Messages In This Digest (5 Messages)
- 1a.
- hiiiii From: narendra rawat
- 2.
- Fwd: Re: [Kumauni-Garhwali] RE:JOB REQUIRED From: Anuradha Nayal
- 3a.
- marriage proposals From: dheeraj khati
- 4.
- Human Documentation of Hatred From: banga_sss2003
- 5.
- Chemistry of Feudal Socilist Oxides and Zionist Gandhian Carbides From: banga_sss2003
Messages
- 1a.
-
hiiiii
Posted by: "narendra rawat" narendra.rawat@yahoo.co.in narendra.rawat
Mon Jul 7, 2008 11:43 am (PDT)
MUDDAT HUI WO RULANE NA AAYE,
IN JALTI HUI AANKHON KO BHUJANE NA AAYE.
KAHTE THE SATH JIYENGE SATH MARENGE,
HUM RUTHE THE EK ROZ WO AAJ TAK MANANE NA AAYE.
Narendra Singh Rawat
narendra.rawat@yahoo.co. in
Gurgaon-9818740102
Bollywood, fun, friendship, sports and more. You name it, we have it on http://in.promos.yahoo.com/ groups/bestofyah oo/
- 2.
-
Fwd: Re: [Kumauni-Garhwali] RE:JOB REQUIRED
Posted by: "Anuradha Nayal" negi_anu81@yahoo.co.in negi_anu81
Mon Jul 7, 2008 11:44 am (PDT)
Note: forwarded message attached.
--------------------- --------- ---
Bollywood, fun, friendship, sports and more. You name it, we have it.
- 3a.
-
marriage proposals
Posted by: "dheeraj khati" dheerajkhati_pro@yahoo.com dheerajkhati_pro
Mon Jul 7, 2008 11:44 am (PDT)
Hi ,
I am Dheeraj...
Can you guys help me in finding bride for me or any one girl who belong to this group searching for groom .........
Thanks in advance..........
Regards,
Dheeraj
Regards
Dheeraj
- 4.
-
Human Documentation of Hatred
Posted by: "banga_sss2003" banga_sss2003@yahoo.co.in banga_sss2003
Mon Jul 7, 2008 11:44 am (PDT)
Human Documentation of Hatred
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 18
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams .blogspot. com/
Not the novel, it's the name of the novel that confused everyone;
from the critics to the writer of the ad script that appeared on the
back cover of the book to promote circulation. The Puppets? Well,
they all assumed that Bandopaddhyay must have portrayed people as
puppets of their destiny. This was the conclusion of judging critics.
But those who cared not to judge and kept the novel breathing for
twenty odd years, knew better. They realised that it was a dissent
against those who make people puppets. It's not a vigorous revolt;
but a sympathetic mild and persistent protest."
Manik Bandopaddhyay,the author's comment on his most controversial
novel 'Pootool Naacher Itikotha' (The Puppets' Tale as translated by
the UNESCO).
Mind the lmperilist Linguistics!
Have you read Tara Shankar Bandopaddhyaya?
Gano Devata?
Hansuli Banker Upokatha?
Particularly , while you read Hasuli Bank , you have to be amazed to
see the logic of Industrialisation. the language is same as used by
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya! Capitalism begins with Language and culture.
mind , you Buddha himself a Poet and the nephew of legendary
revolutionary Indian poet Sukanto Bhattachary had been the minister
of Information and culture. Nandan Premises has been his empire for
long. He intercepts Taslima Nasrin as well as Redical Cinema by Joshy
Joseph or Ananda Patbardhan.He is the man running Bangla academy and
his man Pabitra Sarkar has tried his best to correct Bengali diction.
Buddha has been the Brand Bangla nationality. He has been the Brand
Bangla culture. Now Buddha happens to be the best brand of capitalist
Marxist indiscriminate Industrialisation and Urbanisation. Buddha
uses the same language as the Aarkathies (middlemen) used in Hansuli
bank Industrialisation. The logic of development remains the same and
same happens to be the Muscle Power! though much more polished,
elite, sophisticated post modernised , machinized!
You may also identify Brand Buddha diction in Rangbhoomi and Godan by
Premchand. You may get it right there in Putul Nacher Itikatha,
Itikathar pare and Padma Nadeer Manjhi by Manik Bandopadhyaya. You
may hear the echoes in Hardy, Dickens, Shaw, Tolstoy, Camus, Yashpal,
Rahee Maum Raza, Akhtarzzuman and even the works of African and Latin
american Literature.
It happens to be the language of Imperialism!
Here you are! It is the linguistics of Post Modern Hindu Zionist
White Galaxy Order run from the Oval House in Washington DC!
Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1898-1971): Tarasankar remains the best
chronicler in Bengal so far as the decline and decay of the feudal
fabric is concerned. Hansuli Banker Upakatha (The Tale of the
Crescent Bend of the River Kopai) is one of his most outstanding
novels.Great Bengali writer and recipient of prestigious 'Jnanpith
Award' Tara Shankar Bandopadhyay's classic novel Ganadevta is based
upon the village life of Bengal. The Village life tradition prevalent
from centuries had been disturbed due to introduction of machine-
culture born from western Industrial Revolution. Main theme of
Ganadevta is the influence of Industrial Revolution and machine-
civilization upon village life and how all these were responsible in
making their life topsy-turvy. Honoured with the Jnanpith Award this
novel has been acknowledged as one of the world's best novel.
Kavi, Hansuli Banker Upakatha, Nagini Kanya and Ganadevata are
considered classics in Bengali literature.Tarashankar Bandopadhyay
was a universally accepted author among all Bengali readers. His
novels and short stories kept the aged and the youth engrossed.
Novelist Tarashankar Bandopadhyay was one of the famous triad
of 'Bandopadhyays', the other two being Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay
and Manik Bandopadhyay. THE STORY OF A POET Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay
in his novel Kabi (1942, The Poet) presents Netai, a 'dom' (an
untouchable community) as the protagonist.
To me, these works are the perfect Human documentation of Hatred
inherited by the caste Hindus against the slave, bonded out caste,
underclass, subordinate labours tortured in the feudal set up of
Indigenous production system.Tara Shankar was opposed to
Industrialisation and urbanisation. But he never advocated any
Insurrection against the ruling Brahminical class.Tarashankar, of
course, wrote a novel Aranya Banhi with the theme of Santhal
Insurrection.
But politically he never allowed any space for either tribals or the
scheduled castes. The Bengali Brahmin Kayastha feudal lords emerged
thanks to Permanent Land Settlement system introduced the colonial
rulers which ultimately failed during the World Wars.
Industrialisation broke the back bone of Feudal Set Up. It also broke
the caste system in limited sense. The British were responsible for
the rare opportunities of education and professional mobilisation
breaking the glorified Hindu Varna Vyvastha, which prescribed
specific job for every Hindu by birth.The taboo was broken with
education and industrialisation.
Even in modern times while the industrialisation and urbanisation
drive, particularly SEZ, uproot the SC, ST, OBC and minority
communities most, the Insurrection against this Imperialist
Industrialisation is led by the Brahmins. Say,Medha Patekar, Mamata
bannerjee, Mahashweta Devi, Ulka Mahajan and so on.
Tara Shankar did very well to expose all these sentiments of the
ruling class.In every novel Tara Shankar justified the varna
vyavastha. Chandi Mandap opens with a Village Meeting against such
professional mobilsation. Even in Arogya Niketan, a novel dealing
with Life and death, Tarashankar opposed modern medicines and
supported traditional medical care.
Tarashankar always adopted a strategy to divide the Indigenous
castes. He never exposed the Brahmins or kayasthas, the Higher
castes. his villains have been always the lower caste Hindus. As we
see the Chhirupal in Ganodevata. he threw Satchasi and Sadgope
landlords against the landless labour classes and defended the High
caste feudal lord. We may see the clear cut difference while he deals
with High cast affairs as in Sapto Padi, Bipasha and Jalsaghar. No
exposure of sexual behaviour remains the constant characteristics of
these novels. tarashankar never exposed any scandal involving a caste
Hindu woman while he presents the details of the sexual behaviour and
the anarchy of sex amongst the Indigenous castes and classes. We see
the heights is Hansuli Banker Upokatha and Nagini Kanya with a
gimmick of anthropology.
The Culture Hero Karali Kahar in Hansuli Banker upokatha is
responsible to end the slavery of the caste system in the best
interest of his brethren. He introduces the Industrial revolution.
But he is painted as a monster from the beginning who betrays his
paramour Paakhi for the sexual affair with Subasi, the second wife of
banwari, the Chief who is engaged lifelong with every affairs with
Kahaars and happens to be affectionate to Karali for this transition.
Tarashankar never experimented with his caste hindu heroes or
heroines as far as sex is concerned as if in Tara Shankar time, all
SC ST women were sex starving or sex maniacs and all the caste Hindu
women were Sat Savitri.
Even portarying Rai Kamal, a baishnavi and socilly outcaste woman,
Tara Shankar behaves restrained in disguise of love philosophy and
spritualism. But he never spares any of the Bgdi woman in Ganodebata,
particularly Durga.
In kavi, which I read as a boy of primary school, Tara shankar never
hides his intense hate for the Untouchables. He dismisses the folk
tradition of Kavigan,as an untouchable affair. The hero Nitai being a
DOM by caste is never spared for his low origin.
My Guru Tara chandra Tripathi used to say that Gandebata by
Tarashankar and Chowrangee by shankar are the best novels ever
written by any Indian novelist. We believed that. We got a Hindi
translation of Chowrangee, translated by raj kamal chowdhari. but we
could get an english translation of Gana Debata from the mid lake
Municipal library.The justification of caste system pinched me at
that time, but we were rather spell bound by the mastery of the
details with surgical precision. later, in Dhanbad, I stubled with
the original novels in earlier eigties and was stunned to encounter
with the Brahmincal psyche and their Aesthetics of Hatred based on
caste discrimination!
We never knew anything about Bangladeshi literature in nainital days.
At that time we were at best the readers of Bimal Mitra and Samaresh
basu thaks to hindi translations. Shankar novels were also popular.
But we read Bimal Mitra most. Bimal Matra rose to eminence with his
classic trilogy Saheb Bibi Golam (The Master, The Lady and the
Slave), Kadi Diye Kinlam (Bought With Money) and Ekak, Dasak, Satak
(Ones, Tens, Hundreds) spread over nearly three centuries of Bengal's
social history. The thematic vein of his novels, on individual
planes, is the travails of men of integrity within a value empty
milieu.
Samaresh Babu (1924-'88): One of the pioneers of Post-Second World
War Bengali fiction, Samaresh Babu wrote 87 novels, 200 short stories
and 20 travel-based novels. Ganga is one of his well-known novels.
It is true that we encounter with the entire feudal setup with its
innermost socil fabrics in Tara Shankar Novels. We find day to day
details of every caste and every class, their life, livelihood, folk,
culture, dialects, superstitions, tabbos, festivals, traditions,
infights, community life, say every thing for the first time.Bankim
had been Romantic and he never dealt with his time. he rather
preferred to write period novels , romances which were quite detached
with his time. Bankim Chandra was a very learned man and wrote,
besides novels, many religious discourses and essays. His place in
Bengali literature as the pioneer of fiction is still very high. But
his novels suffered from a religious or moral bias. He followed, in
the treatment of his novels, the long loved dictum of punishing sin
and applauding virtue. The inevitable result was that his characters
did not develop on human lines.He had to satisfy orthodox society
which was always watchful that no wrong ideal entered into society
through literature. This was something like the tradition of
eighteenth century Classicism in English literature.
In an essay that critically review's folklore's disciplinary position
vis-à-vis history and culture, Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1998) says that
temporal dislocation between the site of origin and the present
location of particular cultural forms signals the presence of
folklore. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett thus conceptualizes culture as
heterogeneous, layered and composed of multiple strands that are
interconnected in rather haphazard and contingent ways. This sense of
contingency comes about through the juxtaposition of different time
scales such that the idea of locality or location becomes the
conceptual frame within which the heterogeneous and circulating
strands that we call culture come to cohere, if only for a moment.
However, as Kirshenblatt-Gimblett points out, even before location
comes to be viewed as a spatial category it is a temporal one, and by
constituting the present as a series of disjunctive moments, folklore
creates a gap between the contemporaneous and the contemporary.
Tarasankar mainly flourished during the war years, having produced in
that period a large number of novels. His celebrated novels are
Dhatridebta, Kalindi, Panchagrm, Gonodebata, Kabi, Arogyaniketan,
Jalsaghar, Raskali, Hansulibaker Upakatha and so on.
Set during the period just before World War II, Ganadevata, is the
saga of Shibkalipur, a small village on the banks of the river
Mayurakshi in the Birbhum district of present West Bengal. Through
the interactions and conflicts between myriad range of characters who
stand as typical representatives of their social class – Aniruddha
(Samit Bhanja), a rebellious blacksmith who along with his carpenter
friend Girish refuse to continue under the traditional barter system,
Debu Pundit (Soumitra Chatterjee), the much respected pillar of
society who gets radicalized and questions the system for its
injustices and prejudices, Chhiru Pal (Ajitesh Bannerjee) the nouveau-
riche village strongman, Jatin (Debraj Roy) a freedom fighter under
house-arrest, Durga (Sandhya Roy), a clever and free-spirited
prostititute and a host of characters including the wives of the
principals and other inhabitants of the village – the film unravels a
slice in the history of a typical Bengal village caught within the
wheels of change.
Hansuli Banker Upokotha is a 1962 film made by Tapan Sinha starring
Kali Bannerjee, Dilip Roy, Robi Ghosh and others. Set in 1941, the
movie explores life in rural bengal, the realities of the Zamindari
system that was responsible for much of the social inequalities in
bengal, as well as the changes in social perceptions with time.
Even Akhtarazzuman Ilius considered Tarashankar a master of Bengal
chronicles. He presented his time with full details. Though he was
partial enough to sympathise with the decaying feudal class to which
he himself belonged.With Manik and Bibhutibhushan, Tarashankar
Bandyopadhyay (taaraasha.nkar bandyopaadhyaaY) completes the famous
triad of the "Banerjee"s (or Bandyopadhyaays) of Bengali
literature.Tarashankar Bandopadhyay was another famous novelist whose
works feature a realistic picture of the many-colored fabric of life
in rural Bengal in a pioneering modernist style of prose in fiction.
Tara Shankar never adopted the ways of expression as adopted by
Thomas Hardy or Charles Dickens while dealing Industrialisation.
Hardy and Dickens also exposed Industrialisation and capitalism. Tess
of D`urberville has been a fantastic display of the broken wings of
Indigenous production system. While all the satire and pathos in
Dickens novels were targeted against the theme of Industrialisation
and urbanisation. Both of them never advocated permanent slavery for
the Indigenous slavery. Their Humanism did not deprive the out castes
at any level.
It is amazing to note that all the prominent Novelists and Prose
writers from West Bengal never dared to expose the eternal slavery of
eighty five percent Indigenous people, the SC, ST, OBC and Muslims.
They tried their best to sustain Caste system based Ruling
Brahminical hegemony. Some critics identify the Bengali dalit
literature with the writings of Tara shankar, Sharat, Manik and
Mahashweta.
It is a pity as these excellent artist of creative literature never
rose above caste line or caste interest.
It is quite surprising that a magical theme like Padma Nadir Manjhi
by Manik Bandopadhyay overlooked the Caste system and Varnashram. He
even did not care the routine details of daily adventures of the
Fishermen.
In fact, Manik emphasised much on class division and class struggle.
Overseeing caste contradiction he miserably failed to highlight the
fabrics of social realism. A dalit Writer Adawait Mallaburman wrote
Titas Ekti Nadir Naam based on the theme of Fishing lifestyle. it
ddealt with the caste system with details. Even the classic like
Putul Nacher Itikatha lacked the details of caste Divided society. So
strange! Mahashweta Debi is known to voice for the tribals, but she
never tried to expose the prevalent Caste system in Bengal and the
Brahminical hegemony. Contrarily all Muslim writers from Bangladesh ,
led by Akhtarruzamman Ilius, Selina Hussain, Kabir, Azad and Abubakar
Siddiki did the trick with mastery.Just we may accept that the
novelist and short story writer, Manik Bandyopadhyay, was profoundly
influenced by Marxism and by Freudian psychoanalsyis. Putul Nacher
Itikatha (1936) and Padmanadir Majhi (1936) reveal his Marxist
leanings as they do his psycholgical approach.
Premendra Mitra (1904-1988) was an adroit short story writer, using
language skilfully to convey his themes and create characters. His
stories encompass a variety of subjects ranging from struggle for
living to politics and sociology.
Long before independence, Jasimuddin wrote Nakshi Kanthar Math and
Sojan Badiar Ghat depicting all dimentions of caste community fabrics
in rural Bengal. In Sojan Badiyar Ghat he exposed the Brahminical
Hegemony without any mercy. We never saw any other example of this
courage either in prose or poetry.
The realism in Literature is well substituted when the writers
indulge in introducing romance in it. Tarasankar Bandopadhya is
grouped with those writers of the third decades of the twentieth
centuries who broke the poetic tradition in novels but took to
writing prose with the world around them adding romance to human
relationship breaking the indifference of the so called conservative
people of the society who dare to call a spade a spade. Tarasankar's
novels, so to say, do not look back to the realism in rejection, but
accepted it in a new way allowing the reader to breath the truth of
human relationship restricted so far by the conservative and
hypocrisy of the then society.
Tarasankar learned to see the world from various angles. He seldom
rose above the matter soil and his Birbhum exists only in time and
place. He had never been a worshipper of eternity. Tarasankar's chief
contribution to Bengal literature is that he dared writing unbiased.
He wrote what he believed. He wrote what he observed.
His novels are rich in material and potentials. He preferred
sensation to thought. He was ceaselessly productive and his novels
are long, seemed unending and characters belonged to the various
classes of people from zaminder down to pauper. Tarasankar
experimented in his novels with the relationships, even so called
illegal, of either sexes. He proved that sexual relation between man
and women sometimes dominate to such an extent that it can take an
upperhand over the prevailing laws and instructions of society. His
novel `Radha' can be set for an example in this context.
His historical novel `Ganna Begum' is an attempt worth mentioning for
it's traditional values. Tarasankar ventured into all walks of
Bengali life and it's experience with the happenings of socio-
political milieu. Tarasankar will be remembered for his potential to
work with the vast panorama of life where life is observed with care
and the judgment is offered to the reader. and long ones, then any
other author. He is a region novelist, his country being the same
Birbhum.
Tara Shankar Bandopaddhyay is well known for his exposures on caste
system with folk Lore, legends and Myths. But the master rather used
the caste as a tool to defend the decaying Feudal class in Bengal. He
could not escape the Caste hatred of his class. His haterd is full of
Venom while he dealt with his known indiegenous communities.Who were
Illiterate and never knew how defamatory have been all the details
put forward as works of art. He never dared to expose all the
scandals and wrong deeds of the high caste literate Bhadralok as
Sharat dared. The new trend of lyric poetry was manifested in Kavigan
and Jatra. Tappa (a light classical variety of amorous songs),
especially the songs of Nidhu Gupta also known as Nidhubabu became
popular during this period. These songs were composed and presented
purely for entertainment and therefore were not intended to be of
high literary value. These were however somewhat refined later by
coposers such as Gonjla Gaen. Kavigan also became popular among the
urban people. Some famous poets of this period include Bhola Moira,
Anthony Firingee, and Thakur Singh. But Tara Shankar tried to
underplay its significance while describing all these elements of
Rurl life as an anthropological aboriginal abusive substandard
deculturisation. The best example of this destruction may be quoted
as Kavi.
India, including Bengal, is a country of many races, cultures and
communities, at various stages of social development and status.
There are many worlds within a single world, many smaller discourses
within a larger discourse. In fact, certain communities apparently
belong to a different world, with a time lag of centuries. Their
poverty, hard struggle for existence, social and cultural milieu,
myths and popular beliefs, which differed considerably from those of
mainstream South Asians, predictably provided material to fiction
writers. The most famous of such novels are Nagini Kanya Kahini (The
Tale of the Snake Maiden) and Harruli Banker Upakatha (The legend of
Harruli Bank) by Tarashankar and Araryak by Bibhutibhushan. Here myth
and reality, nature and man, the real and the imagined community
merge in a magical manner. From slightly different angle, Padma Nadi
Majhi (The boatman of the Padma river) by Manik, Titas ekti Nadir Nam
(Titas is the name of a river) by Adytia Mallaborman, (himself a
member of the fishing community), portray, in an unforgettable
manner, the lives of people who derive their livelihood from the
great rivers of East Bengal. In the next generation, Samaresh Basu
created a novel with a similar background, Ganga, Satirath Bhaduri,
the Bihar-based Bengali fiction writer, based his classic novel on a
parallel between an ancient and medieval epic and low class, low
caste village life in Eastern Bihar. Jhorai Charit Manas in seen as
the modern counterpart of Ramcharitmanas of Tulisdas. The background
is the Gandhian movement, culminating in the great rising of August
1942. Satirath, one of the greatest Bengali fiction writers, has
probably been more popular and influential in Bihar than in Bengal.
The Second World War and the disastrous Bengal famine predictably
left their marks on Bengali fiction and the three Banerjees, Subodh
Ghosh, Narayan Gangopadhyay, Romesh Sen, Monoj Bari and many, many
others. Their novels, Chintamoni by Manik, Madyantar by Tarashankar,
Ashani Shanket (Danger signal) by Bibhuti Bhushan are certainly
noteworthy but are probably eclipsed by the short stories of the
period. If we could choose the best among many top ranking examples,
Namuna (Model or Example) by Manik might win the prize. It
illustrates, not just the physical suffering and death, but the total
evasion of moral values, hidden by the face saving figleaf of
hypocrisy, on the part of the "respectable" classes. The subsequent
upheavals, anti-British agitations, the great peasant revolt of
Tebhaga also influenced Bengali fiction in the years just before and
after independence. Again, perhaps, the palm goes to Manik, for his
novel Chinha (The mark) and short stories, such as Choto Bokulpurer
Jatri (Traveller to Choto Bokulpur).
Tarashankar wrote in a variety of genres but was primarily a
novelist. His political ideas are reflected in his novels. His themes
include communal riots, war, famine, the political implications of
economic inequality, the independence movement, social conditions,
the conflict of modernism with traditionalism etc. He wrote a total
of 131 books. Prominent among his novels are Chaitali Ghurni (1931),
Jalsa Ghar (1938), Dhatri Devata (1939), Kalindi (1940), Kavi (1944),
Gana Devata (1943), Panchagram (1944), Hansuli Banker Upakatha
(1947), Arogya Niketan (1953), Radha (1956), etc. Some popular movies
were based on his novels, among them, Dui Purus, Kalindi, Arogya
Niketan, Jalsa Ghar, etc. He published three volumes of short
stories. His famous short stories include 'Rasakali', 'Bedeni', 'Dak
Harkara', He was also an artist and produced some fine paintings in
his later years.
Tarashankar was associated with a number of literary organisations
and became Vice President (1956) and President (1970) of the vangiya
sahitya parishad. He led the Indian delegation of writers at the
Asian Writers' Conference in Tashkent (1957). He was President of the
Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan (Kanpur, 1944, Calcutta, 1947) and the
All-India Writers' Conference (Madras, 1957).
Tarashankar received a number of awards, among them Sharat Smriti
Puraskar (University of Calcutta), Jagattarini Svarna Padak (Calcutta
University), Sahitya Akademi Puraskar, Jnanapith Puraskar, Padmashri
and Padmabhusan.
Tarashankar Bandopadhyay was born in 1898 on July 23rd, in Labhpur
village in Birbhum district of West Bengal. His father Haridas
Bandopadhyay was the ancestral zamindar of that area. After
completing his schooling in the local high school he took admission
in St. Xavier's College, Calcutta for pursuing his intermediate
studies.
While studying in St. Xavier's College he got involved in the non-
cooperation movement for India's freedom. As such, he was interned at
his ancestral home in 1921. He was interned once again in 1930 for
similar reasons.
After his release he devoted himself to social work in his village.
He worked tirelessly among the villagers during epidemics, which gave
him an opportunity to observe the plight of the ordinary village
folk. He mixed freely with the so called lower classes of dom, bagdi,
sadgop, and bauri which was against the existing social customs. His
love for fellow beings irrespective of class and creed is reflected
in his short stories and novels.
Tarashankar Bandopadhyay was a versatile writer who had written on
various topics. However, one most important aspect of his writings
was his experimentation of human relationships, be it the zamindar or
the laborer. A few of his works include:
Ganadevata – This novel depicts the efforts of a schoolmaster to
remove tyrannies from a village. This novel was recognized by the
Jnanpith Award in 1967. This was made into a Bengali cinema by the
same name.
Jalsaghar – In this novel Tarashankar Bandopadhyay experiments with
the gradual decay of the feudal system and values, and the rise of
commercialism. This novel was immortalized by Satyajit Ray.
Abhijan – This masterpiece by Tarashankar Bandopdhyay traces the
exploits of a cab driver in a society filled with hypocrites.
Rai Kamal – Rai Kamal is a love story of three wandering Vaishnav
minstrels who share a bitter sweet relationship.
Bicharak- This novel portrays the dilemma of a judge in passing a
verdict for a murder case.
Kavi - This is a narration of a gypsy poet who moves around with a
group of dancers and prostitutes.
Byomkesh Bakshi, a sleuth created by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, and
his murder mysteries are a favorite among the younger readers.
His other works include Aamar Sahitya Jibon (My Literary Life), Aamar
Kaaler Kathe (Tales of my Times), Hansuli Banker Upakatha, Kalindi,
Jogobhrashto, Radha, Panchogram, Sandipan Pathsala, Tarashankar
Rachanaboli, and Tarashankar Bandopadhyayer Bachhai Golpo.
Tarashankar died in Calcutta on 14 September 1971.
India constitutes the largest part of the subcontinental land mass
of South Asia, an area it shares with six other countries, including
Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It has highly variable landforms,
that range from torrid plains, tropical islands, and a parched desert
to the highest mountain range in the world. This entire geopolitics
is ravaged by Feudal set Up of society bonded in Intense cate
hatred.India was ruled by the British government after 1858 through a
viceroy and a council, although several hundred "princely states"
continued to maintain a measure of independence. The Indian National
Congress, founded in 1885, slowly moved from a position of advisor
and critic for the British administration toward demanding the
transference of power to native Indian politicians. In 1930, the
Indian National Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi,
adopted a policy of civil disobedience with a view to achieving full
national independence. It was to be a long struggle, but independence
was achieved in 1947, with the condition that predominantly Muslim
areas in the north would form a separate country of Pakistan.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah was to be Pakastani's first prime minister, while
Nehru became the prime minister of the Republic of India. The
departure of the colonial authorities, including the British armed
forces, was peaceful, but the splitting off of Pakistan caused a
massive population movement and bloodshed on both sides as a result
of "communal passions." A quarter century later, the eastern wing of
Pakistan split from that country to become the independent country of
Bangladesh.
India is home to several thousand ethnic groups, tribes, castes, and
religions. The castes and subcastes in each region relate to each
other through a permanent hierarchical structure, with each caste
having its own name, traditional occupation, rank, and distinctive
subculture. Tribes usually do not have a caste hierarchy but often
have their own internal hierarchical organization. The pastoral and
foraging tribes are relatively egalitarian in their internal
organization. In an economy based on agriculture, the ownership of
land is the key to survival and power. In most parts of the country,
the majority of the acreage is owned by a politically dominant caste
that is likely to be a middle-ranking one, not a Brahmin one.
However, the various regions still have different traditions of land
tenure and associated systems of land taxation.
Tarshankar always justified the Caste system and inherited subhuman
livelihood. He expressed his brahminical innermost hatred against the
outcastes in all his novels. In Nagini Kanya and Hansuli Banker
Upokatha he adopted a gimmic called anthropology to digest the
aboriginal indigenous social fabrics , life and livelihood.
Superantural created the Mythological semi Mythological theme full of
Tabboos in disguise of legends, folk, festivals and Purans. His
Mythomania focused on a full fledged Sexual Anarchy as a cultural
campaign against particular castes as Bagdi in Gana Devata, Kahars in
Hansuli Banker Upokatha and finally the Bedes, snake charmers in
Naginikanya. Tara Shankar Bandopaddhyay who hads been the President
of Sahity Academy in India after suniti Kumar Chattopadhyaya, was in
active politics and joined the Indian Parliament as a Rajya Sabha
member. During twenties and thirties while the Indian feudal class
was losing ground in a new world order emerging and dismissing feudal
set up of production. The decaying Feudal lords, specially the High
caste hindus organised themselves in so called National struggle of
freedom. Mind you, this class always supported the rulers since
Muslim India. In British India, this feudal class always sided with
the rulers wheneevr the Indigenous people led by tribal revolted in
Insurrections.Barrackpur witnessed the beginning of Great Mutiny in
1857, thanks to a Brahmin , Mangal Pandey. But the Bengali elites
were celebrating the Renaissance at the time and supported East
India Company. they never supported Siraj, the last Nawab of Bengal
who lost the Battle of Plassy for India. They also helped East india
company in Repression of different Peasant uprising from Sanyasi
vidroh to Indigo Revolt. But during the span of worldwars and
recession all of them turned patriot.This class was against
professional mobilisation of scheduled Castes, Muslims amd Tribals.
They were against any attempt of liberalisation. They were against
education and enlightenment amongst their subordinate inherited
slaves and Bonded labours.
The gist is that the SC ST OBC in particular and the Muslims are much
more concerened with the unilateral Brahminical dominance in the
society. They consider Industrialisation and Urbanisation the fittest
opportunity to break away with the bondage of Caste System. For
example, the Central Bihar based sceduled caste Rikshaw Pullers,
Coolies and others feel at home in Metro Kolkata, because it is a
liberation from the caste system. I have seen it countrywide
whereever the Dalit Bengali refugees are resettled. They feel free
and independent out of Bengal because the caste factor reamins
immunised all over there. so much so, that within a span of single
generation the dalit refugees have no feeling for their lost homeland.
India has a rich literary assemblage produced by its many different
regional traditions, religious faiths, ethnic subcultures, and
linguistic groups.
India has only recently seen the last of the rural serfs who for
centuries supplied much of the basic farm labor in some parts of the
country. There are still numberless landless wage laborers, tenant
farmers, and landlords who rent out their extensive lands, and rich
peasants who work their own holdings.
In modern times, an expanding investment scene, combined with
continuing inflation, has formed the background to an extensive
import and export trade. The major industries continue to be tourism,
clothing, tea, coffee, cotton, and the production of raw materials;
in the last few years, there has been a surge in the importance of
the computer software industry. Russia, the United States, Germany,
and Great Britain are among the major importers of Indian products.
The division of work is based on gender. Age also separates out the
very old and the very young as people unable to perform the heaviest
tasks. Those jobs are done by millions of adult men and women who
have nothing to offer but their muscles. Beyond these fundamental
divisions, India is unique in having the caste system as the ancient
and most basic principle of organization of the society. Each of many
hundreds of castes traditionally had one occupation that was its
specialty and usually its local monopoly. Only farming and the
renouncer's life were open to all.
Classes and Castes. The caste system is more elaborate than that in
any of the other Hindu or Buddhist countries. Society is so
fragmented into castes that there can be twenty or thirty distinct
castes within a village.
This society has a hierarchy of endogamous, birth-ascribed groups,
each of which traditionally is characterized by one distinctive
occupation and had its own level of social status. Because an
individual cannot change his or her caste affiliation, every family
belongs in its entirety and forever to only one named caste, and so
each caste has developed a distinctive subculture that is handed down
from generation to generation.
Hindu religious theory justifies the division of society into castes,
with the unavoidable differences in status and the differential
access to power each one has. Hindus usually believe that a soul can
have multiple reincarnations and that after the death of the body a
soul will be reassigned to another newborn human body or even to an
animal one. This reassignment could be to one of a higher caste if
the person did good deeds in the previous life or to a lower-status
body if the person did bad deeds.
The highest category of castes are those people called Brahmins in
the Hindu system; they were traditionally priests and intellectuals.
Below them in rank were castes called Ksatriya, including especially
warriors and rulers. Third in rank were the Vaisyas, castes concerned
with trading and land ownership. The fourth-ranking category were the
Sudras, primarily farmers. Below these four categories and hardly
recognized in the ancient and traditional model, were many castes
treated as "untouchable" and traditionally called Pancama. Outside
the system altogether were several hundred tribes, with highly varied
cultural and subsistence patterns. The whole system was marked not
just by extreme differences in status and power but by relative
degrees of spiritual purity or pollution.
A curious feature of the caste system is that despite its origins in
the Hindu theory of fate and reincarnation, caste organization is
found among Indian Muslims, Jews, and Christians in modern times. In
the Buddhist lands of Korea, Japan, and Tibet, there are rudimentary
caste systems, their existence signaled especially by the presence of
untouchable social categories.
The major cities in modern times—Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai),
Calcutta (Kolkata), New Delhi, and Bangalore—were essentially
residential creations of the British administrators. Architecturally,
professionally, and in other ways, they are therefore the most
Westernized cities in India today. In these cities and their suburbs,
there is now a developed class system overlying and in many respects
displacing the more traditional caste system. As a consequence, there
are many modern cases of intercaste marriage in all the cities,
although this practice remains almost unthinkable to the great
majority of Indians.
There are many symbols of class differentiation because each caste
tends to have its own persisting subculture. People's location in
this stratification system thus can be gauged accurately according to
the way they dress, their personal names, the way they speak a local
dialect, the deities they worship, who they are willing to eat with
publicly, the location of their housing, and especially their
occupations. The combination of all these subcultural features can be
a sure sign of where individuals and their families are situated in
the caste hierarchy.
Patriarchal" is the word most commonly used to describe the
traditional Indian family and the gender relationships within it.
This is true in all family systems except the defunct matrilineal
system of the Nayar castes in Kerala. Within all branches of
Hinduism, priests can only be male, though they may be boys. In
Islam, the leaders of a prayer group are males. In Zoroastrianism and
Roman Catholicism, only men can function as priests.
It is said that a woman must first obey her father, then her husband,
and then her son; this seems to be the normal pattern as she goes
through life. The opinion of the male head of household is especially
important in the arrangement of marriages, because in most religious
communities these are effectively marriages between two families. At
such times, romantic preferences get little consideration. Since it
is the male head who typically controls the family's finances, it is
he who pays or receives a dowry at the time of a child's marriage.
Although older women may be very influential behind the scenes, they
wield little legal authority in property and marriage matters.
Early in the fifteenth century two poets brought Bengali literature
into prominence: Chandidas and Vidyapati, with the latter writing in
Sanskrit as well as Bengali. Contemporary with them were two Telugu
poets, Srinatha and Potana, as well as the best-loved Hindi poet,
Kabir (1440–1518). Kabir wrote in a medieval regional language
closely related to Sanskrit. Although Kabir was a low-caste Hindu, he
drew inspiration from Sufism and criticized the caste system,
ritualism, and idolatry. He was followed in 1540 by the first
important Muslim poet of India, Mohamed of Jais who wrote the
allegorical poem Padmavat in Hindi. Contemporary with Kabir was one
of the greatest of woman poets, the Rajput Mirabai, who wrote in both
Hindi and Gujarati. A century before her, Manichand had written an
important historical novel in Gujarati.
Sarat Chandra, a Bengali novelist of the first half of the 20th
century, has described the landscape of his southern Bengal Region
and has interacted through his characters a deep psychological
response appropriate to the region and time. His work forms an
excellent resource base to reconstruct the region of his time and
establish phenomenological relationship through the feelings
expressed by the characters of his novels. Sarat Chandra's Home
Region is a stream-filled area with people's activity directed to
agriculture, though Calcutta was already established as a center of
westernization and modernization. Feudal exploitation, Zamindars'
tyrrany, degenerative caste-division, child marriage, prohibition of
widow's right to remarry, decaying extended family and losing person-
to-person relationship of the traditional Bengal were some of the
characteristics of the regional cultural geography. The cities,
particularly Calcutta, had started to show signs of modernization:
industries, equal rights to women, widow re-marriage and elitist
ideas. Bramho Samaj was pioneering the social modernization. In
summation, the Home Region, being a transitional stage of decaying
feudalism and incipient industrialization, was engaged in a struggle
between the old and the new, decadent traditional and modern, rural
and urban, caste rigidity and liberal social customs, religious
fanaticism and rationalism. Sarat Chandra's work, particularly,
provides an inroad to understand the cultural aspects of his Home
Region.
With the spread of Western colonialism from Europe and North America
to Asia, Africa, and South America also came the spread of its by-
product; Western modernism. Though social-realist movements varied
considerably within Chinese, Indian, and Soviet contexts, in general
they denounced the bourgeois and colonialist values expounded in
Western art and literature.Colonization and decolonization were
generally savage (to use a colonialist term) from the perspective of
colonial and postcolonial subjects. The intrusion of colonial
politics in the daily lives of individuals is addressed in the form
and content of works by Tagore, Senghor, Mahfouz, Achebe, Walcott,
Soyinka, and Goodison. Other including writers—Premchand, CÈsaire, al-
Hakim, Neruda, Devi, El Saadawi, and Yehoshua—responded to social,
political, and economic concerns at a regional or local level.
In India, the British colonial education system, which had been in
place since the early 1800s, made the colonizer's language—English—
part of public life. English continues to be the language of
government there though over two hundred languages are spoken in
India. Though English-language literatures are well known outside
India, literatures in regional languages such as Kannada, Urdu,
Sindhi, Bengali, Hindi, and Tamil represent other aspects of Indian
life.
In addition to experiences of Western colonialism in Africa, African
writers also address issues related to the slave trade and to the
African diaspora. At universities in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s,
black intellectuals from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States
came together to articulate positive images of blackness. Out of the
négritude movement came important interventions in both politics and
literature.
South American literature is often associated with magical realism, a
mixture of fantasy and realism, made popular by authors such as
García Márquez and Rulfo. The generally political nature of magical
realism in South American writing was often missed by earlier
generations of Western readers, who were too amazed by the
imaginative creativity of magical realism. Simultaneously, writers
resisted Western literary conventions and wrote in regional styles.
In a different, though related, fashion students of Indian society
have made a distinction between "Great traditions" and "Little
traditions" (Redfield 1955, Sinha 1957); or between desha (regional,
provincial) and marga (sanskritic, global). Folk rituals, belief
systems, and the cultural institutions of rural India are thought to
reveal an interaction between the forces of globalization and
parochialization, or margi and deshi aspects (Marriot 1955, Sinha
1957, Trautman 1997). For most scholars this interaction is a long-
term and largely unconscious process. However, the historian Hitesh
Ranjan Sanyal (2004) holds a somewhat different view. In his study of
a small principality in one of the border regions of West Bengal, he
shows how the semi-tribal Mulla court, in what is now the Bardhaman
district, produced political institutions that self-consciously
integrated aspects of what was then thought of as "high culture"—i.e.
the culture of the Mughal court in North India—with indigenous
elements taken from local tribal and peasant communities. Many such
peripheral principalities were declared to be tributary states owing
formal allegiance to the great, though distant, Mughal Empire. The
geographical distance between the central authority and these border
states gave the latter some degree of autonomy. Thus, they were able
to selectively adopt elements of Mughal culture while retaining much
of what was traditionally available. The Mughal presence was thought
to be alien but distant enough to be non-threatening, and could
therefore become a site for experimentation with novelty. Traces of
this self-conscious adoption of high culture aspects is, according to
Sanyal, still visible in the peasant societies of these border
regions, for instance in the cultivation of particular genres of folk
songs that can engage with forms of novelty. Sanyal says that many
genres of folk song in Bengal have been cultivated into popular forms
that require different kinds of performative contexts. He suggests
that folk culture is constituted at three different levels: jana
(local), desha (regional), and marga (global or pan-Indian). He says
that the deshi or regional level acts as a site of mediation between
the local and global levels.
Unfortunately Sanyal does not develop this theme further. However, as
several scholars have tried to show, the conception of a cultural
region is important in the study of folklore's engagement with forms
of modernity (Morinis 1982, Blackburn 2003, Chatterji 2005). Self-
conscious reflection on context, style, and the process of
transmission actually occurs precisely at this level. Further, this
is the level at which the local is conceived of as such and thus also
is the level at which "metadiscursive practices for creating,
representing and interpreting" folk discourses are developed (Briggs
1993). In this essay I examine some contemporary attempts at
producing new kinds of folk discourses in a deliberate attempt to
empower certain marginal groups in West Bengal. These attempts, as I
will show, are part of a larger movement for the articulation of a
distinctive regional identity in which folk culture plays a central
role.
Even though the folk have played an important part in articulating
ideas about Bengali culture and tradition, there have been no
significant grassroot reformist movements of the kind that have taken
place in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.1 West Bengal, governed as it is
by a combination of communist and socialist parties for three
decades, is typically identified with a kind of middle class
radicalism. Most reforms have been top down, including those that
were initiated by an "enlightened" elite in the colonial period (Basu
1992). Instead the folk are perceived as an abstract category—an aid
to the process of "traditionalization"—a term coined by Shuman and
Briggs (1993) to identify "aspects of the past as significant to the
present" (ibid. 1993, 109). Folklore comes to represent the authentic
voice of the folk, a living museum from which Bengal's history may be
excavated.
Mahashweta Devi's Vyad Kaand (The Book of the Hunter) and Nilakanth
Ghoshyal's Bhumi Kanya (Earth Maiden), both fall within the Bengali
nationalist tradition of historiography, which assumes Bengal's folk
traditions had a seminal role in shaping her culture (Dutt 1990, Sen
1985). In keeping with a modern political perspective, they use folk
tradition as a site for articulating contemporary concerns. However,
in the forms in which they have become available for literary
interpretation, these folk traditions have already been mediated
through inscription. The role of folklorists in bringing oral
traditions to print in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has
been extensively studied in India (Blackburn 2003, Sen 1960), but the
relationship between writing and oral literature has a much older
history. Mangala kavyas, long narrative poems about specific gods and
goddesses, written from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century in
Bangla, circulated in oral forms long before they were written down.
According to Clark (1955) these poems have two distinct levels—the
popular and the learned—and he believes that there is a chronological
relationship between the two levels. The oral lore was re-inscribed
in an orthodox Brahminic literary canon, but the fact that the medium
was Bangla rather than Sanskrit allowed for its mass circulation, a
fact that holds true today as much as it did in the medieval period.
In the preface to her novel, Mahashwta Devi says that the Chandi
Mangala Kavya of Kavikankan3 Mukundaram is the inspiration for this
work. The epic poem is composed of several different stories that
bear little connection with each other: an autobiographical account
of the composer's journey to a new settlement in a different part of
Bengal that reveals, according to critics, a detailed knowledge of
the current socio-political state of the society (Bhattacharyya 1976,
Devi 2002); the Vyad Kaand, the story of the hunter Kalketu and his
wife Phullara; and the adventures of the merchant Dhanapati, his two
wives Khulana and Lalona, and his son. According to scholars such as
T.W. Clark (1955) and Ashutosh Bhattacharyya (1976) these stories
show evidence of the evolution of the cult of Goddess Chandi from
that of a benign protector of forest life to a more malevolent deity
who deliberately brings misfortune to coerce humans into giving her
worship (Bhattacharyya says that the poetic text was written at a
time when distinctions between different groups of goddess
worshippers were becoming blurred. However, he bases his hypothesis
on the text itself and not on other historical sources).4
According to the preface of The Book of the Hunter, Mahashweta Devi
was inspired by the Vyad Kaand of Kavikankan Mukundaram's epic poem,
where he describes the lives of nomadic, forest dwelling tribes such
as the Shabars. She describes the clash between contrasting forms of
life through the experiences of two couples, the migrant Brahmin
priest Mukundaram and his wife, and Kalya and Phuli, a young Shabar
couple. She explores the culture of the Shabars and how they cope
with the erosion of their way of life as new settlements encroach on
forestland. In the novel, the Brahmin Mukundaram is seen using his
experiences with the forest dwelling couple to depict the characters
of Kalketu and Phullara, both re-incarnations of demi-gods who were
cursed to suffer mortal birth. He invokes the Goddess of the Great
Forest (Abhaya or Reassurance) through the voice of the hunter
Kalketu (Devi 2002, vii).
Mahashweta Devi says that Mukundaram's personal experience with
hunter-gatherers in medieval Bengal inspired her to write a novel
that would help in the re-historicization of the Shabar tribe. Apart
from being a renowned novelist, Mahashweta Devi is also a well-known
activist who has worked among former "criminal tribes" like the
Lodhar and Kheria Shabars of Central India.5 She thinks of this novel
as an attempt to re-create the lost oral lore of the Shabars and
thereby restore their self-respect. The novel is based on her
experiences with the Shabars and with the stories that they have
published about themselves and their lore in her journal, Bartika.
The novel is interesting not only in that it seeks to re-inscribe a
medieval literary text in the form of an experimental Bangla work
using contemporary stylistic devices, but also because of the way
that the author seeks validation both from the Shabar community as
well as from the Mukundaram's life experiences. She says that she was
inspired by Mukundaram's own endeavour, which combined direct
experience and acquired knowledge of the socio-political events of
sixteenth-century Bengal.6 She weaves fragments of the mangala kavya
story of Kalketu and Phullara into her own narrative in a way that
both subverts it and gives it authenticity. Thus, whilst in the
mangala kavya, the goddess gives Kalketu a boon that makes him the
founder and chieftain of the city of Gujarat; it is not because of
his devotion to her or to forest creatures but rather, to put a break
on his wonton destruction of forest dwelling animals.7 Instead,
Kalketu becomes the first priest of a new goddess cult and, according
to Devi, an ancestor of one of the priestly clans of the Shabar. In
the novel, an old rogue elephant representing the forest goddesskills
Kalya as he inadvertently ventures into the sacred grove where
hunting is forbidden. This act of transgression and his untimely
death lead to his transfiguration into a clan ancestor and demi-god.
The character of Mukundaram (who is responsible for this
transfiguration) is opposed to the deceitful Brahmin priest in a
Shabar origin myth who betrays the hospitality of his tribal hosts by
trying to steal an iconic symbol of the forest goddess. The Brahmin
is killed by the goddess, and the Shabar people condemned to
destitution. Their lot will change only when a Shabar hunter is able
to find and trap the golden iguana, the vahana (vehicle) of the
goddess, as Kalketu once did.
Devi draws on the authority of the myths published by Shabar
activists in her journal, Bartika, to validate her version of the
Kalketu story rather than on stories that are orally narrated. In
fact, she stresses that the stigma of the label "criminal tribe"
imposed on the Shabar in colonial times gave them a form of cultural
amnesia so that they forgot their oral lore.8 In this context, the
attempt to re-historicize the Shabar is interesting, though somewhat
paradoxical. The Shabar voice must first be entextualized before it
can be re-inscribed in Devi's novel. Similarly, when she refers to
Kabikankan Mukundaram's first-hand knowledge of the Shabar and the
forest, it is at the moment when the forest and the Shabar's
distinctive way of life is about to be destroyed. Thus she refers to
the names of trees mentioned in the Chandi Mangala that are felled
when Kalketu clears the forest to make his settlement.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1998) quotes Ong as saying that writing did
not reduce orality when it was first introduced but rather enhanced
it. She also says that inscription creates a gap between words and
speakers, a space that allows for creative innovation (ibid. 1998,
309). In the example discussed above we see how an act of inscription
by a Brahmin in the sixteenth century—the compilation of oral
narratives about the goddess Chandi into a written text—led to a
proliferation of similar texts. Thus, not only are there several
other versions of the Chandi Mangala compiled by other authors in the
medieval period, but there are also more recent oral and painted
narratives in Bengal's folk tradition based on the Chandi Mangala
Kavya.9 Similarly, Mahashweta Devi's novel has inspired popular plays
on the same theme and has even became the theme of a Durga puja
pandal10 in Calcutta last year (Ghosh 2000).
Bankimchander Chatterjee (1838-1894): Bankimchander, the finest
product of the 19th century renaissance is regarded as the pioneer of
the novel in Bengal. His first fiction to appear in print was
Rajmohan's Wife. It was written in English and was probably a
translation of the novelette submitted for the prize. Durgeshnandini,
his first Bengali romance, was published in 1865. The next novel
Kapalkundala (1866) is one of the best romances written by
Chatterjee. Mrinalini, Vishbriksha, Chandrasekhar, Rajani,
Krishnakanter Uil (Krishnakanta's Will, 1878), Rajsimha, Anandamath
(The mission house of the Anandas, 1882), Devi Caudhurani,
Kamalakanter Daptar (The Scribbling of Kamalakanta, 1875; enlarged as
Kamalakanta, 1885) are some of his great works. Bankim Chatterjee was
superb story-teller, and a master of romance. He was a path finder
and a path maker. Chatterjee represented the English-educated
Bengalee with a tolerably peaceful home life, sufficient wherewithal
and some prestige, as the bearer of the torch of western enlightment.
No Bengali writer before or since has enjoyed such spontaneous and
universal popularity as Chatterjee. His novels have been translated
in almost all the major languages of India, and have helped to
simulate literary impulses in those languages.
Rabindra adopted the folk in his poetry and had been always very
strong philosophically and spritually. But he never dealt with social
febrics. All Sharat protagonistas have been Brahmins only. He never
cared for the SC, ST, OBC or Muslims. His theme had been Brahminical
all the time.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941): Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, mystic,
philosopher, musician, painter and Nobel laureate for literature is
among the leading personalities of Modern India. He was awarded the
Nobel prize in Literature for his collection of well known poems
Gitanjali. Rabindranath Tagore entered the field of Bengali Novel
following the glorious tradition of the great pioneer novelist
Bankimchandra Chatterjee (1834-'94). His first two novels
Bauthakuranir Hat (Daughter-in-Law's Market, 1883) and Rajarshi (The
Saintly King, 1887) are historical novels. Chokher Bali (Eyesore,
1903) is one among the great social novels he wrote. His other
notable works include Sonartari, Kalpana and Chitra. In 1901, Tagore
established Shantiniketan, (near Bolpur, Bengal) an institution
blending Indian and Western methods of education.Between 1916 and
1941, Tagore published 21 collections of songs and poems and held
lecture tours across Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, Malaya,
Indonesia etc. In 1924, he inaugurated the VISVA BHARATI UNIVERSITY
at Shantiniketan, an All India Centre for culture.Tagore's works are
classics, renowned for their lyrical beauty and spiritual poignancy.
He is remembered for his literary genius. In Tagore's own words, "The
world speaks to me in colours, my soul answers in music". Crescent
Moon is his famous book of poems. Tagore was also the author of our
National Anthem Jana Gana Mana. Gora is one of his best novels. His
book Sadhana is known for its philosophical significance.
Just read, Aranyer Adhikar by Mahashweta Debi and read Aranya Banhi.
Both deal with indigenous tribal insurrection against colonial rule.
Aranyer Adhikar deals with Munda Revolt. Mahashweta Di recognises the
nationality element and never shows any instinct of hatred agianst
Mundas.aranya bnhi deals with Santhal revolt. Tara Shankar novels are
based on the landsacpe and humanscape of Birbhum. Bir is a Santhali
word which means jungle. Once upon a time the entire area was covered
by Jungle as it had been the case for post moderm Metro kolkata which
was once covered by the sundervanas. Aboriginal people inhibited in
these areas. Tara Shankar always dealt with the Santhals as an
anthrological entity and never recognised the nationality element. As
he had been always the advocate of west Bengal brand brahminical
Bengali nationality which never allowed any space for other
nationalities.
Mahasweta Devi (1926): Considered one of the boldest of Bengali
female writers since late 1950s, Mahasweta Devi wrote novels and
short stories based on historical subjects as also on topics of
social and political relevance. She has brought out the rebellious
spirit of the tortured people of the past and the present with a rare
blend of fact and fiction. Aranyer Adhikar (Rights over Forest) is
one of her great novels. She is also a crusader for the rights of the
tribals. She was given the Jnanpith award in1996 for her contribution
to Indian literature. Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Rudali, Nati, Bioscoper
Baksho, Hajar Churashir Ma, Chatti Munda O Tar Tir are considered to
be her masterpieces.
Bengali Novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Though the
first Bengali novel was Alaler Ghorer Dulal, the Bengali novel
actually started its journey with Durgeshnondini written by Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865. According to Ananda Sanker and Lila
Ray, 'when the novel was introduced in Bangla in the middle of the
19th century, the form itself was new, the prose in which it was
written was new, the secular tone was new in a country hitherto
wholly dominated by religion, and the society in which and for which
it was written was new' (Page 168). But some great novelists like
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Tara Shankar
Bondopadhyay, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay developed the newly
introduced genre in such a way that `new' changed into `matured'
through their works. Almost all these literary activities went on in
full swing in Kolkata. Dhaka, on the other hand, could not
participate in the early stage but literature created by and of the
people of Bangladesh area later on flourished with notable success.
Bengali or Bangla as a Bengali would say, is also a member of the
Indo-European family of languages. It takes its birth from a form of
Prakrit or Middle Indo-Aryan to finally emerge from the Apabhramsa-
Avahatta in the tenth century. The Bengali script has been derived
from the Brahmi alphabet of the Ashokan inscriptions (273 to 232BC).
History of Bengali language has been divided into three eras – Old
Bengali (950-1350), Middle Bengali (1350-1800) and Modern Bengali
(1800 to the present day). Old Bengali is survived only through a
collection of forty-eight poems (1050-1200) known as the charva
songs. These were composed by the siddhacharyas (enlightened ones)
who were mainly Buddhist.
originates from and is neatly intertwined with the classical Indo-
Aryan Sanskrit language and literature. But the influence of other
non-Aryan languages on Bengali cannot be ignored. It is now more or
less accepted that Bengali and languages of neigbouring states belong
to the Austric (or Austro-Asiatic) family of languages. Whilst
Bengali carries the distinct mark of the Indo-Aryan social and
cultural values, expressions or syntactic and grammatical
constraints, according to Professor Sunitikumar Chatterjee, "there
is, of course, the preserve of Kol and Dravidian (the Santals, the
Malers, the Oraons) in the western fringes of the Bengal area, and of
the Boda and Mon-Khmer speakers in the northern and eastern
frontiers." It then follows that literary works in Bengali would also
bear some unmistakable affinities to non-Aryan "phonetics,
morphology, syntax and vocabulary" including myriads of symbolisms
defining the local customs and traditions foreign to the Aryan or
Vedic literature.
Professor Nihar Ranjan Roy (in his Bangalir Itihas: Adiparba)
concluded that "... in addition to Sanskrit, there were two other
languages in vogue in Bengal in the 9th and 10th centuries: one was
derived from Souraseni and the other derived from Magadhi. The latter
is said to have evolved later into Bengali. Some writers would write
pad, doha and verses in both languages and the readers [reciters and
listeners] too would understand them equally well."
Middle Bengali covers a huge period. The 15th century mostly covered
the narrative poetry genre, the theme being mainly of religious
content. Among these, Krittivas' Ramayan has been credited to be a
classic. Other narrative poems include Srikrishnavijaya by Maladhar
Vasu and Srikrishnakirttan by Baru Chandidas. Literary exploits of
the 15th century also include Chaitanyamangal or Chaitanya Bhagavat
(1540), the biography of Saint Chaitanya, by Brindavan Das. In the
16th century Bengali literature contained narrative epic poems
dealing mainly with the stories of popular goddesses like Chandi
(Chandimangal by Kavikanan Mukundaram Chakravarti) and Manasa.
Towards the end of this century there was a wave of Vaishnavism and
this gave way to the new lyrical activity in the form of music
combined with poetry.
The 17th century has nothing much to boast of, except for its secular
romantic verse tales that were written solely by Muslims. Even the
Muslims of Arrakan, who had close intellectual contact with Bengal,
were active in literary pursuits in Bengali. Daulat Kazi, the first
Bengali Arrakanese poet wrote the romantic verse tale Sati Mayana.
Eighteenth century saw Bengali literature take an affinity to secular
poetry and the narrative verse. Rameshvar Bhattacharya's
Sivasankirttan portrayed Shiva as a poor farmer and Gauri, his wife,
as a human heroine. The end of the eighteenth century saw two new
forms of poetry come into age, the Kavi and the Panchali.
Nineteenth century was the period when the actual literary
renaissance of Bengali took place. Michael Madhusudan Datta (1834-
1873) and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1898) were the founders of
the modern age in Bengali literature. Madhusudan was the first
Bengali poet to write in blank verse and combined western influences
into the essence Indian literature. His Meghnadvadhkavya (1861)
written in blank verse has the same flavour of Milton's Paradise
Lost. Madhusudan treated Meghnad, one of the villains of Ramayana, in
the same human angle as Milton portrays Satan, absolutely away from
the traditional approach.
The first Bengali theatre was established by a Russian adventurer,
Gerasim Lebedoff (1749-1818). For about 25 years productions were
mostly adaptations of Sanskrit or English plays with exceptions like
Dinabandhu Mitra's Nildarpan (1860).
The evolution of Bengali Literature started in the later half of the
19th century. The first truly romantic Bengali novel is Bankim
Chandra's Durgeshnandini (1865), while the first Bengali novel of
social realism is Peary Chand Mitra's Alaler Gharer Dulal (1858). The
leading novelist of the age was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, who gave
the nation its national song Vandemataram from his political novel
Anandamath. This century also saw the advent of the periodical press
in the form of Digdarshan (a monthly magazine) and Samachardarpan (a
weekly), both published by the Serampore missionaries. Drama and
literary prose also saw a huge renewal in this age. The great
dramatists of the 19th century were Girishchandra Ghosh (1844-1911),
Amritlal Bose (1853-1929) and D L Ray (1863-1913), and the great
prose writers were Debendranath Tagore and Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who finally dropped curtain on the Loric
period by publishing his masterpiece Durgeshnandini. Bankim's novels
can be classified into three groups: the first is full of English
style romanticism; the second is modelled on Pyarichand Mitra (such
as Vishbriksha, Krishnakanter Will) and finally those novels that
were based on historical events (such as Mrinalini, Rajshingha and
Sitaram).
The Tagore period, which followed the Bankim period and co-existed
with the Sarat Period, has to date been the most defining period in
Bengali literature. Its essentially distinctive universal appeal,
richness and variety of literary styles demand separate treatment and
stratification. Tagore was not just a Bengali poet or writer. Tagore
was a world phenomenon. Tagore's short stories are many and varied in
their contents, tastes, presentation, universal appeal and inherent
literary beauty. They differ from those of his cotemporary writers,
they differ from even his own novels and plays. In the latter, Tagore
used quite a distinct aristic licence. He went on to draw a much
bigger picture. Here he observed and depicted people in their family
and social settings. His penetrating insight into human minds and the
many intricate ways they relate to other people around them in love
and in conflict, in victory and in defeat, in happiness and in misery
allowed him to map characters and stories precisely with a language
that derived its adulthood from his pen.
Inspired by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's writings, it was novelist
Sarat Chandra Chatterjee who brought modern bengali literature to the
masses. His piercing analysis of human love, faith and frailties is
unparallel. His intimate understanding of the social goings-on and
the sympathetic albeit affirmative way he portrayed the unpriviledged
and the women in his stories testify his paramount love and affection
for the deprived. His lovingly and masterfully crafted words, used by
ordinary people of the street, and immaculate writing style made him
easily one of the world's best loved novelists. Like Bankim Chandra,
he was a common man; he understood the common person's dilemas with
life and living conditions.
Saratchandra Chattopadhyay (1876-1938):
Bengali novel originated from Bankimchandra, Tagore modernised it and
Saratchandra set the trends of realism and protest in it. Some of
Saratchandra's stories are very striking for their obvious sincerity
and basic realism. These include Bindur chele (Bindu's Son, 1913),
Ramer Sumati (Ram Returning to Sanity, 1914), Araksanya (The Girl
Whose Marriage is Overdue, 1916), etc. Saratchandra's earliest
writings show striking influence of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. In
Devdas (written in 1901, published 1917), Parinita (The Married Girl,
1914), Biraj Bau (Mrs. Biraj, 1914) and Palli Samaj (The Village
Commune, 1916), the themes and their treatment are not very much
different from the older Chatterjee's but they are presented in a
modernistic setting and in an easier and more matter-of-fact
language. To name some important works : Srikanta in four parts
(1917,1918,1927,1933), Charitrahin (Character-less, 1917), Biraj Bau
(1914), Palli Samaj (1916), the first part of Devdasa (his first
novel) and his first published short story Mandir (1904). It may be
noted that these (with the exception of the last two part of
Srikanta) belong to the first phase of Chatterjee's literary career,
that is up to 1913. Grihadaha (Home Burnt, 1919). Datta (The Girl
Given Away, serialized 1917-19) and Dena-Paona (debts and demands,
1923) and Pather Dabi (The Demand of the Road, 1926). are his other
works.. His last complete novel Ses Prasna (The Final Question, 1931)
is an attempt at the 'intellectual' novel where the meager theme is
inflated by high brow talks on problems of the individual and of the
society relating principally to love and marriage.
His novels and short stories appealed to people of all walks of life.
His mastery on this branch of the Bengali literature was so complete
that it is not at all surprising to note that remaining under the
full glare of Tagore's creative genius, Sarat Chandra was never to be
influenced by it. On the contrary, Tagore has been so moved by his
stories that even he could not resist from the occasional forray into
the latter's familiar territory.
In `Charitraheen' (`Characterless') Sarat Chandra treated the theme
of love from an entirely new angle, showing supreme indifference to
conventional morality, and the effect of this book on the Bengali
public was shocking. The novel deals with a love-episode between an
educated young man of middle-class family and a maid servant in a
boarding house where the young man used to live. No other Bengali
writer had up till then dared portray the character of a `low-class'
woman from this standpoint. Bankim Chandra in his famous
novel, `Krishnakanta's Will,' had dealt with the love of a handsome
Zamindar youth for a beautiful widow, but the story ends in the
murder of the woman in vindication of conventional morality. But in
Sarat Chandraji's story there was no suggestion of punishment or
obloquy to the lovers concerned. At once there was a hue and cry from
all quarters. The magazine which was publishing the novel serially,
stopped publishing it as soon as some of its subscribers intimated
their desire to discontinue subscription if the novel continued to
appear.In his next novel `Devadas,' a youth is found to be led astray
by the failure of his early love, taking to wine and women. Parbati,
the object of the love of Devadas, did not forget him even after she
had been married to another man. Such affairs exist in real life, but
their portrayal in literature was forbidden until Sarat Chandra broke
this law. It was impossible to find fault with his work simply on
account of his attitude of all-pervading sympathy with the fallen,
all social victims or rebels. People read his books for his style, if
for nothing else.
Sarat Chandra is at his best in his masterpiece, `Sreekanta.' Many
consider it to be his autobiography, but it is a peculiar combination
of biography and fiction. I heard him remark on one occasion that the
writing of this book did not tire him. On the contrary, whenever he
felt tired and spent up, he found pleasure in writing one or two
chapters of this book. It was just like the valve of a running
engine, designed to let in fresh air and fresh light. The book is
really marvelous and it would be difficult to give its complete
picture within a narrow compass. I hear that it has been translated
into French and selling in the streets of Paris. I do not know if it
has been translated into any other language of the Continent.
His novel `Pallisamaj' (Village Society) attracted a great deal of
notice. It gave a true and vivid account of life in the villages,
with its petty jealousies and ignorance, superstitions and
sillinesses. The great artist Sarat Chandra spun a love-drama around
two beautiful souls against the background of village cruelty.
Ramesh, the hero, was a bachelor, but Rama, the heroine, was a widow,
although she had almost no memory of the man to whom she was married.
But Hindu society has no solution for this apparent maladjustment,
for widow-remarriage is not the general custom. The impulses of sex
are allowed to go underground and thrive on people's sufferance.
Sarat Chandra attacked the fabric of this moribund Hindu society and
attacked powerfully. This want of a solution for the Ramesh-Rama
affair and its consequent loss to society of normal, orderly life,
rich in every sense of human progress, moved all readers of the book
to thinking. It was claimed to be one of the best productions in
Bengali literature and, naturally, ran into many editions like most
of his other works.
Other writers of the Sarat tradition included famous novelists like
Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (celebrated
author of the Apu trilogy), Manik Bandyopadhyay, Balaichand
Mukhopadhyay (pen-name was Bonofool), Abadhoot and Vimal Mitra.
A contemporary of Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay - author of the Apu
Trilogy (directed by the Oscar winning film director Satyajit Ray),
Pather Panchali, Aparajto and Apur Sansar), and to a lesser extent
that of Saratchandra Chatterjee, Manik Banduopadhaya's first full-
fledged novel Janani (Mother) was published in 1935 - his first, not
serially published before. But it was not until his next two novels
came out, would the reading public ever realise what treasure awaited
them! Classed among the best of world literature heritage of the
twentieth century were Bandyopadhyay's Pootool Naacher Itikotha and
Padma Nodir Maajhi - both published in 1936.
Pootool Naacher Itikotha (the Puppets' Tale), first appeared serially
in the clebrated Bharatbarsha in 1935. 1936 saw the publication of
this, much debated and widely translated2 serial novel in book form
along with his most popular and universally acclaimed Padma Nodir
Maajhi (Padma River Boatman, tarnslated by Barbara Painter and Ian
Lovelock3), which faithfully and lovingly depicted the rural life of
his native East Bengal. Partly serially published in the Purbasha
magazine, this novel, too, was translated in many Indian, Asian and
European languages 4.
Bibhuti Bhushan Bandyapadhyay (1894-1950): An inimitable lyricist in
prose, Bibhuti Bushan extended the perceptive world of Bengali
fiction by his single contribution to the appreciation of the beauty
of rural Bengal. He is renowned for his novel Pather Panchali (Saga
of the Road) which was made into a great film by Satyajit Ray.
Aparajita, a sequel to Pather Panchali is another of his great novel
Some of the stories that Bibhuti had written earlier show him at his
best. Among these may be mentioned Umarani (first published in 1922)
and Pui-mancha (The Kitchen Garden Scaffolding; first published
1925). These and his later short stories are collected in more than a
dozen volumes, such as Meghmallar (1931), Mauriphul (1932), Jatra
Badal (1934), etc. Banerjee's novels are not a few and they include
besides those already mentioned: Dristipradeep (The Look- a lamp,
1935), Aaranyak (The Wild, 1949), Adarsa Hindu Hotel (1940), Bipiner
Samsar (Bipin's Home, 1941), Devayan (Spirit's Path, 1944), Icchamati
(1949) etc
- 5.
-
Chemistry of Feudal Socilist Oxides and Zionist Gandhian Carbides
Posted by: "banga_sss2003" banga_sss2003@yahoo.co.in banga_sss2003
Mon Jul 7, 2008 11:45 am (PDT)
Chemistry of Feudal Socialist Oxides and Zionist Gandhian Carbides
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 19
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams .blogspot. com/
I despise most the Socialist and the Gandhians!
The chemistry of Feudal Socialist Oxides and Zionist Gandhian
Carbides is doing its best to sustain the Colonisation of Sovereign,
Independent and Democratic India.
Socialist are the most awesome unpredictable chemical quotient of the
decaying feudal set up of Indian ruling class.
On the other hand, Gandhi`s reincarnation from Apartheid South
African background has changed the fate of this country as the
British transferred power to the Zionist Brahmins.
This Chemical equation is working right from the break of mid night
on 15 th August, 1947.
I discussed the issue with full details in my interactive Hindi Novel
AMERICA SE SAVDHAN ( Be Aware Of america) which was serially
published in daily Awaz in Jamshed Pur and Dhanbad in Jharkhand. I
deliberately selected the Aboriginal Audience with the Legacies of
Munda and Santhal Insurrections against Imperialism. The publication
stopped as the daily faced Closure mysteriously. I really don`t know
whether it had any link with the Novel. Readers responded
overwhelmingly. Even the critics. All poets in Hindi supported me in
the venture. But the prose writes did not support me so much as they
had reservations against my experiment of interactive format. But
Personalities like Mahashweta Debi, Nagarjun, Shalabh Shri Ram Singh,
Trilochan and Manager Pandey did support me. The chapters of the
novel were published in scores of little mags countrywide and the
discussion continued. But the novel was never published in Book
format. Even today, while I visit any place anywhere in the country,
readers enquired about the Novel. Recently, while I addressed the
department of Amebdkar studies in Nagpur University, I had to answer
queries on the Novel from Dias.
But the Intelligentsia never remembered the Novel as it insisted the
alliance of Indigenous aboriginal people worldwide.
I am grateful to Mahashweta Di, that a global personality like her
remembered the attempt. I am thankful that she wrote on America Se
Savdhan in Dainik Hindustan today. i am just waiting for the
responses. Meanwhile, I opted for English also and tried to adopt Net
as an alternative interactive media. I am not writing anything so
called creative for years and discarded all my earlier manuscripts as
Face intense crisis of Money, Time and space crunch. As my career has
been destroyed and I have to struggle to support my family.
I may not say thanks to Mahashweta Di. I always criticised her stance
in West Bengal. I snapped the relationship as I thought she was not
interested to break the Brahminical hegemony in Bengal. I have my
commitment to my people , the Refugees. Thus, I left Bhasha Bandhan
Also.
I am glad that Mahashweta Di still remembers me and does her best to
highlight my writings to the Nation, which were neglected hitherto.
I am not in a position to call her. On so many occasions, she was on
the Dias and I remained in the front row. But I never tried to meet
her.
I have been always that Brute and hardly spared my father also. I
hope Mahashweta di will forgive me. I still remember the day when we
first met in Dhanbad. AK Roy was the organiser of Premchand jayanti
in RLY Institute. I was not selected as a speaker initially. But our
dear friend Madan Kashayp, the renowned Hindi poet had to leave
Dhanbad for some urgency and I just replaced him. We shared the dias
and the relationship began. She was courageous enough to send me her
magazine, Bartika.
Before sometime , Mahashweta Di called me and supported the idea of
alternative media. She also described Nandigram Insurrection as an
Indigenous black Untouchable Insurrection. She suggested to circulate
the documents relating Stravation in India. she selected me. But I
was rather busy to solve my personal problems with constant deficit
in my budget as all avenues of my sustenance as a writer and a social
individual have been undermined.
I am really very sorry, Didi! I am surprised to see where from you
got so many details about my student life!
Indo-US relationship can truly be called a strategic partnership, no
doubt. Indian ruling class never resisted Imperialism at any point of
History. In independent India, under cover of Non Aligned Movement
Indian Ruling Hegemony did the excellent balance work with
maintaining relationship with United states of America and Soviet
Russia. India never played any role to resist US aggression in Asia
from the days of Korea and Vietnam wars. It maintained silence during
Soviet Military interference in Afghanistan in late seventies.
Bangladesh Liberation War was never meant to resist Imperialism.It
became an inevitable incidence with continuous Refugee Influx across
the Border. The Ruling Class played Hindutva card and subverted the
Naxalite Movement, crushing the thundering spring led by aboriginal
Naxalbari People, the dalits and tribals supported by Muslims and
students, down to earth with full killing power of Politics and state
power. Indian Military was engaged in fighting on the both part of
the border. In West Bengal it was against naxalites and in East
Bengal, against the Pakistani army.
During Gulf war One and Two, Indian ruling Brahminical class rather
supported United states of America with all its resources. Oil Price
Hike is caused by recession in US Weapon based Sub Prime Economy. The
downwards value of Dollar is responsible for the Energy crisis.
Indian ruling Class did everything to make Indian Economy the colony
of United states of America. Defence deals had been the main source
of resource to hold the power in the best interest of brahmins and
High castes in India. Saddam Hussein tried to shift Oil Economy and
he favoured transaction with EURO. US preempted this with Gulf war
One.
Indian ruling Class did nothing to resist Oil War. Rather it opted
for Nuclear Option with Buddha1s Smile long before the Oil War.
The Feudal Socialist Oxides and Zionist Gandhian carbide polluted the
Geopolitics of Indian Ocean peace zone more than Union Carbide did in
Bhopal.
Support to n-deal based on national interest: Mulayam
Jaunpur, Jul 6 (PTI) Justifying his party's decision to support the
Congress on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam
Singh Yadav today said that the decision was taken keeping in mind
national interest.
"We supported Congress on the nuclear deal issue in national
interest. It has given a good message in the world that Indians can
take decision in interest of the country," Yadav told reporters here.
In reply to a question, Yadav criticised BJP leader Lal Krishna
Advani and termed him "opportunistic".
"He should introspect before making comments on SP's stand on nuclear
deal," Yadav said. PTI
NATION AND ITS INTERESTS
The words "national interest" has re-entered the nation's lexicon
with a new urgency, thanks to the controversy over the Indo-US
nuclear deal. It is necessary to unpack the idea and the implications
of the phrase. At a very simple level, it means that India as a
nation has certain interests. These interests are supra-government
and supra-political parties. In other words, if something is seen as
being beneficial to the national interest then it is good for India,
irrespective of the party that rules India at a given point of time.
The opposite is equally true: something that is harmful for India is
bad, no matter which party is in power, the Congress, the Bharatiya
Janata Party or the Communist Party of India (Marxist). At a more
complex level, there could be questions about who defines what the
nation's interests are, who decides what is beneficial or not, and so
on.
Yet the controversy over the nuclear deal reveals that the confusion
lies at the simplest level. The deal and what constitutes national
interest have come to be identified with the Congress. The fate of
the deal has come to be tied to the continuation of the government
that is led by the Congress. The BJP, which is second only to the CPI
(M) in its opposition to the deal, took the last and dramatic step to
make India a nuclear power. It would not be wrong to assume from this
that the BJP has no principled objection to nuclear power and its
uses. It believes that nuclear power is in India's national interest.
It was under the BJP government that India moved closest to the
United States of America in terms of foreign policy and related
matters. Thus the BJP has nothing against the US and nothing against
India's use of nuclear power and energy. Yet it is opposed to the
Indo-US nuclear deal, which will enable India to bring supplies to
its starving reactors. The BJP's opposition to the deal is
inexplicable unless one draws the conclusion that the BJP is opposed
to the Congress doing the deal. If a BJP government signed such a
deal, obviously there would be no problems. This only highlights the
point about national interest made earlier. To be fair, it needs to
be pointed out that there is no guarantee that had the Congress been
in the Opposition, it would not have objected to a similar deal if it
were being made by a BJP government.
In the case of communists, the matter becomes more complex, since in
their ideology, the national interest is made to intersect with other
interests, specifically those of class. It has made the assertion
that the deal will undermine India's sovereignty, but has never
substantiated the claim. Critics of the communists could also point
out that communists in India have not always supported policies that
are incontrovertibly beneficial to the national interest.
The phrase national interest has thus become an item in the
politicians' rhetorical baggage. It is fished out whenever some group
of politicians finds it convenient to do so. Politicians are not the
sole guardians or repositories of national interests. Politicians
only make what are matters of national interest into electoral issues.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/ 1080706/jsp/ opinion/story_ 9508496.jsp
People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
--------------------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
----------
Vol. XXXII
No. 26
July 06 , 2008
POLIT BUREAU COMMUNIQUE
CPI(M) To Withdraw Support If Govt Goes Ahead On Nuke Deal
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New
Delhi On June 29, 2008. It has issued the following statement:
On Nuclear Deal
THE Polit Bureau heard a report on the current impasse arising out of
the prime minister and the Congress leadership's insistence on going
ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The Polit Bureau wishes to point out that going to the Board of
Governors of the IAEA for approval of the Safeguards Agreement will
be a flagrant violation of the understanding arrived at in the
November 16, 2007 meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear
deal. The UPA had pledged not to proceed till the committee arrives
at its findings, which includes the conclusions to be arrived at on
the text of the Safeguards Agreement.
The Polit Bureau wishes to point out that the UPA was formed to keep
the communal forces at bay. By taking such a step and the political
consequences thereafter, that purpose will be undermined. We appeal
to the partners of the Congress in the UPA to ensure that no such
steps are taken which will help the communal forces.
The Polit Bureau reiterates its firm opposition to the 123 agreement
which does not provide for full civilian nuclear cooperation; does
not meet the needs of energy security and which will severely
undermine the country's independent foreign policy and strategic
autonomy by cementing a strategic alliance with the United States.
In case the government decides to go ahead with such a harmful
agreement, which has no majority support in parliament, the CPI(M)
will withdraw support to the UPA government in concert with the Left
parties.
Inflation and Price Rise
The Polit Bureau expressed grave concern at the galloping inflation
rate which has touched 11.42 per cent. The Manmohan Singh government
has abjectly failed to tackle inflation. The price rise of essential
commodities imposes a crushing burden on the people. The poor are
finding it difficult to survive given the rising cost of food stuffs.
It is unfortunate that at a time when the government should be
gearing up to take comprehensive steps to tackle inflation and price
rise, the prime minister and the Congress leadership are more
concerned about fulfilling their commitment made to president Bush to
operationalise the nuclear deal.
The Polit Bureau notes that wedded to neo-liberal policies, the
Congress-led government callously refuses to take the urgent steps
necessary to curb price rise and provide relief to the people.
The CPI(M) will, after consultations with the Left parties launch an
intensive campaign unitedly to expose the Congress-led government's
surrender to national interests on the nuclear deal and its failure
to curb price rise.
http://pd.cpim.org/2008/ 0706_pd/07062008 _1.htm
Gandhians and socialists have been capable to hold the state power in
the best interest of the three percent ruling Zionist Brahmins since
1947.Only the Left with unique mastery on Ideological strategical
jugglery helped the Sangh Parivar to enter the Power arena in 1977
and 1989 branding Congress Hegemony as Dictatorship absolute. Once
again, a chemical experiment is on in the National Political
laboratory to mix up two opposite elements of Marxism and Hindutva to
invent another equation of power sharing just to save the Left front
governments in three states.
Socialist oxides are more than useful to grab Power with clubbing of
castes and communities in a multi cultural bleeding divided
geopolitics like India while the Sanatan Aryan Zionist Hindutva has
always been successful to sustain the Caste Community and Nationality
divided Indian society.Brahmins rule just because Indigenous people
are divided in more than six hundred castes. The society is also
divided by many religious sections. Nationality question is never
addressed. In these circumstances, the followers of Gandhi ensured
Power Transfer to Indian Brahmins. They adopted British Parliamentary
system with Majoritarian electoral system. Clubbing of a few powerful
castes and communities with manipulated demographical readjustment
creates favourable mobile Vote Bank for the ruling class where eighty
five percent of the population hardly gets any opportunity of
representation.
For this Brahminical power politics, the Indian ruling class
captured all colors of politics and every genre of ideologies without
any commitment to the people they are meant for representation.
Congress was set up to divert the heritage of Insurrections against
Colonial Rule. All these insurrections were led by the Aboriginal
people of India and were supported by the SC and OBC and Muslim
Peasants. Decaying Feudalism had no escape route as the Permanent
land Settlement failed miserably with the introduction of
Industrialisation, Capitalism and Imperialism. The world wars broke
up the feudal economy and production system. The Ruling Class which
was hitherto supporting the Rulers all throughout Indian history,
suddenly turned patriotic and launched so called National struggle of
Independence led by the Zionist caste Hindus like Gandhi and
Nehru.British rulers understood the threat earlier and were
successful to alienate the SCs and STs and provided some concessions
like opportunities in Jobs, education and abolishing untouchability.
The Indigenous people launched a national movement to liberate
themselves as leaders like Dr Ambedkar and Jogendra Nath Mandal
emerged. but this Indigenous movement failed to resist the feudal
Brahminical upsurge as they succeeded to manipulate the Muslims and
tribals. Muslims understood the fact very soon and they organised
themselves in Muslim League. It further helped the Brahmins to create
a suitable geopolitics and demography to hunt freely the Indigenous
and Nationality lives, livelihood, human rights, citizenship and
identities. Tribals were never been a part of the dalit movement and
even a leader like Dr Ambedkar failed to resist partition with
transfer of power to the Brahmins. However, the East Bengal
Indigenous people ensured his entry in the Parliament. Thus, Dr
Ambedkar got reservation for the SC and St communities and he left
enough space for the OBCs.
The Ruling Class never accepted the fundamental rights of the
aboriginal, black, indigenous and untouchable people. The leadership
of Gandhi originated from Apartheid legacy of South Africa. His
reincarnation in India helped the ruling Class to strengthen the
divides of caste system and ensure the sustenance of Brahminical
hegemony eternal.
Gandhi betrayed with the slogan of Harijan Liberation as the Marxists
are betraying with the ideologies of people`s revolution. The
Socialists and the Gandhian always spoke against caste system, but
with clubbing of powerful castes and communities they succeeded to
sustain the bondage and the slavery.
Personally I dealt with the Gandhians and the Socialists lifelong. I
was also fortunate to know all the betrayals of the Brahmin
communists since my childhood. It was first the Dhimri block
Insurrection in 1958 back to back Telengana uprising which exposed
the character of Indian Communists who imported the radical Ideology
and captured it for the Ruling Brahmins just to resist any Soviet or
Chinese type revolution in India. While the Maoists in Nepal
introduced proportional representation in the first election after
the demise of Monarchy. the result is that almost every caste and
community in Nepal have the representation in the National Politics.
In India, no political party ever demanded for proportional
representation and every party tried their best to create favourable
vote bank with clubbing of most powerful castes and communities. In
Bengal, Marxists tried their best to hold the entire Muslim, dalit
and Tribal population hostage. Thus, it is so invincible. In Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar, a few dalit and OBC castes with Muslim alliance
have the key of power. It was repeated in UP also unless mayavati was
successful to upset the Apple cart with her own brand of Social
engineering called, casteology. In karnatak, Vokkalingas and
Lingayats hold the key of power. This time BJP en cashed it and broke
the jinx in the south.
Communal politics was the cause of partition which aborted every
possibility of liberation for the aboriginal , black, untouchable
indigenous eighty five percent population of India. Every political
party plays the game of Communalism and amusingly opposes it
vehemently. The communists and the socialists are the masters of this
hypocrisy.
I remember the edits written in the most circulated Two Hindi Dailies
published from New Delhi during Operation Blue Star. Both of them
happened to be renowned as the Most famous Gandhian Intellectuals in
Hindi Dunia. They not only supported Operation Blue Star, but
dictated the Armed Forces to enter in the Golden temple for the final
kill.One of them expired long before, the Second person survives with
daily focus in electronic media. This Chief editor being a Gandhian,
had been always the most favorite Manager Editor in a setup of RSS
minded people. He lived that RSS life lifelong and never resisted. He
is also better known for his notorious edit in favour of Sati.
This Gentleman is known to insert most of the RSS cadres as resident
Editor who had been also Brahmins. In his newspapers, though some
type of quota was followed with a Harijan Gandhian Editor.But he
ensured that every promotion or decision making status remained with
Brahmins only.
I knew the Man in Meerut where he presided National Conferences of
Sangh Parivar. how he tried to have an entry in Rajyasabha , it is no
secret to anyone in intelligentsia. This man is crazy about Sachin
Tendulkar and dead against Saurabh Ganguli. He never enjoyed any
other game at all. National issues had always been an opportunist
game for this Icon Brand who chose the suitable issues only and
diverted anytime either in Cricket or in pure Nostalgia. He is best
known as a teacher of Gandhian Morality in Life and Politics.
This Man is also known to select the most intellectual and energetic
journalists and dump them on caste line. Many careers have been
destroyed by this gentleman. At the same time , he promoted the most
notorious personalities in Journalism to kill the rebels.
However, this is a real life story of the Hindi journalism and
literature. Gandhian, socialists and Communists rule the arena. Most
of the Gandhians and Socialists are well known for their mastery on
language and manipulation. Most notorious editors in India always
have been the Gandhians and the Socialists.
I also have known a socialist known as Narayan Dutta Tiwari who
turned Gandhian to gain political mileage. This man is also a master
of language and manipulations. So all of them have been. The Gandhian
and Socialists always posed to fight the Monarchy in Nepal and ended
up defending the Feudal Monarchy.
We all know the roles of known Gandhians and Socialists in India. I
am not discussing the roles played by the Sangh Parivar and the
Communists in this article.
Claiming that Samajwadi Party had conveyed its support to the nuclear
deal, Congress on Friday expressed gratitude to it but was non-
committal on the issue of inclusion of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led
party in the government.
"We thank Samajwadi Party for supporting the deal," Congress
spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters in the capital after SP
leaders Yadav and Amar Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Congress leader Veerappa Moily also insisted that Yadav and Amar
Singh "expressed support to the nuclear deal" and "reiterated the
support" during their meeting with Gandhi.
The Congress' claim about SP conveying support to the deal came even
though Yadav and Singh maintained that they had not given
any "commitment so far" and would decide on it only after talking to
other UNPA constituents.
The Samajwadi Party today clearly indicated that it would not vote
against the UPA government in Parliament but stopped short of
formally announcing that it has wrapped up a deal with the Congress.
"Communalism is a bigger threat than imperialism today...Today the
Left parties, BSP, BJP and Chautala may vote together. If our friends
from the Left want to defeat the government with BSP and BJP, we
don't want to say anything. But we can't do this work," SP general
secretary Mr Amar Singh told reporters, a day after wrapping up a
deal with the Congress.
He also refused to say what his party would do on the floor of the
House in case of a trial of strength. "Let the confidence motion come
then we will decide," he added.
At the Press conference, Mr Singh maintained there was no formal talk
of any alliance with the Congress so far during discussions with its
president Mrs Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
"Neither have they asked for our support nor have we committed ours.
We are outsiders till now. Karat and Sonia Gandhi are insiders. They
have formed the government and are running it. There is no divorce as
yet. They (Left) have only given a warning. This warning has been
going on for a year," he said.
Justifying his party's new friendship with the Congress, Mr Singh
launched an attack on the BJP saying: "For us communalism is a bigger
danger than imperialism. Advani is a bigger danger than Bush." When
asked about supporting the government on the floor of the Lok Sabha,
he said it was secular versus non-secular and not nuclear deal versus
non-nuclear deal.
The Congress, however, was non-committal on the possibility of SP
being included in the Council of Ministers in case they join the
government.
"It is a matter for the UPA, Prime Minister and Samajwadi Party to
decide," Ahmed said.
The UPA government will sign the civil nuclear deal with the USA in
time 'come what may' and there was no threat to the Manmohan Singh
government, Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said in Raiganj.
BJP had come up with a fresh proposal just four days back to the
Samajwadi Party for toppling the Manmohan Singh government and had
claimed the backing of Left as also BSP to the move, SP leader Amar
Singh claimed today.The sensational disclosure was made by the SP
leader in an interview to IBN7 adding that the party had rejected the
proposal by BJP leader Jaswant Singh as it did a year back during the
2007 Presidential elections, the channel said in a release.Singh said
his party rejected the proposal as there was no question of aligning
with BJP as his party consider that communalism is a bigger danger to
the country than any other issue.
"This Italy government has to go," the BJP leader told Amar Singh,
the release said.
The SP leader's revelation came a day after Jaswant Singh admitted
that the BJP had attempted to topple the Congress-led coalition at
the Centre by promising Prime Ministership to the UNPA in lieu of
support for Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in last year's Presidential polls.
At a press conference he jointly addressed along with BJP's Prime
Ministerial candidate L K Advani, Jaswant Singh had said that he had
visited Amar Singh's residence four days back to see "which way wind
is blowing in the Samajwadi Party".
His visit had come on a day when the SP leaders were briefed by
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan about the nuclear deal.
The release said that when Amar Singh was quizzed further on any
communication established between BJP and Left front, he said "he had
no idea".
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition LK Advani on Saturday asked Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh to "immediately" seek a vote of confidence by
calling a short session of parliament before going ahead with the
India-US civilian nuclear deal. On the other hand, The Left campaign
against the UPA will be launched on July 14 in the capital, where top
Left leaders will "attack" the government for its "refusal" to take
appropriate steps to tackle the runaway inflation and back-breaking
price rise besides explaining their opposition to the deal.
As the Indian government seemed set to move ahead with the stalled
nuclear deal with the US, a top American daily has underlined there
was no reason for the Bush administration to rush as it had given
away "too much and got far too little".
President George Bush, who was "eager for any foreign policy win"
before the expiry of his term in January 2009, is pressing the Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "hard to finally work this (nuclear
deal) out," The New York Times said.
In an editorial headlined, 'No Rush, Please', the American daily
argued "there is no reason at all to rush. President Bush gave away
far too much and got far too little for this deal".
Even as it praised President Bush for building on the Clinton
administration legacy to forge stronger ties with "a burgeoning power
whose democratic values provide a unique basis for cooperation," the
daily said: "It was a mistake to let India and industry lobbyists
persuade him to make the nuclear deal the centerpiece."
The Times underlined that now it would be "a mistake for the United
States to try and ram through the remaining approvals by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board, the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) and Congress just to meet the artificial
deadline of Bushs presidency."
It said President Bush may be running out of time, but Congress, the
IAEA and the NSG "will need plenty of it to review the agreement
before deciding whether to grant their respective approvals."
"At a minimum, they must insist that international suppliers halt
nuclear trade if India tests another nuclear weapon, as it last did
in 1998. And they must insist that India accept the fullest possible
monitoring of its civilian nuclear facilities by IAEA inspectors,"
the daily stressed.
The Left parties on Friday wrote to the government seeking a definite
answer by July 7 on whether it is approaching the IAEA for the India-
specific safeguards agreement.
Indications from the Left, however, point to actual withdrawal of
support coming between July 9 — when the PM returns from Japan — and
14, the day it launches its nationwide campaign against the
government.
"We wish to know definitely whether the government is proceeding to
seek the approval of the safeguards agreement by the
Board of Governors of the IAEA. Please let us know the position by
July 7, 2008," said the letter, addressed to External Affairs
minister Pranab Mukherjee, signed by the general secretaries of the
four Left parties — CPM, CPI, AIFB and RSP. Mukherjee is also the
convener of the UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Later, CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the withdrawal would
not come when the PM is at the G8 summit. "We have always been
considerate and very reasonable. We have kept the dignity of the PM's
office and the nation in mind. The Left will not take any step when
he is there (in Japan)."
Two years after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George
W Bush inked the historic nuclear agreement that had heralded an era
in which India's N-isolation would be a thing of the past, the UPA
Govt finds itself in a bind, and is facing the worst-ever crisis
after it came to power in 2004. ...Before this deal really goes
through, there are many issues that need to be resolved: IAEA
safeguards, NSG clearance and so on. But before Manmohan goes whole
hog about allaying NSG's fears on proliferation, he has to put his
own house in order, what with snap poll staring the Govt in the face,
courtesy Left and an overzealous Opposition.
As their "political marriage" is all set to end, Left parties are out
to target the ruling UPA for which they are preparing a "chargesheet"
against the government detailing its "unkept promises"
and "obsession" with the nuclear deal.
The CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc will come out with
a "chargesheet" citing UPA's several drawbacks and failures,
including "rising prices and inflation, surrendering of national
interest, and unkept promises with regard to the Common Minimum
Programme (CMP)", a senior Left leader said.
Feeling "hurt" by Samajwadi Party's "betrayal", the Left parties will
also "expose the marriage of convenience" between Congress and SP in
its campaign, said the leader on condition of anonymity.
The Left is awaiting a reply from External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee on whether or not the Centre will go ahead with seeking
IAEA board approval of the safeguards agreement as part of the India-
U.S. nuclear deal.India's trajectory of development on an independent
basis with an independent foreign policy that retains strategic
autonomy will be imperiled if the country goes into a defence and
military alliance, a strategic and economic partnership and a
civilian nuclear deal with the United States, Prakash Karat, general
secretary of the CPI(M), said in Kolkata on Saturday.
Amid the stand-off between the Left parties and the Congress-led
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) over the India-US nuclear deal, the
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash
Karat Saturday met party patriarch Jyoti Basu here to discuss the
political situation. Karat, who flew into the city Saturday morning,
held a 40-minute discussion with Basu and briefed him on the
developments.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and state party
secretary Biman Bose were present during parleys at Basu's residence
in the satellite township of Salt Lake.
The India- U.S. deal "will greatly erode independent foreign policy
and the country's strategic autonomy," he said while speaking at a
function to commemorate the birth centenary of Hiren Mukherjee.
"Ensuring that an independent foreign policy, strategic autonomy and
interests of the country are protected and defended will be a great
tribute to the memory of Comrade Mukherjee," Mr. Karat added.
"Today, there is talk of the nuclear deal with the U.S. and it is
argued that it is essential for our energy security. But the
safeguard agreement with the U.S., instead of ensuring energy
security will be detrimental to our energy needs.
"We would like to believe that what he [Professor Mukherjee] stood
for is relevant and meaningful in today's world….We should understand
that imperialism continues to be a reality and exercises its
malevolent influence in world affairs."
Behind the rise in oil prices worldwide were the designs of
imperialism to re-order West Asia by controlling its energy reserves,
Mr. Karat said. Oil supplies from the region were being severely
disrupted by "the single-minded quest of a superpower to remake the
map of West Asia."
He said: "In our country today, it is not possible to talk about
inflation and the huge burden of an increase in oil prices on our
economy without seeing the role of imperialism in price rise and
inflation."
Vital impact
The strategic alliance being talked of between India and the U.S. has
a vital bearing on the course India would take in the coming years,
Mr. Karat said.
"The India-U.S. nuclear agreement is anchored in the Hyde Act, which
has so many prescriptive clauses about our sovereignty," A.B.
Bardhan, general secretary of the CPI, said.
Describing Professor Mukherjee as a "great parliamentarian, a great
historian and above all a communist," Mr. Bardhan pointed out that
though he belonged to the CPI, he espoused the cause of communist
unity "and was not a partisan." He said: "Let us hope that his cry
from his heart will someday come to fruition."
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee recalled that Professor
Mukherjee used to underline the need for governments to direct their
efforts towards the emancipation of the poor.
Addressing a press conference along with Jaswant Singh, leader of the
opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Advani said: "As the UPA is now a
minority, it has no right to execute any binding international
agreements… The BJP demands that the government must immediately now
call parliament into session and take it fully into confidence."
If the government fails to seek a confidence vote, the BJP will ask
President Pratibha Patil to direct the PM to do so, Advani added.
Asked if the BJP would press for a trust vote, Advani said he
expected the PM to take the initiative.
The Congress rejected Advani's demand and described his remarks
as "irresponsible".
"No one has withdrawn support so where is the question of a trust
vote? It is extremely unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition
has tried to create a spectre of instability when the prime minister
is about to go abroad… There is no instability in the government and
politics. If there is any instability it is in the mind of the Leader
of the Opposition," spokesman Manish Tiwari said. In
his "desperation" to become PM, Advani was living in a world of "make
believe", Tiwari said.
Besides, it is up to the president to call the government to face a
trust vote, he added.
At the press briefing, Advani and Singh said that the PM must
explain, as indeed must the Congress, as to what reasons compel them
to rush the country into this agreement? "This government has no
right to continue in office now. Let the country decide afresh."
Jaswant Singh even disagreed with former President APJ Abdul Kalam's
support for the deal maintaining that Kalam has
been "oversimplifying" the matter "involving complex issues".
Advani, for his part, added that, "No government has ever been
hustled into acting on an issue of vital national importance, at a
pace dictated entirely by the interlocutors, in this instance the US.
This Congress led arrangement can now no longer call itself either a
United Progressive Alliance or even a government."
But it made it clear that if the BJP is elected to power, it would
renegotiate the deal to ensure that India maintain its strategic
sovereignty and it becomes an agreement between equals."
Criticising the Congress-SP bonhomie, Advani said "Unprincipled deals
of convenience bring yesterday's adversaries as today's allies, Even
the Congress' replacement of Deve Gowda by I K Gujral as Prime
Minister of UF government in 1997 reminded us of Lord Ganesh whose
head was replaced by that of an elephant, what we are witnessing now
is leg surgery. The Left's support — on which the UPA stood so far —
is being replaced by the SP's backing."
The Congress dismissed the charge of political opportunism. "The
nuclear deal is an issue of national importance and getting energy
and the support of any party for it is welcome," Tiwari said.
The Indo-US deal will offer just 3 to 5 per cent of additional
nuclear energy some 25 to 30 years from now at the cost of roughly $
125 to 130 billion at today's price, according to Advani and
Singh. "To trade the country's strategic autonomy for this is not
acceptable," they said.
After days of frenetic political activity, a hush descended Sunday as
Left leaders awaited the Congress' response to their ultimatum on the
India-US nuclear deal and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh got ready to
leave for Japan on Monday morning to attend the G8 summit.
The Left parties on Friday served a July 7 deadline to the Congress-
led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to let them know
whether it was going to approach the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) for an India-specific safeguards pact -- a key step in
making the nuclear deal operational.
In a letter to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the four
Left parties said: "We wish to know definitely whether the government
is proceeding to seek the approval of the safeguards agreement by the
Board of Governors of the IAEA. Please let us know the position by
7th July, 2008."
"We do not know if the government will respond. They have time till
tomorrow," said Abani Roy, leader of Revolutionary Socialist Party
(RSP).
Most other Left leaders remained incommunicado with their mobile
phones switched off.
Having worked out a survival strategy thanks to the support expressed
by the Samajwadi Party, the government is readying to move ahead with
the IAEA pact to take the nuclear deal forward - a move that is bound
to lead to a final rupture of ties with its Communist allies that are
propping up the government.
Congress leaders too were tight-lipped and, despite repeated attempts
to contact them, did not comment on the party's response to the
Left's ultimatum.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash
Karat, who was in Kolkata Saturday to discuss the political crisis
with his party colleagues - party patriarch Jyoti Basu and West
Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee, was expected to return
to Delhi Sunday.
Left sources said there was still no unanimity on the timing of
withdrawing support to the government. "(CPI-M politburo member)
Sitaram Yechury is not in favour of withdrawing support when the
prime minister is out of India," said a senior Left leader.
On the sidelines of the G8 summit, the prime minister is scheduled to
meet US president George Bush Wednesday, and the two leaders are
expected to discuss the progress of the nuclear deal.
Manmohan Singh will return to India Wednesday night.
While Karat was in favour of withdrawing support to the government
when the prime minister would leave for the G8 summit, he has been
restrained by Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B
Bardhan, who is not in favour of linking the nuclear deal issue with
the G8 summit.
"The four parties will meet on Wednesday to take a final call on the
timing of withdrawal of support," said a senior Left leader.
Kakodkar backs Indo-US nuclear deal news
05 July 2008
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Mumbai: Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar has again put
his weight behind the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying ''history will not
forgive us'' if we fail to clinch it.
''Here is a chance. Without compromising on our principles, we can
bridge energy security for the future," Kakodkar said while
delivering a lecture on `Evolving Indian Nuclear Programme: Rationale
and Perspectives', organised by the Indian Institute of Sciences in
Bangalore yesterday.
He said we needed nuclear energy and our uranium resources can only
meet (power generation) up to 10,000 MW. We need to augment supply
from abroad till we mine our uranium reserves, he said.
''Our reactors are operating at 50 to 55 per cent due to mismatch
between uranium supply and need. Earlier we were operating reactors
at 70 to 80 per cent,'' Kakodkar pointed out.
He, however, refused to go into the politics of the nuclear agreement.
Kakodkar's statement comes in the background of the Left parties'
strong opposition to the Indo-US deal and a reluctant stand adopted
by other opposition parties, including the SP.
Responding to reporters' queries on time-line for approaching the
IAEA for a safeguards agreement and if the deal can be wrapped up by
year-end, Kakodkar said: "The sooner, the better. But things are not
in my hands."
Impossible Allies: Nuclear India United States and the global order
C. RAJA MOHAN
New Delhi: India Research Press
Pages viii+311, $35.95 / Rs.395.00
One of the current critical discourses in international politics is
concern for "equality" when inequalities persist among nations.
Nations often emphasize the congeniality of values among themselves,
notwithstanding their material and physical differences, to
strengthen mutual understanding and pursue their national interest.
Terms like "alliance," "strategic partnership" are carelessly used,
but mutual accommodation is the law of post-Cold War statecraft. C
Raja Mohan's Impossible Allies underlines the need for realism to
accommodate both domestic compulsions and systemic formulations
culminating in interest-driven national discourse wherein morality
stands circumscribed.
Many eyebrows have been raised over the Indo-US strategic partnership
and the euphoria attending India becoming an "ally" of the US. Many
are leery over the US's vow to raise India to its natural potential.
Those who favour the new relationship are criticized as "stooges
selling national interest" and those who oppose it are branded Cold
Warriors. Impossible Allies traces why a hegemonic-status-quoist
power (US) is ready to share the mantle of leadership with a
sovereignty-mongering nation (India) by rewriting international
norms. Raja Mohan strongly argues that India will neither be
a "dependent state nor will become a close ally like Britain";
rather "it is more likely to emerge as an Asian France" cherishing
its shared interests and alliance relationships with Washington.
In Bhishma's teaching, to which Raja Mohan is partial, "the force of
circumstances creates friends and foes"; India's choice to partner
the world's sole superpower in the post-Cold War era is explicable.
But why is the country that led the charge to "cap, reduce and roll-
back" India's nuclear programme willing now to change its perceptions
and persuade other nations to accept New Delhi as an exception to the
rules of the international nuclear regime? In the author's belief, "a
unilateral America and a revisionist India had a solid strategic fit"
in the post-Cold War era. There is a mesh between the US and India's
grand strategy. If the US grand strategy aims at pre-emption, regime
change and democratisation, India also strives to rewrite the rules
of the global order to facilitate its entry to the high-seat of the
Security Council, which marks a parallelism between India's interests
and those of America.
Cold War dynamics had estranged the two democracies despite their
often converging national interests. With the end of Cold War, India
has "steadily moved towards thinking structurally" about the world
and less as being a victim of the prevailing world order. After
Pokhran-II, the world has accepted India's concerns and its need for
strategic space. India is also mindful that its aspirations could not
be realized without the dominant power agreeing to redraw the global
order. On the other hand, the imperatives of American security need
India as "a swing state" to maintain a stable and liberal
international order. Raja Mohan has identified eight convergent
objectives in this regard: insulating Asia from the domination of any
single power; fighting terrorism; containing the spread of WMD;
promoting democracy; fostering economic growth; preserving global
commons; promoting energy security; and safeguarding the global
environment.
Though the foundations of the Indo-US rapprochement were laid by the
Vajpayee government, the Clinton Administration did not budge on the
non-proliferation front. In the world trend-line survey made by the
Bush Administration in his first term, China loomed large and India
was perceived as a potential balancer to Chinese power in Asia. Thus,
the US's offer to strengthen India's capabilities to emerge as a
great power was linked to Bush's Asia policy. Critics hold that the
Indo-US nuclear deal is an inducement to draw India into an alliance
against China. Raja Mohan says that this alliance is indeed devoted
to achieving a stable politico-economic-security relationship.
India's strategic behaviour has always been "shaped by structural
factors rather than by ideology", and India has a long history of
maintaining balanced relations with Russia, China and its extended
neighbourhood.
Exposing the folly of the sceptics of the Indo-US civilian nuclear
deal, the author argues that the US was the first nation to encourage
India's nuclear and space programmes. Claiming the deal to be
the "deal of the century", which seeks to end the three-decade
nuclear apartheid against India, he warns against the self-reliance
stance of our techno-scientific community. Effective diplomacy
requires right decisions being made at critical moments. India needs
to recognize that its political choices could alter global outcomes.
Being a great power, India, must come out of the "autonomy" box,
since alliances are important tools of major powers foreign policy,
and the "search for alliances was always a part of Indian strategic
behaviour".
However, shared interests do not mean that India will subordinate its
national interests. Differences between both countries cannot be
overlooked as India is a "sovereignty-conscious country", while US
has no history of sharing leadership. Factors like "differential in
raw power," competing national preferences, differences in
negotiating styles and tactics, absence of any tradition of
cooperation, and diversity of domestic interests may not allow both
countries to form a formal alliance. The author reiterates that the
US has the "habit to lead," and India has "no experience of [being] a
junior partner". Hence, the possibility of sharing leadership is
bleak; whatever engagement emerges would have to be sought on equal
terms.
The author's extreme position on the attitude of the scientific-
bureaucratic community, described as "reluctant" and distrustful is
debatable. In fact, their attitude is based on suspicions of US
policy since they have been its worst sufferers, personally and
institutionally. Owing to their unfamiliarity with diplomacy, they
are conservative and it will take some time for them to come to terms
with the present realities.
Raja Mohan's witty interpretation of the imperatives of Indo-US
relations and the success stories of India's foreign policy, despite
some editorial slips, make Impossible Allies a must for policy-
makers, academia and those with an interest in this subject.
URL: http://scholar.google.co. in/scholar? hl=en&q=author: %22Mohan%
22+intitle:%
22Impossible+Allies:+Nuclear+ India,+United+ States,+and+ the+...%
22+&um=1&ie=UTF-8&oi= scholarr
Highlights of Indo-US nuclear deal
The agreement not to hinder or interfere with India's nuclear
programme for military purposes.
* US will help India negotiate with the IAEA for an India-specific
fuel supply agreement.
* Washington will support New Delhi develop strategic reserves of
nuclear fuel to guard against future disruption of supply.
* In case of disruption, US and India will jointly convene a group of
friendly supplier countries to include nations like Russia, France
and the UK to pursue such measures to restore fuel supply.
* Both the countries agree to facilitate nuclear trade between
themselves in the interest of respective industries and consumers.
* India and the US agree to transfer nuclear material, non-nuclear
material, equipment and components.
* Any special fissionable material transferred under the agreement
shall be low enriched uranium.
* Low enriched uranium can be transfered for use as fuel in reactor
experiments and in reactors for conversion or fabrication.
* The ambit of the deal include research, development, design,
construction, operation, maintenance and use of nuclear reactors,
reactor experiments and decommissioning.
* The US will have the right to seek return of nuclear fuel and
technology but it will compensate for the costs incurred as a
consequence of such removal.
* India can develop strategic reserve of nuclear fuel to guard
against any disruption of supply over the lifetime of its reactors.
* Agreement provides for consultations on the circumstances,
including changed security environment, before termination of the
nuclear cooperation.
* Provision for one-year notice period before termination of the
agreement.
* The US to engage Nuclear Suppliers Group to help India obtain full
access to the international fuel market, including reliable,
uninteruppted and continual access to fuel supplies from firms in
several nations.
* The US will have the right to seek return of nuclear fuel and
technology.
* In case of return, Washington will compensate New Delhi promptly
for the "fair market value thereof" and the costs incurred as a
consequence of such removal.
* Both the countries to set up a Joint Committee for implementation
of the civil nuclear agreement and development of further cooperation
in this field.
* The agreement grants prior consent to reprocess spent fuel.
* Sensitive nuclear technology, nuclear facilities and major critical
components can be transferred after amendment to the agreement.
* India will establish a new national facility dedicated to
reprocessing safeguarded nuclear material under IAEA safeguards.
* Nuclear material and equipment transferred to India by the US...
India works overtime to shore up nuclear deal with USFont Size:
Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Bruce Loudon, South Asia
correspondent | July 07, 2008
INDIA'S nuclear deal with the US, back on track after a spectacular
weekend realignment of domestic political forces, faced new hurdles
last night as officials worked overtime to thwart international
opposition that they fear could yet stymie the pact.
With an eye on the imminent end of the Bush administration, the
officials in New Delhi were focusing on key members of the 45-nation
Nuclear Suppliers Group, including Australia and Canada, that are
required to approve the deal once it is assured of domestic political
backing.
The NSG and the International Atomic Energy Agency are vital next
stages in the path to approval of a deal that Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, architect of his country's economic miracle, regards
as the key to its future.
The NSG, established specifically to counter nuclear proliferation,
is required to grant an exemption that would allow India access to
nuclear supplies, while a separate safeguards agreement is needed
with the IAEA.
Spurring the rush to complete the deal is the belief that if it is
not completed well before the US presidential election, it will be
lost.
The Rudd Government's hard line against uranium supplies for India is
a source of high-level concern in New Delhi.
Last month, during a visit to Canberra by Indian Foreign Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, Mr Rudd's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith would say
only that when the Indo-US agreement "comes before either the NSG or
the IAEA, we will give consideration to it at that point in time".
A statement issued after meetings between the two foreign ministers
was silent on the key issue of exporting uranium to countries that
did not accede to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - a central
tenet of Labor Party policy on India.
Reports in New Delhi last night said the US had assured Dr Singh it
would be able to line up support within the NSG. But Indian policy
planners are not convinced and are lobbying members for support. "We
need to persuade Australia and other countries that, having now been
assured of domestic political backing for the deal, no roadblocks are
put in our way within the councils of the NSG and the IAEA," one
senior official told The Australian last night.
"It would be extremely unfortunate if putative allies now made life
difficult for us."
The hectic lobbying followed Dr Singh's success in winning
parliamentary support from the controversial regional Samajwadi
(Socialist) party.
Last night, Samajwadi leaders pledged their parliamentary support for
the Government, a remarkable about-face even by the standards of
Indian politics, given the extent to which Congress and the
socialists were previously at war with each other.
The new alliances should give the coalition a wafer-thin majority in
parliament for approval of the nuclear deal - 275 seats out of a
total of 542.
The opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, seen as a
shoo-in to win an election, is demanding an immediate vote of
confidence in parliament and believes it has the numbers to bring
down the Government and force the country to the polls.
The influential Economic Times yesterday described Dr Singh's deal
with Samajwadi as "a daring political act that a dyed in the wool
politician would have baulked at. He single-handedly retrieved the
accord from its slow death and put it back on the policy table."
The deal would be a major foreign policy achievement for Dr Singh,
and a rare bright spot in a year of escalating inflation, slower
economic growth and high food prices that have dimmed the
Government's glow and weakened its chances of staying in power.
Political analysts say that compared with inflation and food costs,
however, the nuclear pact will have much less sway when elections
come.
http://www.theaustralian.news. com.au/story/ 0,25197,23977962 -
2703,00.html
UPA-Left relations: No point of return?
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ ndtv/story. aspx?id=NEWEN200 80055604
Sandeep Phukan
Friday, July 4, 2008 (New Delhi)
For almost a year now the Left and the Congress have battled over the
Indo-US nuclear deal. Now, relations have reached a breaking point.
In an interview on August 13, 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had
dared the Left to withdraw support to his government over the Indo-US
nuclear deal.
He said that the deal in no way compromised India's position and
would in fact end India's nuclear isolation.
The Left differed and the nuclear battle turned bitter.
On August 17, Prakash Karat, CPM General Secretary said, ''The
government should not proceed or else they will have to face serious
consequences.''
Then frantic negotiations followed. The specter of early elections
forced allies to step in and work out a compromise.
The Left-UPA panel was set up to examine the nuclear deal. But it was
clear that there was no meeting ground.
The government wanted to move ahead and the Left was determined to
block the deal. Then in November, there seemed to be a breakthrough.
''We have decided to approach the IAEA secretariat to seek
clarification. The deliberations will be reported to this committee
and the government will proceed ahead only after the Committee
submits its findings,'' said Pranab Mukherjee, Foreign Minister, in a
meeting on November 16.
It wasn't really a breakthrough though, Karat explained to his
partymen that the Left did not want political uncertainty to affect
Congress' chances in the Gujarat elections and so had made a
concession by allowing the IAEA talks to start.
''Once they return from IAEA, if they want to go ahead, we will ask
them to prepare for elections,'' Karat had said on December 9, 2007.
Many believed that the nuclear deal would die out in the endless
meetings of the Left-UPA Committee. But six months later, the
government made a fresh bid to push the deal through.
On June 29, 2008, Karat retorted back, ''If the government moves
forward we will withdraw support to UPA.''
And that is where it stands now. The government may survive now but
it seems that the UPA will have to part ways with their friends of
four years.
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