Now that the Supreme Court has reined in the runaway spirit that was getting the better of good sense, we can sit for a minute and look at the situation as it is.
Okay, during the Red Regime the Government had wrenched away forcibly, fertile land from farmers and peasants. And given these plots away for a song to the mighty industrial emperor. The actual snatching and grabbing of fertile lands that had fed hundreds of families for generations back had come about through bloodbath and near genocide caused by the red goon army unleashed on unarmed simple peasnt folk. There was no end to their savagery, particularly as they had been helped alongside by the state machinery and personnel. Having grabbed the land away from the peasants, who were thus violently thrown out of their own property in this brutal fashion, the Red Government gave it all away for a song to the Industrial tycoon for him to build his car factory.
We all know what happened afterwards. The industrialisation that was to be didn't happen. The Tycoon had to turn away from W Bengal and head westwards. Whatever little construction and structures the tycoon had put up stayed as they were. The land lay without coming to anybody's use.
Then came the General Election and the rout that followed. The Red dragon, after an seemingly endless regime of 34 years, was totally vanquished and fled with its tail between its legs.
All this is history. Having reduced the earlier rulers to a rubble, the new brave leader of the present Government has undertaken this Herculean task of retrieving a semblance of governance from the rule of anarchy that has been dominating the scene for so long. The new leader has not a moment to spare in her headlong rush to get going and get things done.
One of the most striking and admirable items in her agenda is to return the lost land to the farmers. In her headlong rush, perhaps she has gone overboard in certain areas that need to be re-assessed and remedial steps taken. In reclaiming the land that has already been transferred to the Tatas, the aforementioned tycoon, she has had a bill passed and acted overnight and taken practically forceful repossession of transferred land from the Tatas. Here she needed to tread gently. Tatas were not going to run away with the land. The heavens wouldn't have fallen had she given them a reasonable time to hand over possession of the transferred land back to the Government.
I wonder who was advising her. There's no doubt she has the best brains in every field surrounding her and advising her. But sometimes when there are too many cooks in a kitchen, and everyone a master chef, it's not difficult to imagine how edible the broth might be.
And so it happened. She went in with her guns blazing. But there is something in the world of law known as "due process". If you show undue haste in acting, then this concept of "due process " gets jeopardised. And a court of law is always there to correct the infraction. The Tatas had no other option but to go to the apex court to get a stay of the actual handing over of the land to the farmers, even before it had been properly adjudicated by the High Court as to whether or not the Act, hurriedly enacted by the State of W Bengal, was constitutinal or not. If it is finally decided that the Act itself is bad, then all action taken under it must be declared null and void and status quo ante be restored. The land would go back to the Tatas and zilch to the farmers.
None of us want that to happen. We all want the farmers to get back their land from which they had been so brutally evicted. If in her haste that most admirable of her agendas gets lost in lealities and an endless bout of litigation and counter litigation, an endlesss process which can go on to perpetuity, nothing would be more tragic.
There's a saying that goes "angels fear to tread where fools rush in". Our new leader has emerged as a saviour and an angel to the lost state of W Bengal. We had all lost our hopes of revival of W Bengal. She has given us new hope and new aspirations. We all want her to win, every which way. That is why she must be cautious and remember the saying that angels fear to tread...
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Friday, 17 June 2011
Sorry, no sex! We're Indians.
I read a disquieting news item this morning.
Seems there's this hospital at Asansol. The superintendent there, a young, presumably personable man of 35 had been successful in seducing a young staff nurse, a twenty something. These are fringe benefits of the medical profession, which we, of the non medical profession have heard rumours about from our college days.
Anyway, this super and the nurse met at the dead of night in one of the many empty rooms, in the hospital itself, where else?. And they were conducting their tryst as only two lovers can , in the still of the night and away from prying eyes. They were so absorbed in each other they were quite oblivious of the fact that the bed they were on was creaking. In the dead silence of a night in a mofussil hospital, around 2 A.M. the sound of a creak carries over long distances.
It so happened that the "creak" awoke another nurse in the hospital. She thought at first, being panick-stricken at the odd sound, that it was a burglar. She woke up the other staff nurses and soon as a group,now emboldened, marched down the corridor leading up to the tryst room and flung open the door. Our hero (the superintendent) and his girlfriend were caught in flagrante delicto
After this, dear reader, living in India, you can imagine what happened. Yes, all hell, as the saying goes, broke loose. The sky came tumbling down on the two hapless lovers, in dishabille, literally caught in the act. Recriminations, abuse hurled in shrill voices, gasps of disbelief from the assembled entourage all made a merry mess of the situation. This nightmare continued to such lengths that even relatives of patients in the hospital came from near and far and thoroughly thrashed up the poor super.
To cap it all, the hospital authorites were left with no alternatives but to immediately suspend the superintendent and the young nurse, pending further and no doubt the harshest of disciplinary action.
Now, when I look at all this that happened, my mind fills with dismay at the sheer hypocrisy and the downright intolerance in the mind of my countrymen. Just let's think for a moment the plight of the two lovers. They were enjoying a moment of quiet bliss and togetherness, harming no one and interfering with nobody's life. It's just that they were two consenting adults being intimate, away from the public gaze. What exactly was their offence in the eyes of the "shocked" people who thus mistreated them? Its these people who abused their privacy and took law into their own hands and caused a violent breach of "law and order" by turning a night of quiet romance into this nightmarish act. True the lovers were using the official premises for conducting their very own and private business. But they weren't neglecting their duties or official responsibilities. Then why all this brouhaha? Over something which was none of anybody's business but their very own.
It is this feeling of sadness that makes me realise the truth in the saying "Sorry- no sex! We're Indians!"
Seems there's this hospital at Asansol. The superintendent there, a young, presumably personable man of 35 had been successful in seducing a young staff nurse, a twenty something. These are fringe benefits of the medical profession, which we, of the non medical profession have heard rumours about from our college days.
Anyway, this super and the nurse met at the dead of night in one of the many empty rooms, in the hospital itself, where else?. And they were conducting their tryst as only two lovers can , in the still of the night and away from prying eyes. They were so absorbed in each other they were quite oblivious of the fact that the bed they were on was creaking. In the dead silence of a night in a mofussil hospital, around 2 A.M. the sound of a creak carries over long distances.
It so happened that the "creak" awoke another nurse in the hospital. She thought at first, being panick-stricken at the odd sound, that it was a burglar. She woke up the other staff nurses and soon as a group,now emboldened, marched down the corridor leading up to the tryst room and flung open the door. Our hero (the superintendent) and his girlfriend were caught in flagrante delicto
After this, dear reader, living in India, you can imagine what happened. Yes, all hell, as the saying goes, broke loose. The sky came tumbling down on the two hapless lovers, in dishabille, literally caught in the act. Recriminations, abuse hurled in shrill voices, gasps of disbelief from the assembled entourage all made a merry mess of the situation. This nightmare continued to such lengths that even relatives of patients in the hospital came from near and far and thoroughly thrashed up the poor super.
To cap it all, the hospital authorites were left with no alternatives but to immediately suspend the superintendent and the young nurse, pending further and no doubt the harshest of disciplinary action.
Now, when I look at all this that happened, my mind fills with dismay at the sheer hypocrisy and the downright intolerance in the mind of my countrymen. Just let's think for a moment the plight of the two lovers. They were enjoying a moment of quiet bliss and togetherness, harming no one and interfering with nobody's life. It's just that they were two consenting adults being intimate, away from the public gaze. What exactly was their offence in the eyes of the "shocked" people who thus mistreated them? Its these people who abused their privacy and took law into their own hands and caused a violent breach of "law and order" by turning a night of quiet romance into this nightmarish act. True the lovers were using the official premises for conducting their very own and private business. But they weren't neglecting their duties or official responsibilities. Then why all this brouhaha? Over something which was none of anybody's business but their very own.
It is this feeling of sadness that makes me realise the truth in the saying "Sorry- no sex! We're Indians!"
Thursday, 16 June 2011
One grisly tale
A teenage girl, all of 14 was rounding up her cows on a lazy afternoon in a rural setting. She was being helped by her little brother. The cattle had strayed too dangerously close to the local police lines.
A few constables out also and having nothing better to do, (under the indulgent and benevolent eye of the Chief of the State) had already spotted their prey. As in unison, they got up off their well rounded bottoms and gave chase. The little girl had no chance. She was picked up and brought down desperately struggling, to a derelict little room. Her little brother had however escaped and ran back home in panic to report that his elder sister had been picked up by the police.
In the derelict room, as mentioned, in the quiet afternoon of the police lines, these three or four brutes had in their midst a traumatised but nubile young girl, a very delectable fare, no doubt, for their lust which was now overflowing. A gangrape followed.
The girl lay unconscious and bleeding. Now, lust abated, the beasts , with their brutish thinking knew that this had to be hushed up. Otherwise, if the girl were allowed to let go, God knows what might happen. They just couldn't afford to take the chance. After all, they had their precious Government jobs to save, didn't they? So they decided to finish off the girl then and there and then string her up and let her death be passed off as a 'suicide'. What an absolutely brilliant idea!
So they proceeded to strangulate the already unconscious girl. This grisly act done, they quietly dragged the body and used a rope lying around to string her up from a nearby tree, which was, again, within the police line compound. These brilliant constables, didn't chance taking the body of the girl outside in broad daylight to look for a tree in the village where to hang up their handiwork.
We all know this, courtesy the newspaper reports. The mother and other villagers have since discovered the body of the little girl in the faux suicide mode. The police are trying their best to cover up. Huge sums are being offered to the shattered mother of the little girl. But that will not happen because the media is now in on the story and hopefully will soon create such a stir that something drastic happens.
What is curious though, is the stony silence we are all getting from the Chief of the State. Does she have no comments to make on this gruesome and macabre incident which more than highlights the state of anarchy in her state? Or is she too busy scouting for another site where another stony statue of her ample dimensions may be put up?
A few constables out also and having nothing better to do, (under the indulgent and benevolent eye of the Chief of the State) had already spotted their prey. As in unison, they got up off their well rounded bottoms and gave chase. The little girl had no chance. She was picked up and brought down desperately struggling, to a derelict little room. Her little brother had however escaped and ran back home in panic to report that his elder sister had been picked up by the police.
In the derelict room, as mentioned, in the quiet afternoon of the police lines, these three or four brutes had in their midst a traumatised but nubile young girl, a very delectable fare, no doubt, for their lust which was now overflowing. A gangrape followed.
The girl lay unconscious and bleeding. Now, lust abated, the beasts , with their brutish thinking knew that this had to be hushed up. Otherwise, if the girl were allowed to let go, God knows what might happen. They just couldn't afford to take the chance. After all, they had their precious Government jobs to save, didn't they? So they decided to finish off the girl then and there and then string her up and let her death be passed off as a 'suicide'. What an absolutely brilliant idea!
So they proceeded to strangulate the already unconscious girl. This grisly act done, they quietly dragged the body and used a rope lying around to string her up from a nearby tree, which was, again, within the police line compound. These brilliant constables, didn't chance taking the body of the girl outside in broad daylight to look for a tree in the village where to hang up their handiwork.
We all know this, courtesy the newspaper reports. The mother and other villagers have since discovered the body of the little girl in the faux suicide mode. The police are trying their best to cover up. Huge sums are being offered to the shattered mother of the little girl. But that will not happen because the media is now in on the story and hopefully will soon create such a stir that something drastic happens.
What is curious though, is the stony silence we are all getting from the Chief of the State. Does she have no comments to make on this gruesome and macabre incident which more than highlights the state of anarchy in her state? Or is she too busy scouting for another site where another stony statue of her ample dimensions may be put up?
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