip Bandopadhyay, the Trinamool’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha,
Mahasweta Devi, painter Suvaprasanna and Maulana Barkati of Tipu Sultan
mosque — hailed Mamata as the next chief minister of Bengal. “She
(Mamata) is Bengal’s face. Let us all vote for her and make her the
chief minister of the state,” said Mahasweta Devi, who was felicitated
by the Trinamool chief along with the families of the “martyrs” of
Singur and Nandigram and the mother of computer graphics teacher
Rizwanur Rehman.
rally holds up CM for 15 minutes, shows him the other way
The
Trinamool Congress rally at Esplanade today held up Chief Minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for 15 minutes before he could leave his office
for lunch in the afternoon.
The chief minister who usually leaves office at
1:30 pm left finally at 1:45 pm as the traffic police said they could
not make way for his convoy since the city roads were choc-a-bloc with
people who had come to attend the rally. In fact, the CM’s convoy had
to make a detour because of the crowds.
The Writers’ Buildings wore a deserted look as
most of the people chose not to come apprehending huge traffic snarls.
Of the 32 ministers who sit at Writers’, only 12 turned up. A large
number of employees remained absent too.
Even as Mamata Banerjee spoke at her mammoth rally
at the Esplanade, people at the Writers’ remained glued to television
sets listening to her. In fact, several IAS officers were seen watching
TV during her speech. “It’s a sign of the regime change that is taking
place in West Bengal,” said an employee.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/at-esplanade-mamata-sees-road-to-writers/492493/
While statesman Kolkat reports:
Ready for Writers
KOLKATA,21 JULY: In the largest ever mobilisation of Opposition supporters in
recent times in the heart of the city Trinamul Congress chief and
railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee today made it clear that she is
ready to begin her first innings at Writers' Buildings.
Job seekers may "flood" her Kalighat residence with forced applications
now (for recruitment in the railways and other Central government
offices), but "that won't help much". Lakhs of jobs can be created only
when the Trinamul comes to power in the state, she said to the
tumultuous applause of over 6,00,000 supporters who thronged the
Esplanade area turning the whole stretch from the Indian Airlines
building on Central Avenue to the Park Street-Jawaharlal Nehru Road
crossing and beyond up to Middleton Row into a sea of humanity.
Aware that the politics of vendetta, violence and bloodshed may dash
her dream of dislodging the Marxist regime even when the goal seems
within reach, she warned her activists that the final lap of the
journey to Writers' Buildings won't be through an-eye-for-an-eye tactic
or bandh and roadblocks, but "through development, democratic contest,
industrialisation, agricultural growth and education."
"We won't imbibe the evil teachings of the Marxists who practised not
democracy, but vulgarly partisan one-party rule and used muscle power
to stifle dissent. We won't divide the people through the
categorisation of us and them as the CPI-M has done all these years. We
would unite the people and establish togetherness," she said.
In a stern message to party functionaries indulging in corrupt
practices soon after the Trinamul captured panchayat and civic bodies,
she said these elements would be summarily rooted out. "The people have
showered their blessings on us. If you tarnish the party's image by
getting involved in corruption, the people would withdraw their support
from us," she said.
In the same breath she left no one in doubt as to who the real boss is
among the Opposition parties, despite the camaraderie she showed with
the Congress leadership.
The AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal, Mr Keshava Rao,
shared the dais with Miss Banerjee and cut into the proceedings to read
out a "message" from Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Pranab
Mukherjee expressing their "best wishes" to her.
Mr Rao said the Congress-Trinamul alliance would grow from strength to
strength and the combine would oust the Marxists from power.
But Miss Banerjee hammered it into all the ears listening to her with
rapt attention that the Trinamul would be in the vanguard of this
battle to capture the state government.
She said the recent Lok Sabha and municipal elections had exploded the
"myth" that the CPI-M could never be defeated. "Since the Lok Sabha
polls were over the CPI-M had unleashed violence and at least 40 of our
activists were brutally killed. The police did not take any action. But
we will not follow the path of violence. Rather we will dislodge the
CPI-M through political and democratic movement and development,'' the
Trinamul chief said.
Referring to Lalgarh, Miss Banerjee said she would send Trinamul
leaders, including some Union ministers, for an on-the-spot assessment
of the situation. She said she had repeatedly asked the Centre to
deploy paramilitary forces to seize firearms and ammunition "the CPI-M
has stockpiled." Congress MPs from Malda and MLA Mr Asit Mal attended
the meeting.
Writer Mahashweta Devi, stage personalities, singers, film
actors-turned-Trinamul MPs, and the mothers of Rizwanur Rehman, Tapasi
Malik of Singur and Firoza Bibi, Trinamul MLA and mother of Nandigram
police firing victim, Imdadul, stole the limelight.
Mahashweta Devi urged the people to strengthen the hands of Miss
Banerjee and oust the CPI-M from power to end "corruption and
politicisation of every sphere of life that it came to stand for."
Union minister Mr Sougata Roy said the Trinamul had won the
"semi-final" and was preparing for the "final'' (state Assembly
elections.)
CM takes a detour
Chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee got delayed for at least 15
minutes on his way to lunch owing to the rally. He could not hit his
usual route to avoid the clogged roads on his way from his residence
and back. Mr Bhattacharjee usually leaves Writers' Buildings at 1:30
p.m. for lunch. But today he could leave at 1:45 p.m. as police could
clear with difficulty the route he would take. Instead of the AJC Bose
flyover the CM's convoy took Park Street via Red Road to reach his
residence at Palm Avenue. On his way back to Writers' the convoy was
routed through Shakespeare Sarani and Mayo Road. He reached office five
minutes later than his usual time at 4 pm. Interestingly, only eight
ministers attended office today.
Meanwhile, Aftab Hossain (40) died when he fell off a train near
Shyamnagar when he was returning home after attending the rally.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=261725
Umbrella pact gives way to standard text - Indo-US arrangement omits ‘on-site’ thorn | |||
| SUJAN DUTTA | |||
New Both Asked if US weapons inspectors would have access to Indian military installations, the official replied: “Not necessarily.” The The India The “standard text” will now onwards be an appendix to all letters of agreement India and the US sign for defence transactions. Major But Asked The “The Asked In US defence companies expect the announcement on end-use verification to boost sales. “This “The Boeing “We “Such “Agreement Foreign investment in the sector is currently capped at 26 per cent. General He General Kapoor is also invited to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, home of the US Army Special Operations Command. |
Mamata’s 16-year metamorphosis - Street fighter to policy framer | |||
| ANINDYA SENGUPTA | |||
Calcutta, July 21: For Today’s In Her “There’s In In 1993, all she wanted was aggression. Today, she asked her activists to be “humble and modest’’. The Many in Trinamul wonder what it is that made this change happen. According “That For “The So in 1993, it was a Mamata road march that involved political workers. In 2009, she has peasants with her. Not Mamata’s She “It |
Rally boost for black brolly | ||
| MEGHDEEP BHATTACHARYYA | ||
Flags Though Umbrella sellers in the Esplanade area cashed in with their wares flying off the pavement between 1pm and 3pm. “I Having exhausted his stock, he packed up and headed home at 3pm, five hours earlier than usual. Kanai He said he would go shopping for his wife and little daughter with the extra cash. From Some carried them from home. Most didn’t and bought them at the venue for a song. “I Priced between Rs 30 and Rs 120, umbrellas of every size and hue were a sell-out, but the colour black was the pop pick. “I Hawkers The |
What happened on July 21, 1993 | |||
Tushar Talukdar was My
On July 21, huge police contingents were Mamata Watching A journalist of The Telegraph who reported the incident reflects on Talukdar’s comments At He Several senior officers The Telegraph had | |||
|
Ahead: Uttam & a new Netaji | |
| A STAFF REPORTER | |
Calcutta, July 18: Metro Rail will outgrow Tollygunge Station on August 23, thundering southwards from the current terminus that will be renamed after Uttam Kumar. The extension towards Garia — described by railway minister Mamata Banerjee as “a Puja gift” — will initially take Metro Rail another 6km till Birji, 2.5km short of the New Garia Station. “There is a problem of alignment for these two kilometres, which we hope to resolve soon,” Mamata said. “Uttam Kumar used to shoot at the studios of Tollygunge. It is our tribute to him,” she said, referring to the rechristening. All the five operating stations on the stretch would be named after icons of Bengal (see chart). One name on the list will make it imperative for commuters to utter the full name of two stations to avoid confusion while buying tickets. The Kudghat Station will be called Netaji Subhas, a prefix it will share with Netaji Bhavan (Bhowanipore). Of the six new stations, five will be elevated — bringing the Calcutta Metro overground between stations as in Delhi. The extension will mean that Tollygunge will lose its unique status as the oldest serving terminus of the Metro. Metro services had begun on October 24, 1984, between Esplanade and Bhowanipore. On April 29, 1986, the services were extended to Tollygunge, which has continued as the terminus at the southern end till now. Esplanade lost its terminus status in 1995 when the services to the north started and Dum Dum eventually became the last stop at that end. It will also mean that the taped announcement about Tollygunge being the “prantik” (terminal) station will have to be re-recorded. “This (the Metro extension) is my Puja gift to the people of Bengal. The expansion started when I was railway minister and I am happy that it can be commissioned during my second tenure,” she added. The Garia expansion project was scheduled to be completed in 2007 but faced an encroachment hurdle and was delayed by two years. Ladies special Mamata also announced that the first ladies’ special local train would start from Howrah on Monday. Officials said that initially, two would run between Howrah and Bandel during the morning peak hours and again in the evening. Duranta Express, the series of non-stop long-distance trains announced in the rail budget, will start plying from the city in August. Initially, one train will connect Howrah and Mumbai and another Calcutta Station (Chitpur) and Delhi. These trains will have only operational stops to facilitate change of engines. |
Lalgarh and the crisis of the Left 16 Jul 2009, 0042 hrs IST, TK Arun, ET Bureau | ||||||||
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Shed a tear for the Santhals of Lalgarh, stomped into gory pulp, as footsoldiers of wrongheaded ideology, peddlers of patronage and defenders of For a moment, forget the turf war between the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress, forget the Maoists and just focus on these simple tribal people fighting for control over the traditional means of their primitive subsistence: water, land and the jungle. Their battle is not for ideology, but ideologues and guerrillas joined their battle and then derailed it. The tribal people bore the full force of the state’s repressive machinery. They now remain battered, tarred as challengers of the Indian state’s legitimacy, bereft of media or mainstream party support, their hopes of a second uprising (the first one had been against the British) crushed. And they now remain completely alienated. If the Maoists had to hijack their struggle earlier, now they stand ready converts to any extremist ideology. ‘You made me a communist’, went the ringing title of a storied play that fuelled the growth of the communist movement in Kerala. It highlighted the injustice meted out by landlords with the full backing of the state. In Lalgarh and many other areas of growing extremist influence today, such a play would be titled You made me a Maoist. This is against this nation’s interests, against India’s hopes of sustaining high economic growth, and not just against the interests of defenceless tribal people pitted against a merciless, exploitative system. More than one-fourth of India’s 600 districts are officially counted as Naxalite afflicted and Maoist violence is rated as India’s number one internal security threat. Policing alone cannot stop the trend. We need a new kind of politics that creates broadbased economic growth. Inclusive growth does not mean hand-outs from the state but converting people into active participants in the process of globalised growth. Hand-outs such as by the employment guarantee programme do serve a purpose, and are relatively easy to produce. However, making marginalised people stakeholders in the growth process is far more difficult. One would imagine that the mainstream Left parties would be better placed to take on this challenge than anyone else. Imagination, in this case, would collapse into hallucination. The Left believes that Capitalism has become moribund, devoid of any progressive, emancipatory potential and is, therefore, a system whose overthrow is the sole goal to be pursued in the interest of the people. This world view, fashioned in the 1950s, leaves the Left without any constructive agenda to deal with the world as it is. This constitutes a strategic deprivation for the Left and leaves them in a peculiar bind. The Left was on a strong wicket while it mobilised the people against pre-capitalist land relations and brought about land reforms, wherever they were in a position to. However, after having established the pre-requisites of capitalist growth, they could not take things forward. After all, their job is to topple capitalism, not build it. At the same time, to win elections, you have to be seen to be trying, at least, to create jobs. Now, jobs can be created in the government sector, but only to a limited extent. So, for job creation at large, the Left has to dirty its hands by building capitalism, in some form or the other. It is this reduction of engaging with the real world to a vague compromise with its basic strategic programme which lies at the root of the Left’s problems, including underdevelopment of its areas of influence, Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura, and alienation of the people of Lalgarh. | ||||||||
Lalgarh student ‘shields’ caught between police and protesters | |||
| OUR CORRESPONDENT | |||
Midnapore, July 20: Child- ren made to march in front of a Lalgarh procession today got sandwiched between some 10,000 Maoist-backed protesters and a wall of police. The baton charge that followed left at least half a dozen of them bruised. The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities had used the schoolchildren as a human shield in the push for withdrawal of security forces from a village 12km from Lalgarh where they have been camping in a high school. Women formed the second tier of the procession and bore the brunt. Five of them are in hospital with broken arms and head injuries. Two others were allowed to return home with stitches on their head. A villager said parents were threatened with kangaroo court trials — where Maoists usually pronounce the death sentence — if they did not send their children for the march to Gohomidanga High School. “Committee members told us last night our children must be in front,” said a man whose daughter is in Class VIII. “They told us ‘tomorrow we will drive the forces away and take control of the school’. We would have been tried in a ‘people’s court’ had we not sent our children.” Around 11am, some 700 children, many of them in school uniform, assembled about a kilometre from Gohomidanga along with 10,000 adults carrying traditional tribal weapons. The students were asked to keep a distance of about 100 metres from the main procession and given cardboard placards saying “go back police”, “give back our school”. Around 300 central and state police personnel have been staying in the school building since July 1. As the students neared its gate, the police asked them to stop. But the students tried to push ahead and some of them caught the gate’s iron grilles and started shaking it. When 100-odd personnel — both men and women — tried to push the students back, they could not because the large mass of committee supporters had closed in behind them. Then stones were hurled from behind, three policemen were hit and the deputy superintendent in charge of the camp ordered the lathicharge. The crowd dispersed, but the villagers soon regrouped and re-emerged, hurling stones at the police. The lathicharge resumed. During the clash, some of the villagers rushed to block the road between Dharampur and Brindabanpur so reinforcements could not be brought in from Lalgarh town. Around 1.30pm, the villagers left the school for a place 2km away where committee member Sundar Mandi addressed them. “We are taking an oath. We will drive out the forces from the area, even if there is bloodshed,” Mandi said. In Calcutta, home secretary Ardhendu Sen described the lathicharge on students as “very unfortunate” and expressed regrets. “There was a mild lathicharge on students in Lalgarh today and that’s very unfortunate. We are very sorry for that,” he said. West Midnapore police chief Manoj Verma said the cops had no option but to resort to the baton charge. “Stones were raining on us. Our efforts to persuade them to disperse had failed.” Asked why the police did not use tear gas, Verma said: “We did not want to use it on the children. The villagers were using them as a shield.” A Class X student who was hit on the back said: “The police should understand why we came today. Don’t they know who forced us to march?” A week ago, nearly 600 students had marched to the Gohomidanga school demanding that the forces be withdrawn. Villagers said the protest, which began spontaneously among the students, was later hijacked by the Maoists and their sympathisers. The home secretary iterated that the police camps in schools in the area would be vacated by July-end. “Four permanent camps to relocate the police are ready. Another eight will be coming up in the next few days. We are also trying to find out if the police can be moved out of schools during the day and brought back when classes close.” Sen said the police action in Lalgarh would continue. “Going by the experience in other Naxalite-hit states, it’s not possible to wind up the operation in a month or two.” Jawans scanning the Bankishole forest, 30km from Gohomidanga, were ambushed tonight. No casualties were reported but the gun battle raged for an hour. The jawans defused four explosive devices planted on their way. |
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Mamata pinches Cong |
| OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT |
Calcutta, July 20: Mamata Banerjee said she would not allow party workers to resort to bandhs or blockades on trivial grounds, days after her ally shut down Bengal and vandalised public property. “Things have changed. People have started voting for us in every election. So we can’t do what other parties are doing at the drop of a hat,” Mamata said this afternoon, without naming the Congress. Trinamul Congress leaders had earlier said their chief had spotted in the Congress’s moves a bid to steal the limelight as an Opposition party. “Didi did not approve of the way Congress supporters torched and stoned buses. That is why she had refrained from commenting on the bandh, though she had lent moral support to it,” said a general secretary. Although Mamata did not explain what she meant by trivial grounds, her aides said issues “like an attack on a party worker by supporters of the ruling party or arrest of a party activist on false charges should not be a ground for bandhs and blockades”. The Congress had called the bandh to protest the attack on its MLAs. State Congress working president Subrata Mukherjee reminded Trinamul of its own record while reacting to Mamata’s observations. “We don’t need lessons from Trinamul. They had unleashed violence on the roads to protest the ban on two-stroke autos. They had vandalised the Assembly in 2006 and set fire to Charu Market police station last year.” Trinamul leaders suggested those were things of the past. “Our leaders had done many things on the spur of the moment. But we have learnt from experience that people don’t support hooliganism,” said Trinamul state president Subrata Bakshi. Mamata has told her district units they must take their state leaders’ permission before calling bandhs or organising blockades. “We are working on a code of conduct for them. Bandhs should be the last resort and only when they involve big public issues,” she said. |
Here come cloud & chaos Bus, taxi firm on strike schedule | |||
| OUR BUREAU | |||
Transporters on Monday stuck to their decision to go on an indefinite strike from Friday, ignoring the government’s appeal to their “good sense”. The operators have called the strike demanding that the government appeal to the court for an extension of the July 31 deadline on the phase-out of vehicles more than 15 years old. Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty issued a press statement on Monday urging the “law abiding” operators to let “good sense prevail” and abstain from bringing about “a chaotic situation” on the road. “The government is left with no alternative but to enforce the order of the honourable high court... The government hopes the transport operators will abandon their call for an indefinite strike,” the minister said. The Banijyik Paribahan Bachao Committee, an umbrella body of transport operators in the state, met in the afternoon and rejected the minister’s plea. “We will write to the transport department soon, asking it to spell out its stand on deferring the implementation of the totalitarian ban,” said Swarnakamal Saha, the president of the Bengal Bus Syndicate. “If the government does not act, we will go ahead with our strike plan.” Car attacked: Around 100 members of the Taxi Bachao Committee blocked the Exide crossing for around 20 minutes on Monday evening and smashed the windscreen of a Tata Sumo that was being used as a shuttle car. “These illegal shuttle vehicles are eating into our income. The cops take no action against them,” said Bimal Guha, the general secretary of the Bengal Taxi Association and a member of the Taxi Bachao Committee. Also during the day, environment activist Subhash Dutta said he would move a petition before the green bench of the high court requesting it to call an early hearing of the case relating to the phase-out of 15-year-old commercial vehicles. “I will request the court to intervene in the matter as the strike will unleash chaos on the streets,” Dutta said. The case is scheduled to come up for hearing on August 21. |
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090721/jsp/calcutta/story_11260752.jsp
All smiles on ladies’ local - Schoolboys get a ride too | ||
| A STAFF REPORTER | ||
The first ladies’ special train rolled into Howrah station from Bandel at 9.53am on Monday. The local was 10 minutes behind schedule, but even the delay couldn’t dampen the spirits of its passengers — mostly working women, college girls and schoolchildren — who expressed happiness at railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s gift to them. At Bandel, local Trinamul Congress supporters decorated the station with arches and flowers. They distributed sweets among the passengers before the train started for Howrah at 8.40am. Anima Dey, 38, who boarded the train at Bandel to reach her office in BBD Bag, said she was a staunch supporter of a Left party, but “I must admit that by launching a special train, Mamata Banerjee has rendered an excellent service to women”. Papiya Bhawmick, 58, an employee of Calcutta Port Trust, is due to retire in two years. The resident of Baidyabati narrated how difficult it was for a woman of her age to board a crowded local during the peak hour. “Now that a ladies’ special has been launched, I hope to complete my two years of service comfortably. For the first time in years, I got a seat in the train,” she said. Though the nine-bogey train was packed with women, a number of young schoolboys could be spotted too. The women, however, didn’t object. One of them said: “We object to male passengers entering a ladies’ compartment but do not mind schoolboys. We have sons and brothers of this age group at home.” There were two woman GRP personnel in each compartment. They too did not object to the schoolboys’ presence. Samir Goswami, the chief public relation officer of Eastern Railway, said: “If women passengers do not object, we have no problems if schoolboys use this train. I must praise the consideration shown by the women passengers.” College girls were happy that they would no longer be forced to travel in general compartments and endure “unwanted attention” from male passengers. Serampore resident Soma Maity, who studies in Surendranath College, said: “Only women know how difficult it is to travel in general compartments with male passengers.” |
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