HAPLESS BENGAL, If Not HOPELESS

This is in response to the “Brilliant Article”, People!!! No Thank You by Vijai G, put up on the EmPower Research blogsite. Nice to know that Bangalore also had mills that were regarded as spearheads of industry yesteryears. I come from a place known as Chandernagore (It’s a French Town on the banks of the Ganges, 30 km upstream from Kolkata). It’s famous for Red Curd (Laal Doi) and once also boasted of the erstwhile Gondalpara Jute Mills that along with Tribeni Tissues was a common name in every household not only in Bengal, but also in India. Now the former has been shut down and the latter is running in the midst of losses.

Bandel, 20 km from Chandernagore and 52 km from Kolkata by train, once boasted of the world-renowned Dunlop Tyres and Industries. Now it is in shambles.

Perhaps you have heard of Hindustan Motors that manufactures the Ambassador, still the most sought after car for its hardiness and extra comfortability, which is also running under losses. It is located at Hindmotor, a place 19 kms downstream Chandernagore.

The people of Bengal are frustrated because whenever she (Bengal) has tried to stand on her feet, she has been pecked by unwanted political vandalism. First it was the CPM, then came the Congress, briefly, and finally it is now a tug of war between Trinamool Congress and CPM.

God has given us one earth and we had drawn lines on it and divided the land into entities that belong to you and me. I am thankful of the fact that the moon is the satellite of the earth and is far away from us. If it would have been on earth, we would have divided it too.

Such articles bring out the disgust that the people of Bengal are facing. Sourav Ganguly recently pointed out that he wants his daughter to grow up and settle in Bengal only, but is doubtful as he says “I don’t want Sana to grow up and see there are no jobs in Bengal”.

And CPM-led coalition government in West Bengal is dreaming out of no-where of Sourav becoming the BRAND AMBASSADOR of HAPLESS BENGAL, IF NOT HOPELESS.

By Arunava Das

Blood In The Name Of Religion

Sathish Andricks

It’s been more than 60 years since India attained independence and it is hard for me to digest that even today there is bloodshed in the name of religion. I am amazed at the fact that in a country which boasts of “Unity in diversity,” secularism is today just a word in our constitution. It is indeed an irony that India is being congratulated by the world leaders on the one hand for reaching an important mile stone by signing the nuclear treaty with the US, while on the other hand the same leaders are questioning our Prime Minister on the violence happening in Kashmir, Kandhamal and Karnataka.

Even though I am a Christian by birth I am not being biased towards what has happened to my brothers and sisters in the violence affected states, but I do strongly feel as a rational human being that by harming people from other religions you are not going to attain whatever your goal is. I do agree as a Hindu or a Muslim or even Christian one has a duty to spread the word of god to all people irrespective of their faiths but please follow the virtuous paths shown by the religious leaders of the past. These leaders were known for the services they rendered to mankind and not by their religion. Today’s religious heads unfortunately are busy in creating more controversies by throwing oil into troubled waters.

If these atrocities do not stop we may have more and more hot-blooded youth alienating themselves from mainstream society and taking to the path of violence and terrorism as is seen in the recent instances of “Jihad” in the name of religion. I know that luckily the majority of fellow-Indians share my sentiment and are secular in their outlook. But unfortunately this majority chooses to be passive and the small voices of sanity are drowned in the cacophony of violent slogans. I am raising my voice against the radicals from all religions, an issue which is threatening to tear the secular fabric of this glorious nation. Most of us have become so passive to the happenings around us that we don’t even bother to react to atrocities as long as they don’t directly affect us. In our busy modern lifestyles where we don’t have time for our families, where are we going to have time for others?

This is indeed a sad state as we do not realize that if we don’t unite now to tell these radical Indians that the majority of us do not endorse their views, it may be too late tomorrow. If India is to take its rightful place in today’s world, it has to be a united and secular country. O fellow Indians please raise your voice against atrocities committed against any religion because I personally believe that no religion in this world preaches bloodshed. It is people with vested interests who twist the preachings to suit their selfish needs and to gain money, power or even position. Ours is the only country in the world which does not have a national religion and boasts of people of all religions. So my dear Indians please believe in “Unity in Diversity” because India is not about Hindus or Muslims or Even Christians but it’s a a beautiful mixture of race, color and religion, - JAIHIND