Ebong Indrajit
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 26
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
High alert in Malkangiri district, borders sealed
Press Trust Of India
Malkangiri, July 17, 2008
A day after Maoists killed 17 police personnel in a landmine blast in Orissa, a high alert was sounded in Malkangiri district, the site of the explosion, and borders with Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were sealed.
State police along with Special Operations Group (SOG) is doing combing operation in the state. They are being assisted by CRPF, anti-naxal Greyhound Force of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh police, police said.
Amidst speculation about possible use of RDX in Wednesday's blast, experts are trying to ascertain the nature of explosives used by the ultras.
"Our scientific team is working on the spot to verify whether RDX has been used in the explosion," DGP Gopal Chandra Nanda told reporters after visiting the blast site.
Maoists yesterday triggered a landmine blast at MV-126, about 50 km from Malkangiri, when jawans of Orissa's SOG and police were travelling in a van to MPV-41.
The attack came 18 days after the Maoists carried out an attack, which left 35 dead and dozens injured, on a launch carrying Greyhound personnel in a reservoir in Malkangiri district.
Somnath undergoes routine eye check-up
Hyderabad (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today underwent a routine eye check at L V Prasad Eye Institute here.
Chatterjee underwent a cataract surgery two weeks ago and he is absolutely normal, an institute official said.
Later, he underwent some checks at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology.
When newsmen tried to contact Chatterjee for his stand on nuclear deal and his continuation in office, his aids kept the media away from him telling the Speaker is not interested in meeting them.
He is likely to return to Delhi on Thursday night.
No question of compromise on nuke programme: Sonia
Nellore (AP) (PTI): In a strong rebuttal of the Left parties criticism on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said there was no question of compromising on the country's security interest, nuclear programme and foreign policy.
Against the backdrop of allegations by the former allies against the government and the Congress leadership, she said they did not not need certificate of patriotism from anyone.
Strongly backing the prime minister, she said the country needs access to latest nuclear technology and fuel from other countries and asked how they could be faulted for trying to provide this to people.
".....Yet we are being accused of going against the interest of our country. Let me state before you, before the whole country categorically. There is no no question of compromising on our security interest, on our nuclear programme and our independent foreign policy," Gandhi said addressing a public meeting here.
In the Congress Working Committee (CWC) last week, she regretted the break up in ties with the Left parties but today she appeared more direct in replying to their criticism on the deal.
The UPA chairperson said through India there was need for access to the latest nuclear technology and fuel from other countries.
"And this is what we want to do for our people. And how can we be faulted for striving to provide all this for our people. Yet, we are being accused of going against the interest of our country," she said.
Referring to the accusation that the government was going against the country's interest, Gandhi said without naming any party that "We do not not need any certificate from any party or anybody about our patriotism".
Gandhi said there was no question of compromising on the issue and "the future generation would recognise the value of this agreement, value of what Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) is doing today."
"What the country needs most is to go ahead with pride the politics that unites and not the kind of politics other parties do, spreading hatred. We don't need the politics of division."
She said the nuclear deal was extremely important "as it would enable more nuclear power plants so that we can generate more power."
"Our demand for electricity is growing day by day. To eliminate power cuts we need access to nuclear technology and this is what we want to do for the people. We need more and more power for farms, farmers, schools, hospitals and for every single village and house in the country."
Touching upon the issue of inflation, she said government had to face huge challenges due to unprecedented oil price rise.
Hitting out at the NDA for raking up inflation issue, Gandhi said during its regime the price of oil was USD 35 per barrel which has jumped to USD 147 per barrel now now.
Pointing out that India has to import 75 per cent of its oil requirements, she said "This imposes a very heavy burden on us. But we have been extremely cautious that the consumer of the petro products do not suffer."
She added, "We need more and more power for farms, farmers, schools, hospitals and for every single village and house in the country."
Touching upon the issue of inflation, she said government has to face huge challenges due to unprecedented oil price rise.
India changes strategy for IAEA talks
17 Jul, 2008, 0236 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a last-minute change of plan, India has decided to reduce the number of countries it will brief on the IAEA-India specific safeguards agreement and keep the IAEA secretariat out of the picture for the July 18 meeting.
Instead of going through the IAEA secretariat as planned, the government decided on Tuesday that it would directly invite countries on the IAEA board of governors and a few members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group for the briefing.
Subsequently, the secretariat was informed on Tuesday night that India had decided to cancel the Friday meeting, which was to be hosted by the IAEA secretariat. This led to some amount of confusion on Wednesday with the secretariat putting out statements saying that the briefing called by India had been cancelled. India to clear the misunderstanding then informed the secretariat that it was hosting its own meeting outside the IAEA headquarters.
What has caught the IAEA secretariat by surprise is that it was India which had asked the secretariat to host the Friday meeting, which had been fixed for 10. 30 am at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna. Now India will host the meeting later at 4.30 pm, local time in Vienna. "We just learnt that there is a briefing scheduled on Friday afternoon at a location outside the IAEA premises. The invitation was distributed directly by India to the board members," said IAEA spokesperson Melissa Fleming .
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/India_changes_strategy_for_IAEA_talks/articleshow/3242661.cms
Indian parliamentary system and its soul, the constitution of India bleed in agony as the living Legend amongst Indian theatre personalities, Badal Sarkar is indisposed nowadays.The running Nuke Soap Opera has stolen every relevant issues challenging the Nation. At the same time the Indigenous culture is also marginalised in such a way that none of the Media, neither electronic nor print has any time to focus otherwise unsponsered. Hence mainstream Bengali media woes the newly found BANGA TANOYA, Nihita Biswas, the Latest icon of Brahminical Hegemony to reveal her affair with the Lady Killer Charles Shobhraj.
For me, as being an outsider, remembering Badal Sarkar seems to be the most relevant item during these Tsunami times of Indian Nation. I had not the opportunity to witness the great IPT movement in Bengal but I feel the thrill while I witness Mahashweta Debi singing the songs of NABANNYA, directed by her one time hubby, Bijon Bhattacharya. I have gone through Asok Mitra`s details of Kallol days in sixties. I have also felt the heat and dust of Jagannath in eighties while being engaged in Jharkhand movement with AK Roy.
I was fortunate to witness the sensational exposure of Brahmincal hegemony of Pune Zionist Brahmins by Vijay Tendulkar in his masterpiece Ghasiram kotwal. I have seen magnificent productions of sOJAN BADIYAR GHAT, TEESTA PARER BRITANTO, Antigone, Kath Kaa gadee, Mricchkatic, Tempest, Chalk Circle and so on. But it was not the same as I experienced with Badal Sarkar plays like Paagla Ghoda, Ebong Indrajit or Micchil (Julus) in Nainital. We used the plays as the most relevant tools of resistance during Chipoko movement in 1978-79.
Bengali theatre is identified with Resistance and Mass mobilisation. Way back in 1870s Dino Bandhu Mitra wrote a play with the theme of Neel Darpan. It was enacted and legend like Nati Binodini was the part of the venture. The play was displayed in Lahore, New Delhi, Lucknow and Brindaban at the time besides kolkata. in Lucknow, the white men were agitated when they found an Englishman was being thrashed by Indigenous untouchable peasants! The play was banned at last. Kolkata Theatre personalities continued the Grand legacy. Thus, we see Shaonli Mitra, the daughter of Shambhu Mitra and Tripti Mitre presents ANIMAL FARM with a Human Scape of Singur and Nandigram! The theatre personalities led by Shaonli and Kaushik sen lead the Intelligentsia Kolakta to mobilise mass movement favouring post modern Peasants` movement in Left ruled West Bengal. Once upon a time, Utapal Dutta led his time with KALLOL, TITAS EKTI NADEER NAAM and TINER TALWAR. Though Utpal dutta also played CHAKRANT justifying Refugee Genocide in Marichjhanpi in 1979.
Badal Sarkar, contrary to the legacy of Bengali Theatre, had never been associated with any Resistance Moviment. He was enough Apolitical , but had never been Political. Badal Sarkar was never been a party in Power politics.Thus,no one dares to remember the man. At the same time, badal sarkar never represented the Ruling West Bengal Brahminical hegemony as Shambhu Mitra, Ajitesh Bandopadhyaya, Utapal dutta, Tripti Mitra, Bijon Bhattacharya, Rudra Prasad Sengupta do. Theatre personality like Brtya Basu, most complex one and hard to communicate has become latest Icons. We have Gautam Haldar, Sumon Mukhopaddhyaya, Chandan Sen, Usha Ganguli, Kaushik sen, Shaonli Mitra, Meghnath Bhattacharya , Manoj Mitra and scores of modern theatre personalities well highlighted everywhere. But Badal Sarkar, most recognised Theatre personality out of Bengal has to see this day as sometimes Ram Kinkar Baiz and recently Somnath Hore as Artists with no political patronage have faced.
We have seen Sharat to Ritwik Ghatak being persecuted in Bengal.Even Rabindra nath Tagore was not spared. He climbed the Waves with the Nobel prize at last. Nazrul and Jasimuddin may be quoted as other significant contributors in indian Cultural Identity neglected by Bengal.Rather, the Bengalies are quite habitual to worship someone like Satyajeet Ray!
Thanks god! I don`t belong to the Procession.
In Nainital, NSD organised a Theatre Workshop sometime in 1978-79. BM shah directed, Julus, the Procession. BB Karanth presented Evam Indrajeet. The Chorus of Amal, Bimal, Kamal Ebong Indrajit haunts me even today! Aloknath, Neena Gupta and lalit tiwari enacted the plays. Later, our own jugmanch presented Julus, directed by Zahoor Allam. DK, Sharad, Zahoor, Harish pant, Dheeraj and suneet were the actors! We repeated the Julus experience with Girish Tiwari Girda`s play NAGAADE KHamosh Hain using the Mal Road,NAINITAL for the Procession!
Badal Sarkar
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Bardal Sarkar
FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT="
Born 1925
Years active 1945 - present
[show]Awards won
Other Awards
1966 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
1972 Padma Shri
1997 Ratna Sadsya
Badal Sarkar (or Badal Sircar) (1925 - ) is a famous Indian dramatist. He has written more than fifty plays of which Ebong Indrajit and Basi Khabar are well known literary pieces. He is actively involved with Bengali theatre.
He rose to prominence in the 1970's and was one of the leading figures in the revival of street theater in Bengal. He revolutionized Bengali theatre with his angst-ridden, anti-establishment plays during the Naxalite movement. [1] He has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1972, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya [2], in 1997.
Contents
[hide]
1 List of plays
2 References
3 See also
4 External links
[edit] List of plays
Ebong Indrajit
Shesh Naai
Basi Khabar
Baaki Itihaash
Pagla Ghoda
Spartacus
Prastava
Juloos
Bhoma
Solution X
Baropishima
His plays reflected the atrocities that prevailed in the society, the decayed hierarchical system and were socially enlightening.
‘Ebong Indrajit’ by Badal Sarkar
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I grew up listening to the stories of this play from dad. Although I could never fully understand what is it about no matter how many times dad told me. Finally I get a chance to see the play. A theater group called ‘Mukhosh’ is performing the play here in Bangalore. I have already got the tickets thought would spread the word a bit given the fact that me and Constant Motion bought the first two tickets from KC Das on St Marks Road. The guy there didn’t even know he has the tickets up for sale. We had tell him we saw in the net that he has the tickets. Any Bangalorean Bong interested in accompanying pls leave a comment i’ll take it from there.
A tip coming straight from Dad… You have to reach the theater before time and ensure you catch the play from the first word, otherwise you’d miss the significance of the name “Ebong Indrajit”
The details:
Date: Saturday, 30th June and Sunday, 1st July
Venue: Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram (14th Cross)
Time: 6:30 pm
Tickets: Rs.80/-
For advance booking, contact:
Anindita (9886307249)
Ayan (988680729
Apart from cinema, Bengal being a creative center for artistic and intellectual endeavor, has always taken keen interest in the theatrical elements that were found in many localized entertainments in the various districts of West Bengal. Bengali folk-dramas have their roots in the folk drama forms like Kabigan (a dramatic mode of recitation), Kirtan and Baul songs (devotional music), Chhau (a tribal dance-drama), Gajan and Gambhira (ritualistic dances), Jhumur (performing duets), Yatra and Paalaagaan, which were mostly performed in the open grounds of Bengal. These different performing art styles paved the way for professional theatres.
Professional Theatres started growing since 1795 and were taken into adulthood by distinguished conductors like D.L.Roy, Girish Ghosh, Sisir Bhaduri, Ardhendu Mushtafi and others. The noble laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore himself acted in the role of Alikbabu, in a theatre of that time.
Bengali theatre
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Bengali theatre refers to theaters in which the dialogues are in the Bengali language. However, there are some Hindi theatres as well which are widely accepted by the Bengali people (e.g. the productions of Rangakarmee, a group whose productions are directed mainly by Usha Ganguly; the productions by Padatik, another group). Some persons may be willing to incorporate these theatres in the category of Bengali theatres. Bengali Theatres are produced mainly in West Bengal of India and in Bangladesh. Bengali people are spread world wide. Sometimes, they invite the Bengali theatres at their ceremonies; sometimes, they themselves produce amateur Bengali Theatres.
Bengali theatre by and large has its origins in British rule. It began as private entertainment in the early 19th century.[1] However, in the pre-independence period (before 1947; especially in the late 19th century), Bengali theatres played a pivotal role in manifestation of dislike of the British Raj in India.
After the independence of India in 1947, leftist movements in West Bengal used theatre massively as a way of propaganda; this added some special characteristics in Bengali theatre, the hangover of which is still looming large, especially in the way of organization of the theatre groups, they are called Group theatres; most of these groups say that they carry an ideological inspiration behind their ensemble, this is how they differentiate themselves from commercial Bengali theatre, which is dead at present
Theatre is practised in West Bengal in a very wide scale. Almost every locality has a theatre group, although none of them is confined within the local characteristics. However, theatres in West Bengal can be divided in two streams - (a) Kolkata-based theatres and (b) Rural theatres. The Kolkata-based groups perform almost regularly in the popular stages in Kolkata and stay in focus. Comparatively, the rural theatre groups are less known although most of them work seriously throughout the year. What rest of the world understands as Bengali Theatre is actually the theatres presented by the Kolkata-based groups. In form and content, the two types of theatres have no major difference. But, in terms of both finance and expertise, the Kolkata-based theatres are more enriched. This is mainly due to the influx of expertise from rural areas to Kolkata in search of appreciation from a larger set of audience.
Apart from the above two categories, there are some Bengali folk theatres. The language Bengali has many versions within West Bengal and Bangladesh. The standard Bengali language is said to be the language that is spoken in Kolkata. Thus, the Bengali folk theatres vary in language as well.
Some theatre groups work especially in the category of theatre for development, in promotion of consciousness and awareness about literacy, usage of latrines, usage of gas burners, AIDS etc.
Bengali theatre, at present, is not run commercially by any group or company. A famous Bengali commercial theatre after independence has been "Nahabat". However, there is a particular category of Bengali theatre that is called "Jatra". This kind of Bengali theatre is run commercially mainly in the rural areas of West Bengal and Bangladesh. The most prominent characteristic of Jatra is over-acting with extreme use of traditional musical instruments. At present, Jatra has also been modernized to feature modern crisis through modern stories. But, the form has not changed significantly. Jatra is a very prospective scope of employment for those who can do it. Many popular Bengali film-artists participate in Jatra.
Contents
[hide]
1 Music in Bengali theatre
2 Bengali theatre in Bangladesh
3 Famous persons: In West Bengal (India)
4 In Bangladesh
5 Modern theatre companies
6 Theater Groups in Bangladesh
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Music in Bengali theatre
Insofar as it was a unique style of theatre around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Bengali theatre had its own unique form of Bengali music.[1] This form was pioneered by Girish Chandra Ghosh, who was largely responsible for its period of maturity; the era of Bengali theatre before him was mostly formative, and after his death Bengali theatre music became more experimental.[1] During the era of Girish Chandra, all stageplays included some form of traditional Bengali music, and dancer-singers who would perform before and between the acts. Mythological plays would have Kiratn?nga songs, epics would include indigenous styles such as khy?mt?, and comedies and farcical plays often included tapp? songs by Nidhu Babu.[1]
[edit] Bengali theatre in Bangladesh
Bengali theatre also means theatres produced in the official language of the nation-state Bangladesh (became independent from Pakistan in 1971) along with the theatres produced in Bengali in West Bengal, India (West Bengal is at the west of Bangladesh border) - thus, it is supposed to carry the identity and culture of a particular area.
Theatre The evolution of theatre in Bangladesh, which follows more or less the South Asian tradition with a European mix later, may be narrated in terms of three distinct streams: (i) Sanskrit theatre and derivatives, (ii) the indigenous theatre and (iii) the European theatre. In the South Asian tradition dramatic conflict is not an indispensable structural element.
Sanskrit theatre and derivatives
Ancient period With the Gupta annexation of the greater portion of Bengal by the 4th century AD, the Aryan culture of the upper Gangetic plain penetrated into the region. The flourishing trade of Bengal led to the rise of urban centres patronising art and culture. It is quite logical to believe that in such urban centres, performances of classical Sanskrit theatre would be a part of cultural life, at least among the urbane classes of the society. A few literary evidences strongly support this assumption. The most important of these is a Sanskrit play titled Lokananda by chandragomi (6th c), a reputed Buddhist grammarian from Bengal. Lokananda is structured in four acts with a prologue. The play must have been popular, for I-Tsing states, 'people all sing and dance to it throughout the five countries of India'.
The intimate political connection of Bengal (or parts of it) with the Aryan culture continued till the mid-8th century, during which period Harsavardhan of Northern India, Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa, Yashovarman of Kanyakubja and Lalitaditya of Kashmir exerted great influence. Sanskrit theatre got a great patron in Harsavardhan who was himself a renowned Sanskrit playwright (with plays such as Nagananda to his credit). Bhavabhuti, the author of Malatimadhava, was the court-poet of Yasovarman. However, the most interesting account of a performance is recorded by the Kashmiri poet Kalhan in his Rajatarangini. According to him, Jayapida, the grandson of Lalitaditya, witnessed a performance given by a highly skilled dancer named Kamala in the temple of Kartikeya in the city of pundravardhana. The performance was given in accordance with Bharat's Natyashastra (a Sanskrit treatise on theatre ascribed to Bharat).
Nothing much is known about Sanskrit theatre during the Pala Rule in Bengal (mid-8th to mid-12th c). The sole evidence is the Tibetan historian Taranath's comments about 'a grand dramatic performance that formed part of seasonal festival' in the city of vikramapura, which clearly indicates the existence of a flourishing tradition of theatre.
The Senas, with their strong Brahmanical bias and distinct south Indian background, extended widespread patronage to performances derived from Sanskrit tradition. King vijayasena (c 1096-1159) and Bhavadev Bhatta (minister of King Hari Varman and a noted scholar) both claim to have provided for a great number of deva-dasis in the temples established by them. Highly skilled in song, dance and music in the classical tradition as formulated in the Natyashastra, the deva-dasis gave public performances in the temples and also private performances at royal courts. There also exist a substantial number of references from various religious tracts of the period in which nata (actor) has been cited as a separate class. Halayudh Mishra's sekhshubhodaya, a historical kavya or poem, written in Sanskrit, confirms the existence of nata (actors) and nartaki (danseuse) in the Sena court. vidyapati's Purus Pariksa also refers to a performance by an actor, named Gandharva, in the court of King laksmanasena. Prevalence of classical Sanskrit theatre in the Sena court can also be inferred from govardhan acharya's poetic work titled aryasaptashati. Shlokas 174 and 538 of Aryasaptashati clearly refer to acting, curtain, and actress, which obviously imply the existence of Sanskrit theatre in the court of the Sena rulers.
Ragatarangini, a critical work on music composed in 1160 by Lochan Pandit, refers to an earlier text titled Tambaru-nataka. It is possible that Tambaru-nataka was a critical work on dramaturgy. However, the most important material for study of theatre during this period is a Sanskrit performance-text titled Gitagovindam (c 1200 AD) by jaydev, the court-poet of Laksmanasena. In the Gitagovindam Jaydev blended the existing popular tale of radha and krishna with one of the uparupakas (minor type of plays) of the classical Sanskrit tradition and set a new trend, which was to be echoed in the centuries that followed. If oral traditions have any historical validity, then Jaydev performed the Gitagovindam as a singer with his wife Padmavati as a dancer.
The Gitagovindam is composed in twelve parts and features three characters: Krishna, Radha, and Sakhi. The characters may be performed by three dancers (as in the case of Manipuri Rasa Nrtya still performed in Bangladesh) or by a single dancer (as it was possibly the case with Jaydev and Padmavati). The dancers are required to sing their lines simultaneously as they dance with mimetic gestures (angika abhinaya). In between the songs, the sutradhar (narrator) is required to render narration in verse, in which he describes part of the action, comments on the same and sometimes also introduces the characters and describes their mental states. The structure of performance follows the general pattern of Sanskrit theatre. Clearly, the text bears remarkable similarity with sangit-natakas (verse-plays) of the Nepalese court. The Gitagovindam and the Aryasaptashati bear evidence that in the court of Laksmanasena, the love theme of Radha and Krishna, performed by courtesans, was indeed a regular feature. Jaydev's text stood out as the model, to be emulated by the later poets in vernacular during the course of the following centuries.
Medieval period Sanskrit theatre received a serious setback towards the beginning of the13th century when the Turkish invasion wrested north-western Bengal from the Senas. However, Sagaranandi composed a critical work on Sanskrit dramaturgy, titled Natakalaksanaratnakosa in the same century. The work cites quite a few play-texts, which were also composed. Nothing more can be deduced with certainty, but the very existence of a critical work on drama presupposes the continuance of the tradition of Sanskrit theatre in Bengal, possibly under the patronage of Hindu feudal lords and in Hindu kingdoms.
From the 16th century onwards, literary evidence appears in greater number. Towards the end of the same century, King laksmana manikya of bhulua composed two plays, Vikhyata-vijaya and Kuvalayashva-charita, his son, Amara Manikya composed one (Vaikuntha-vijaya) and a court poet, kavitarkik, composed another, Kautuka-ratnakara. This evidence proves unequivocally the existence of Sanskrit court theatre in Bengal. It continued in the 18th century because of krishnachandra roy, tributary king of Nabadwip (southern part of west bengal). Chandi (1760), the unfinished play of his court poet bharatachandra, which is based on the mythological tale of Mahisasura Vadha (the slaying of the buffalo shaped asura), displays remarkable influence of Sanskrit dramaturgy, although the play is not composed entirely in Sanskrit. Although the play was never performed, the court of Krishnanagara is known to have produced another play of similar characteristics named Chitra-yajna by Vidyanath Vachaspati, in 1777/78.
Away from the court, rupa goswami, one of chaitanya's close associates based at Vrindavan, composed three Sanskrit plays, Bidagdha Madhava (1524), Lalita Madhava (1529), Dankeli-kaumudi (1549), as well as a critical work on Sanskrit dramaturgy, Nataka Chandrika. At least three more plays were written outside Vrindavan: Jagannathavallabha by Ramananda Ray, chaitanyachandrodaya by kavikarnapur and Sangit Madhava by Govinda Das. The plays by Rupa Goswami and Ramananda Ray's are all based on mythological tales of Krishna. Kavi Karnapur's play is based on the life of Chaitanya. Of these plays, only Jagannathavallabha is known to have been performed. All save Govinda Das's play were translated into Bangla in the 17th century. It is not known if any of these translations were performed.
Modern period Translations of Sanskrit play-texts continued in the 19th century. A few of these are Krishna Mishra's Prabodhachandrodaya, kalidasa's Abhijnana-shakuntala (1848) and Ratnavali (1849). Scholars in Bengal composed quite a few Sanskrit texts in the modern period as well. A few examples of these are Amara-mangala by panchanan tarkaratna (published c 1913), Nala-damayantiya and Syamantakoddhar by Kalipada Tarkacharya, etc. The tradition of Sanskrit theatre significantly influenced the initial phase of Bangla plays. Jogendranath Gupta's Kirtibilas, credited as the first original Bangla play and the first tragedy, makes use of the Nandi, the Sutradhara and Nati. The first Bangla play to be performed on stage, ramnarayan tarkaratna's Kulinkulasarvasva (composed in 1854, performed in 1857), also borrows from the Sanskrit tradition in its use of the Nandi, the Sutradhara and the Nati.
With rising social consciousness and effects of western education, the conventions of Sanskrit theatre were seen to be ineffective in portraying the social ethos of the period. michael madhusudan dutt (1824-1873), the literary giant of this period, successfully bridged the transition to an urban theatre independent of Sanskrit influence by introducing techniques of European dramaturgy. From the mid-19th century onwards, Sanskrit theatre and its derivatives ceased to be an effective force in the theatre of Bengal.
Indigenous theatre The term 'indigenous theatre' (generally known as 'folk' theatre) encompasses all forms of theatre which originated in the region of Bengal. Unlike the Sanskrit theatre, the indigenous theatre was always in direct contact with the people and was often created and supported by them. However, it was not closed to the refined techniques of the Sanskrit theatre. In the indigenous theatre, the performers include actors, dancers, singers, musicians, and puppeteers (both male and female). Their performance is not restricted to dialogue in prose but is comprehensive and wide-ranging. It includes any one or more of the following elements: (i) dance, (ii) instrumental music and (iii) speech rendered in prose, verse or lyric, either in the form of narration or that of dialogue. The indigenous theatre of Bangladesh has developed in distinct forms, which can be loosely categorised into (i) the Narrative, (ii) the Song-and-Dance, (iii) the Processional, and (iv) the Supra-personae.
Narrative forms In the narrative forms of theatre, the lead-narrator (gayen) describes an event, portrays various characters related to the event and enacts the action, all in the third person. While engaged as described above, s/he partly speaks his/her lines in prose, partly recites in verse, and partly sings his/her story. S/he is assisted by the choral singers-cum-musicians (dohars), who employ musical instruments (Mridanga and Mandira) and sing choral passages. The gayen carries a chamar (whisk) in religious performances and occasionally dances while singing. Usually, the performer makes effective use of vocal inflections and physical gestures in his/her portrayal of the characters. Sometimes s/he also readjusts his/her basic costume, and uses a few props to make the portrayal more effective.
The earliest evidence of narrative theatre in Bengal can be traced to the charyapada or charyagiti, a form of songs popular in Bengal from the 9th to the 12th century AD. These songs were composed by Tantric Buddhist mendicants to expound their religious doctrine. They were presented to the lay populace with the help of dance, in a manner similar to the charya dance still seen in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.
Ethnological studies indicate a long tradition of narrative theatre in the Natha cult. These performances were based on oral compositions of two distinct groups: (i) those dealing with the origin of the Natha siddhas and the subsequent rescue of Minanatha by his disciple Goraksanatha from the enticement of worldly pleasure and (ii) those dealing with the exploits of Queen Maynamati and her son King Govindachandra (or Gopichandra), the disciple of Hadipa. Narrative performances based on the Maynamati-Gopichandra legend were possibly created sometime immediately after the 11th century and gained wide currency all over northern India. On the other hand, the performances based on the Goraksanatha-Minanatha legend are more difficult to date. On the assumption that the Natha cult evolved sometime in the 9th century, it is possible to place the earliest performances of the Goraksanatha-Minanatha legend in the 10th century.
None of the extant literary and liturgical texts of the Dharma cult can be dated beyond the 17th century. However, it is very much possible that in the 12th century, when the cult was definitely in existence, there did exist a body of oral narratives on which the later texts were built. Extant texts and current practice among the followers of the cult indicate that celebrations of the ancient period included narrative performances of oral compositions.
A large number of orally composed folk tales still prevailing at the popular level, such as Madhumalar Kechchha, Sakhisona, Malanchakanyar Kechchha, Shit-Basanta, Kanchanamala and Malatikusumamala, indicate that their original nuclei were created in the 12th century or even earlier. All the tales are secular in content, and some of them are still performed in Bangladesh. It has been only since the first half of the 20th century that they have been scribed and published in editions such as Thakurmar Jhuli. It is reasonable to believe that, for a predominantly non-literate audience, stories would be told rather than read, and the most expedient way to commit a story to memory is to have it composed in verse. Furthermore, terra-cotta plaques depicting secular (Sanskrit Panchatantra) stories have also been discovered in the temple of Somapura Monastery. Therefore, it can be reasonably argued that the secular tales of the ancient period were orally composed in rhymed metrical verse and rendered as narrative performance.
Various political and social factors, including state-patronised Brahmanical hegemony in the 12th century and the advent of the Muslims in the early13th century, caused a qualitative change in the culture of Bengal. Consequently, there was a gradual acculturation, decay and transformation in Buddhist, Dharma and Natha cult performances. On the other hand, an entirely new set of narrative performances appeared in the indigenous theatre of Bengal. Distinguishing between their subject matter, these can be divided into three categories: (1) performances glorifying the Aryan pantheon and legendary heroes as recounted in the ramayana and the mahabharata, (2) performances glorifying the indigenous pantheon as recounted in the mangalkavya and (3) performances glorifying Muslim legendary heroes. Besides, the tradition of secular narratives continued as before, invigorated by interaction with the above. In this context, it is important to remember that early bangla literature was dependent on lyric. Therefore, literary compositions of the period under study should be held as performance-texts, not merely pages of reading material valid only for literary analysis.
Largely based on the Bhagavata, srikrishnavijay was composed in 1473-80. Therefore, it is very much possible that narrative performance based on oral compositions of Krishna legends existed from earlier times, probably from the beginning of the 13th century. The translation of Valmiki's Ramayana in the first half of 15th century also presupposes the existence in the 13th and 14th centuries of narrative performances drawing from oral texts based on the exploits of Ramachandra.
Initiated in the early 16th century by Chaitanya (1486-1533), Gaudiya vaisnavism made a significant and popular contribution to the theatre of Bengal by giving rise to the narrative form known as Lila Kirtan, which had its formal inception at the famous festival of Kheur in 1576 or slightly after. Narottama Das, who is credited with having given structure to Lila Kirtan, arrived at its structure by stringing together brief Vaisnavite devotional songs known as padavalis, to produce a coherent narrative based on a particular lila of Radha and Krishna. He synthesised the indigenous musical tradition of Bengal with the north Indian classical tradition and arrived at its unique blend.
Vijay Gupta's Padmapurana (1494) and Bipradas Pipilai's Manasavijaya (end of 15th c) are clear indications that narrative performances on the serpent goddess manasa were very much in existence in the 15th century. However, narrative performances based on oral compositions were possibly prevalent in Bengal in the 13th and 14th centuries, before the composition of written texts. From the 16th century onwards, there appear a sizeable number of mangalakavyas on Manasa, the most important of which was Narayan Dev's Padmapurana (first half of 16th c) and Ketakadas Ksemananda's Manasamangala (mid-17th c). Besides existing written texts, quite a few popular versions based on oral compositions also came up during this period. Vijay Gupta's Padmapurana is still performed in south-western Bangladesh as Rayani Gan, while an adaptation of Narayan Dev's text is performed in north Bengal as Padmapurana Gan.
The 16th century is also well known as the era of mangalakavyas on chandi, for it was in this period that these gained widest currency. The most renowned mangalakavya on the goddess is the one composed by Kavikankana mukundaran chakravarti (c 1555-56). The signature-piece (bhanita) indicates that the poet himself performed Chandimangala and parts of it were rendered in lyric. On a few occasions his signature-pieces suggest that the poet was in the company of skilled musicians (kalanta, lit. well versed in classical music) and actors (natuya). Another section indicates that the performance was composed of git (song), badya (music), natya (acting) and dance, executed by actors and skilled musicians. This textual evidence proves that Chandimangala was given in the narrative form in the 16th century.
References in chaitanya bhagavata (Part I, Chapters 2 & 13; 1535-36) indicate the existence of Mangal Chandir Git (narrative performance based on eulogies of Mangal Chandi), in the first half of the 16th century. The same text also testifies that narrative performances of Shiver Git, based on oral compositions in praise of shiva, existed in the first half of the 16th century and possibly earlier. A lone performer, who danced and played the damaru (drum) as he sang, would perform in a courtyard.
The appearance of yusuf-zulekha (c 1390-1410) marks the entry of an entirely new element, the Perso-Arabic influence, in the history of performance in Bengal. rasulbijay (1474), which recounts the life of the Prophet, emphasised the keen interest of the Muslims in exerting their distinct identity by attempting to create a tradition parallel to the Hindu puranas. Both the texts were composed under court patronage of the Muslim rulers and point to the beginning of narrative performances based on Islamic root-paradigms. By the 16th century, a large number of texts dealing with Islamic cosmology and legends began to appear. Some of these (such as Maktul Hosain, Kashemer Ladai, Karbala and janganama), focus particularly on the pathetic deaths of Imam Hasan and Imam Hosain and the revenge of their legendary half-brother, Hanifa. Others (nabi bangsha, Rasulbijay and amir hamza) illustrate a vast area, often beginning with the creation of the world, running right through legends related to various prophets, and ending with the life and accomplishments of the Prophet. The textual composition suggests that most of these were given as narrative performance.
Besides the two groups of texts mentioned above, there also evolved a third, the stories of which were indigenous in origin. Based on various legends associated with a number of Muslim saints (pirs), these can be best termed as 'miracles of saints'. Most of these texts, composed in rhymed metrical verse, profess the efficacy of the cult of their respective pirs ie, Khwaja Khizir, Pir Madar, Gazi Pir, Satya Pir and Manik Pir. They seek to generate devotion in the cult followers and warn the non-believers of dire consequences.
Khwaja Khizir is the earliest Muslim saint whose miracles gained wide currency in the form of narrative (Khwaja Khizirer Jari) and processional performance (Beda Bhasan). Historical records on the celebration of Beda Bhasan by the ruling elite in 1626-27 make it possible to believe that the celebration was very much in existence by the mid-16th century. The hey-day of the cult and its performances were the 17th and the 18th centuries. On the other hand, granting of a special privilege to the followers of Pir Madar by a Mughal viceroy of Bengal in 1659 (which included taking out processions in honour of the pir) indicate that narrative and processional performances related to the cult must have evolved by 1600 AD. Celebrations in honour of Pir Madar on the day of the full moon in Magh (mid-January to mid-February), accompanied by processions with bamboo poles and music played on dhak, dhol and kasi, are possibly of earlier origin, dating back to the first half of the 15th century when the cult was first introduced in Bengal. Performances of the cult, which still exist in Bangladesh, are Madariya Michhil, Madar Bansher Gan and Madar Pirer Gan. These performances clearly show that the cult had incorporated elements from Tantric practices. Historical accounts (Risalat al-Shuhada, second half of 15th c), textual evidence (sheikh faizullah's Gazibijay, second half of 16th c), ethnological studies and traditions reveal that the legend related to Pir Gazi arose shortly after 1600 AD. The earliest performance of the cult of Gazi, a narrative form known as gazir gan still seen in Bangladesh today, arose by the mid-17th century. The earliest literary reference to satya pir is to be found in kavi kanka's Vidya-Sundar (1502) while the earliest written text on the miracles of the pir was composed by Dvija Giridhara in 1663. It is believed that a form of narrative performance (Satya Pirer Gan), based on oral compositions, evolved in the second half of the 16th century. It was in the 18th and 19th centuries that the performance gained wide currency. Literary references to Manik Pir begin to appear in the first half of the 18th century and extant written texts in his honour were composed in the same century. It is possible that narrative performances based on oral compositions (Manik Pirer Jari) began to develop in the second half of the 17th century.
Secular narrative performances based on folk and fairy tales continued in the medieval period. Chaitanya Bhagavata testifies to the existence of performances known as Yogi Paler Git, Bhogi Paler Git and Mahi Paler Git. However, the most significant development occurred in the independent kingdom of arakan far in the south-east, where Bahram Khan (16th c) composed laily-majnu, a free translation of a Persian poetic text of the same title. Bahram Khan's text is important for it is one of those rare specimens of Bangla literature which end in separation and pathos, marking a sharp departure from the norm of union and fulfilment of desire of the central characters. The text marks the beginning of an entirely new trend of pathetic lore. The same Arakanese court was a fertile ground for a host of Muslim poets, the most famous of whom was alaol (c 1607-1680), whose compositions include masterpieces such as padmavati (1651) and Saiful Muluk-Badiujjamal (1659-69). All these texts are secular and romantic in character. They are also remarkable for drawing their material from Hindi and Persian sources, thus enriching the theatre of Bengal with new vitality. All these texts were performed in narrative form and gradually gained currency among the Muslim population all over Bengal. By the late 18th century, there appeared the pala gan, the form that features the oral version of maimansingha-gitika.
Song-and-dance forms A song-and-dance performance (nata-gita) is characterised by dances rendered by performers enacting characters while singing their lines or dancing silently to songs sung by a group of choral singers and musicians.
The charyagiti clearly reveal that song-and-dance performances were very well known among the Tantric Buddhists of the Pala society. Examples can be seen in the song composed by kahnapa (text no 10), which contains the words 'dancing' and 'the profession of acting' as well as in the concluding two lines of another song composed by Vinapa (text no 17) which contains the words 'dancing', 'singing' and 'Buddhist drama'. Sketches of siddhacharyas in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries have shown Vinapa and Sarahapa with musical instruments, while Minapa, Dombipa and Jalandharipa are shown in dancing postures. These and other references to performances made in Tantric esoteric texts (such as Guhyasamajatantra) suggest that highly esoteric song-and-dance type of performances, aiming at spiritual liberation, were held in secluded spots at night or in temples. These song-and-dance performances were usually given by a male ascetic with his female partner and were accompanied by song (dohas and charyas sung by fellow ascetics) and dance.
The Tantric Buddhist tradition of song-and-dance performances continued among the followers of the Natha cult in performances such as Yogir Gan and Yugi Parva, still seen in Bangladesh today. A glimpse of ancient song-and-dance performances of the cult can be seen in Goraksanath's performance in the presence of Minanatha as recounted in three narrative texts composed in the 16th century: goraksavijay by Sheikh Faizullah, Gorkha-vijay by Bhimsen Ray and Minachetan by Shyamadas Sen, and a play-text, Goraksa-vijay, by Vidyapati c 1403. Gopichandra Nataka (17th c), another play-text from the Nepalese royal court, further substantiates the contention made above.
Krttivas, in his preface to the Ramayana (1415-1433), records the popularity of song-and-dance performance in the royal court of the Muslim rulers of gauda. The so-called account of ma huan recorded in Ying Yai Sheng Lan (1408-1411) also confirms song-and-dance performance in the Muslim royal court. According to the Chinese text, song-and-dance type of performance were given by 'good singers and dancers' in gorgeous costume 'to enliven drinking and feasting'.
The composition of srikrishnakirtan by c 1400 indicates that, by the 13th century, there existed among the people a type of song-and-dance performance based on oral compositions featuring three characters: Radha, Krishna, and Badai. During performance, the characters danced as they sang their lines. Like the Gitagovindam, these performances could be given by a single performer who would enact all the three characters or by three performers who would enact the characters separately. These were performed in rural festivals or during ritualised worship of deities in temples.
The existence of song-and-dance performances in the early 16th century is substantiated by Chaitanya Bhagavata (II, 18) which elaborately describes Chaitanya and his disciples enacting such a performance. Characters portrayed were Rukmini, Radha, her companion Suprabha, Badai, Kotala, Narada and his follower. One part of the performance featured Rukmini while the other, Radha. The spectators, all Chaitanya's followers, sat on all four sides of the performance space; the green room was situated at a little distance. At least one source of lighting was a torch held by a stagehand who moved with the performers. There exist only two more references to early song-and-dance performances within the fold of Vaisnavism. One is from Sylhet, in the first half of the 16th century, which may have given rise to ghatu gan of mymensingh. The other, from the second half of the same century, to a form referred to as Shekhari Jatra featuring Radha, soon became extinct. By the late 17th century, these early attempts matured into what is known as Pala Kirtana in Bangladesh today.
Supra-personae forms The masked dance of the Gambhira festival was originally an ancient shamanist or spirit cult performance of the Koch community. By the 9th century, the Tantric Buddhists in Bengal assimilated the performance to evolve their own forms of masked dance, which were similar to Astamatrika Dance, Mahakali Pyayakhan, Devi Pyayakhan (Kathmandu, Nepal) and Tibetan Buddhist masked dances. These dances were performed in the Buddhist monasteries during religious festivals, very much as in Tibetan and Nepalese practice. These performances were given at the year-ending celebration of chaitra sangkranti and were given after processional performances.
By the end of the 12th century, when Tantric Saivism in Bengal had assimilated decaying Tantric Buddhism, Buddhist masked dances were also adapted to give rise to Mahakali Pyayakhan, Devi Pyayakhan and similar dances. Tantric Saivite masked dances in Bengal, unlike those of Kathmandu Valley (Nepal), decayed because of Muslim conquest. What remains today can be seen in Mukho Nacha, Kali Kach, Gambhira festival and Sang Jatra.
Performance with scroll painting The existence of patuya sangit (performances with scroll paintings) in ancient Bengal is confirmed by two sources: Yama-pattika as referred to in Harsa-charita (7th c AD) and scroll painting of the santals. Banabhatta (the court-poet of Harsavardhan) in his Harsa-charita briefly describes a popular performance of Yama-pattaka witnessed by Harsavardhan on his way back to the capital after he learnt of the death of his brother. It was given by a performer with the help of a scroll-painting showing Yama, the King of the Underworld. On the other hand, recent ethnographic studies have shown that the Santal people have among them a type of scroll painting representing the origin of life (Ko Reyak Katha) and the passage of the dead from the mortal world to the life beyond (Chaksudan Pat). These too point to the ancient origin of Patuya Gan performances in Bengal. In the medieval period, scroll painting performances eulogising Ramachandra, Krishna, Manasa, Chandi were extremely popular. By the 18th century, scroll-painting performances gained popularity even among the Muslims, as evinced by Gazir Pat (scroll-painting performances eulogising Pir Gazi), which can still be seen in Bangladesh today.
Puppet theatre It is not known when puppet theatre was introduced in Bengal. The earliest extant literary evidence of the existence of the form in Bengal is a couplet in Yusuf-Zulekha (1391-1410). As signified there, these performances were given with the help of string puppets. It is possible that orally composed tales of gods and goddesses, such as those of Krishna, Rama, Manasa etc, were produced in these performances. Mukunda Chakravarti's Chandimangala (1555-56) and krishnadas kaviraj's chaitanya charitamrita (c 1560-80) definitely point to the existence of puppet theatre during this period. Judging by the popularity of cults and the existing tradition among current performers, it could be safely assumed that these were related to Krishna, Rama, Manasa, Chandi and Chaitanya. Interestingly, no Islamic narrative ever seems to have been performed by puppets in Bengal. String puppets still exist in Bangladesh today.
Processional Forms Processional performances are characterised by the use of tableaux, music, song and dance, all of which form a part of large processions (jatra) attended by adherents of a particular religious faith. In many ways, these performances hold the key to the history of indigenous theatre because they brought together all the three types discussed above, to give birth to jatra, the most popular form of the indigenous theatre which can claim to be indeed the national theatre idiom.
From the description provided by fa-hien during his visit to India (399 to 414 AD), it is known that on the 8th day of the second month (roughly the last week of May), a highly popular Buddhist religious festival used to be held in Pataliputra. In it, a number of well-decorated chariots (ratha) with the image of the Buddha and other deities installed within, were drawn through the streets and were accompanied by 'singers and skilful musicians'. Hiuen Tsiang witnessed similar festivals at Kanauj and Allahabad. Harsavardhan himself accompanied the procession dressed as Indra, and his friend, Bhaskaravarman, the king of kamarupa (assam), appeared disguised as brahma. Each day of the festival opened with lavish performances of dance and music, vocal and instrumental. I-Tsing also reports about similar processions in samatata (eastern Bangladesh) in the second half of the 7th century. These evidences clearly point to the existence of Buddhist processional performances in the 7th century Bengal, which featured chariots with images of deities, song, music, dance and character impersonation (such as Indra and Brahma). At the end of these processions, masked dance and narrative performances were given in the monasteries. The existence of Matsendranatha Jatra in Nepal makes it possible to believe that the followers of the Natha cult in Bengal may also have developed their own procession in 10th or 11th century.
By the early 12th century, processional performances had spread among the followers of the Dharma cult. Extant literary and liturgical texts and current practice among the followers of the cult indicate that in the 12th century, its followers participated in religious celebrations, which included processional performance. The processions would be led by 'the sandal of Dharma (placed) on a golden palanquin', followed by music (played on various instruments), song and dance of the devotee. The processions also included a sang, ie, a clown with a painted face (or wearing a mask) and dressed as a mythical character. The clown may also be seen today in Dharmer Gajan processions. The clown of ancient Dharmer Gajan processions possibly performed brief mimetic dance pieces which depicted legends related to the cult. In all probability, these performances would begin from the temples of dharma thakur, circumambulate neighbouring habitations and end at the temple again. There, narrative performances and masked dances were held in honour of deities of the cult.
By the end of the 12th century, Tantric Saivism had assimilated the Tantric Buddhist and the Dharma cult processions. Tantric Saivite processions, given as a year-ending celebration of Chaitra Samkranti, included impersonation of various deities, mythical heroes, animals and supernatural beings singing and dancing to music played on drums and cymbals. The processions began from Saivite temples, circumambulated neighbouring habitations and ended at the point of origin. Ritualistic and masked dances would be given at temple precincts in the evening and would continue through the night. Remnants of these ancient performances, known as Shiver Gajan, Niler Gajan, and processions of Sang Jatra and Astak Jatra, can still be seen in Bangladesh.
Possibly around the 14th century, the Shakta cult was beginning to incorporate processional performances into its fold. Kalika-purana specifies that the celebration in honour of Kali (in her manifestation as Durga, the slayer of Mahisasura) is to culminate on the 10th day with a procession for immersion of the idol (visarjana). The procession is to be made up of virgins and courtesans well-versed in music, performers (nata) and musicians who are to play sangkha, turi, mrdanga and dhak. Others are to carry colourful flags, scatter fluffed rice (khai), flower, dust and mud. It is also prescribed that erotic conduct is to prevail in absolute carnivalesque abandon in order to please the goddess. It is possible, as recent ethnological studies reveal, that some form of performance would also be given in temple precincts after the procession. By the late medieval period, the Sakta cult had developed a large number of processional performances. Bamakesvar-tantra (a Tantric text) specifies sixteen processions to be taken out annually in honour of the goddess Bhagavati.
By the 16th century, processional performances were immensely popular among the Vaisnavites as well. Raghunandan, a famous smrti scholar from 15th-16th century, ruled twelve processions in honour of vishnu. The Vaisnavite processional performances gradually incorporated tableaux of Vaisnavite mythologies placed on chariots drawn by devotees and characters representing major mythological characters accompanying the procession on foot. During his lifetime, Chaitanya brought out processions accompanied by singing and dancing of his followers, for mobilising mass support. Vaisnavite processional performances still exist in Bangladesh today in the form of Janmastami Michhil in dhaka (initiated in 1555) and Nauka-vilas Michhil in tangail (possibly acculturated from ancient Buddhist/Dharma cult practice).
The Vaisnavites (particularly the Gaudiya Vaisnavites) are to be credited with further development of the processional performance. During his residence at Puri, Chaitanya and his followers enacted a curious form of performance, best described as 'environmental', which has been recounted in Chaitanya Charitamrta (Part II, Chapter 15). In one of these, they appeared in a procession at a festival site, dressed as Hanumana and his army of monkeys. There they enacted an excerpt from the Ramayana (the attack on and the destruction of the castle of Lanka), on a locale that was created in advance at the festival site. References to similar performances have also been given in the Chaitanya Bhagavata, where it is described that in their childhood, Nityananda and his friends play-acted various tales of Rama and Krishna. In these, the locale of each scene was created in advance in natural environs in a manner similar to Rama Lila of north India. At some time during the lifetime of Chaitanya, the processional performances got linked with the environmental so that the performers and the spectators moved bodily in procession from one locale to another. Narayan Bhatta, a disciple of the 16th century goswamins or ascetics, Rupa and Sanatana, is credited with having established Bana jatra in the countryside of Braja (north India). In Bana jatra, devotees moved in procession to spots where Krishna lilas are believed to have occurred; in each spot, young boys enacted a particular lila associated with the spot. After Chaitanya's death, processional-environmental performances based on various legends associated with Krishna (such as the slaying of the Kaliya serpent) appear to have continued and can still be seen today in nauka-vilas michhil of Tangail. Some scholars believe that similar performances existed in the Shakta fold as well, in the form of Chandi Jatra, the content of which was based on Chandimangala.
The basic characteristics of these processional-environmental performances were (i) the enactment of each scene in separate out-door environs specially created or adapted from natural sites and (ii) processions of spectators who accompanied the performers from one environment to another. Generally, these performances were given during religious festivities and celebrations as a part of processions in honour of the cult deity. By the end of the medieval period, the Buddhist-Dharma-Natha processional performances of the ancient period (which entailed narrative performances and masked dances at the end of the procession in temples/monasteries) had evolved into Vaisnavite processional-environmental performances (which incorporated performances in specific natural environs). During the evolution, the two performances were linked by the processional performances of the Tantric Saiva-Sakta cult.
By the second half of the 18th century, professional performance troupes began to produce various lilas of Krishna not in actual environs but in nat-mandapas or courtyards of rural homesteads and public grounds, that is, any 'non-environmental' space. More importantly, these began to be given not only on religious festivals but also on other days as desired by sponsors. Generally known as kaliya-daman jatra, these performances may have had some interaction with the court-sponsored Sanskrit theatre of Nabadwip. The kaliya-daman texts were based on Krishna legends, drawn from the puranas and popular sources. Kaliya-daman jatra was predominantly lyrical. The adhikari (regisseur or proprietor of the troupe) played the role of Vrinda (a companion of Radha) or Muni Gonsai (Narada) and guided the entire action like a sutradhara by narrating parts of the action in improvised prose and pre-composed verse and lyric. The other parts were rendered as dialogue between him/her and various characters. Shishuram Adhikari (c mid-18th century) was possibly the earliest exponent of the form. Concurrently with kaliya-daman jatra, a few more forms were also popular in Bengal, all of which were similar in form but varied in content. These were Chaitanya jatra (based on the life of Chaitanya), Chandi jatra (with content drawn from Chandimangala) and Rama jatra (with content drawn from the Ramayana). By the early 19th century there evolved the Bhasan jatra, the content of which was drawn from Manasamangala. However, vestiges of medieval processional-environmental performances continued with rasa jatra in which the rasa dance of Krishna and the milkmaids was enacted.
Kaliya-daman jatra lost its popularity after 1840s, to be replaced by Krishna jatra, which can still be seen in Bangladesh. Although both the forms were based on Krishna lila, the texts of Krishna jatra were entirely dialogic, with a greater portion being in prose. Its popularity faded after the early 20th century. Similar structural changes affected Chandi jatra and Bhasan jatra as well. The latter still exists in Bangladesh.
The first half of the 19th century ushered in a qualitative transformation in the social life of the Bengalis belonging to the Hindu community, especially in urban areas such as calcutta. The essence of the change can be summed up as laying greater emphasis on the material as opposed to the spiritual and Eurocentricism as opposed to tradition-bound conservatism. A section of the indigenous theatre based in Kolkata responded to the social changes. Thus from Krishna jatra arose natun jatra (lit. 'new jatra') in the 1820s. Natun jatra aimed entirely at secular entertainment by enacting pseudo-mythological tales with emphasis on the human aspects (such as vidyasundar) but its structure was similar to Krishna jatra. Natun jatra performances were given by professional troupes, the most famous of which was that of Gopal Ude (1819-1859). In the 1860s, the sizzling sensation of natun jatra began to wear out and gitabhinay appeared, which projected a curious blend of bhakti from Krishna jatra, merriment from natun jatra and pathos from European-influenced Bangla theatre. Gradually, gitabhinay reduced emphasis on lyric and dance, and, in its place, prose dialogue began to play a more dominant role. In terms of plot construction, it gradually began to assimilate techniques of building action based on conflict, from the European theatre. However, its content was drawn from Hindu mythology. The rise of Neo-Hinduism in the 1870s brought about a temporary reversal by reinstating the spiritual and religious tradition. Consequently, there grew a demand for performances which would promote religious devotion. Madanmohan Chattapadhyay responded to the demand and reformed natun jatra by drawing elements from gitabhinay. Known as Pauranic jatra (lit 'mythological jatra'), the new form drew its content from the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, the Harivangsha, etc.
The partition of bengal (1905) raised the question of nationalism to the forefront. Consequently, social life in Bengal witnessed a surge of interest on the theme of national identity. This trend is reflected in the indigenous theatre with the evolution of aitihasik jatra (lit. 'historic jatra'), and swadeshi jatra (lit. 'nationalist jatra'). Whereas aitihasik jatra drew its content from semi-historical stories, swadeshi jatra incorporated contemporary issues such as colonial exploitation, patriotism, anti-colonial struggle, oppression of feudal lords etc. The latter, under the guidance of actor-playwright Mukunda Das, earned unprecedented popularity in Bengal. The colonial government banned three of his plays and he himself faced imprisonment.
From the 1920s, jatra failed to respond to the rising heat in the political arena and chose to dwell safely on mythologies and histories. From the mid-20th century, jatra turned to social themes and reflected crises in family life in confrontation with society. Popularly known as samajik jatra, it did raise questions of Hindu-Muslim relationships, but the approach was sentimental rather than analytical. The jatra is a spent force today, and its principal device to arouse public interest is erotic song-and-dance numbers.
No major innovation can be noticed among the 'Islamic' forms in the 19th and the 20th centuries. The number of followers of Pir Madar declined sharply after their rebellion failed. Performances related to Khwaja Khizir also declined after the rise of the Islamic reform movement of the Faraizis (1818-1860s), which called for pristine purity of Islam. Performances related to the three other pirs managed to survive in pockets where the faraizi movement was relatively weak: Gazi (around Sundarban Forest), Satya (in Dinajpur-Rangpur-Rajshahi belt) and Manik (in Khulna-Jessore belt). The followers of the last three pirs were drawn into the rising popularity of jatra performances and, by the mid-19th century, evolved Gazir jatra, Satya Pirer jatra and Manik Pirer jatra. These forms can still be seen in Bangladesh.
European theatre Political and economic measures undertaken by the English colonisers from 1757 onwards led to the bengal renaissance in the early 19th century, which affected all aspects of intellectual pursuits in Bengal. Its immediate effect was a bifurcation of society into the rural and urban cultures. The elitist urban culture and the European theatre of the economically powerful minority fashioned itself around European models. It demonstrated tremendous vitality, opened new directions, but, as in most cases, also lost touch with the majority and their rural culture. The indigenous theatre, which in most cases remained a part of the rural culture, has failed to meet the demands of the 21st century life in Bangladesh and a process of fossilisation has already set in. On the other hand, the European theatre has been dynamic because the elite urban intelligentsia, who have been responding to the needs of urban spectators, have sustained it.
Until 1947, the theatre of the urban elite in Bengal was centred in Calcutta, the economic and political seat of power of 19th century India. With the creation of Pakistan, Dhaka gained importance as the urban cultural centre of eastern Bengal and continued its dominance in independent Bangladesh. In the following section, the history of theatre of undivided Bengal will be traced until 1947, following which it will focus on eastern Bengal, later Bangladesh.
Introduction of European theatre The earliest known English theatre in Bengal, a proscenium playhouse known as 'The Theatre', was built in Calcutta in 1753 and was closed following Nawab sirajuddaula's attack on the city in 1756. In 1775 'The New Playhouse', also called 'The Calcutta Theatre', came up. Until 1808, when it went out of business, the theatre performed Shakespeare, Massinger, Congreve, Sheridan etc. Initially, male actors performed female roles but the practice soon gave way to female performers. A host of other proscenium playhouses soon followed, of which the Chowrangee Theatre (1813-39) and the Sans Souci Theatre (1839-1849) gained wide fame and renown. dwarkanath tagore was the only Bengali associated with the Chowrangee and he later purchased the theatre. However, until the day the Chowrangee was burnt down, the English managed it, produced English plays (Sheridan, Goldsmith, Shakespeare and other popular plays from the London stage) and the performers were all English. However, by the time of the Sans Souci, Bengali participation was on the rise. A number of Bengalis were associated with it and a Bengali performed the title role in Othello (1848), although all the other performers were English. However, the Sans Souci too performed only English plays. The English theatre continued in the second half of the 19th century, but lost its significance due to the rise of native Bangla theatre.
Imitation, assimilation and formation The first performance of a play in Bangla, on a proscenium stage, by an all-native cast (both male and female), was produced by a Russian named gerasim stepanovitch lebedeff (1749-1817), on 27 November, 1795. The play, a translation of Richard Jodrell's comedy, The Disguise, was performed at the Bengally Theatre at 25 Doomtullah (presently Ezra) Street, Calcutta. Lebedeff himself translated the play. Although the cost of admission was high, the interest of Bengali spectators can be gauged from the full house the performance enjoyed.
In the first half of the 19th century, colonial educational institutions such as Hindu college and Oriental Seminary played the most influential role in disseminating interest in European theatre. As a part of the newly introduced educational curricula in the schools and colleges, Shakespeare soon assumed the position of an ideal model. After a few stray attempts in the first half of the 19th century, the proscenium theatre was considered fashionable enough to be sponsored by affluent zamindars as private theatre in and around the mid-19th century. The most important of these was the Belgachia Theatre (1858-1861), credited as being the first permanent proscenium theatre of Bengal, which was built by the Rajas of Paikpara at their Belgachia Villa. The theatre took pride in its quality orchestra, fine perspective backdrops, gas-lanterns, and limelight.
From the mid-19th century, Bengalis began attempts at assimilating European dramaturgy. Michael Madhusudan Dutt paved the way for future playwrights by successfully demonstrating the techniques of European dramaturgy with plays such as Sharmistha (premiered at the Belgachia where he made his debut in 1859), Padmavati (published 1860, premiered 1865) and a historical tragedy titled Krishna Kumari (published 1861, premiered 1867). Madhusudan shines most brilliantly with his farces, where the language is easy, the attack is sharp and relevant, and the characters are drawn distinctly. In Ekei Ki Bale Sabhyata (published 1860, premiered 1865), he ridicules the ultra-progressive Young Turks who blindly copied European culture and in Buda Shaliker Ghade Ron (published 1860, premiered 1867), he aims at unmasking the hypocrisy of the affluent. Ironically, the Sanskrit theatre, whose fetters he tried to break, tightened its grip on his last play, Mayakanan (1874).
dinabandhu mitra (1830-1873), a contemporary of Madhusudan Dutt, wrote Nildarpan (1860), which effectively deals with the ruthless exploitation of Bengal peasants by the powerful English indigo planters in rural Bengal. Considered a realistic play of popular protest by many, the play is in effect melodramatic in its treatment of blood and torture but its content reflected contemporary social reality in a manner meaningful to urban middle-class Bengali society. Although he composed a number of other plays, Mitra is also celebrated as 'a veritable magician of laughter' for his farces: Biye Pagla Buda (1866), Sadhabar Ekadashi (1866) and Jamai Barik (1871).
Early years of the public theatre (1870s-1920s) On 7 December 1872, history was made with the opening of the first public playhouse in Bengal, the National Theatre, with Mitra's Niladarpana. The playhouse with its proscenium stage was a temporary construction in the courtyard of a private residence in Calcutta and was formed by a group of theatre-crazy youths belonging to Baghbazar Amateur Theatre (1869-1872), some of whom were to become stars of professional theatre in the next few years. The public playhouse opened European theatre to the urban middle class. No longer the handmaid of the affluent, the theatre was free to serve a wider public and thereby gain strength and maturity. The Bengal Theatre, which opened in 1873, was the first permanent playhouse with a proscenium stage in Bengal. The maiden performance of Bengal Theatre, Madhusudan's Sarmistha, also created history because for the first time in professional European theatre, female performers (Jagattarini, Golap, Elokeshi and Shyama) enacted female roles. Gaslight was used to light these playhouses until 1887 when dynamo-produced electric lighting was introduced for the first time at the Emerald Theatre. Stage locales were usually established with the help of painted wings and backdrops. In playwriting, the five-act romantic tragedy, especially that of Shakespeare, was the model. The acting was mostly declamatory and melodramatic. At the risk of oversimplification, one may describe the productions as escapist entertainment in which songs and dances of dancing girls (sakhis) and other sensational contrivances were indispensable elements.
Soon after its inception, public theatre faced the wrath of the British Raj when the Great National Theatre staged a farce named Gajananda O Yubaraj (19 February 1876). The play was immediately banned. Soon after, the British government passed the Dramatic Performance Control Act of 1876, which empowered it to 'prohibit certain dramatic performances, which are scandalous, defamatory, seditious, obscene or otherwise'. The Act was repealed in 2001. As for the public theatre of Calcutta, it found political criticism too hot to handle and the wrath of the state too strong to defend with its tinsel arms. Hence, after the first skirmish, for the most part it chose to play shy, even when faced with the swadeshi movement beginning in 1905. The major exceptions were some of the historical plays of girish chandra ghosh (1844-1912) and dwijendralal roy (1863-1913).
The second half of the 19th century saw a gradual rise of religious revivalism and traditionalism within the urban middle-class Bengali Hindu society in Calcutta. In theatre, the trend was reflected in plays by girish chandra ghosh, an exceptionally versatile actor and director of high merit. He wrote about seventy plays, many of which were based on mythological tales, lives of saints and religious heroes and projected intense devotional fervour. An example of these is Chaitanya Lila, based on the life of Chaitanya. Whereas Michael Madhusudan and Mitra strove to emulate European dramaturgy both in form and spirit, Girish Chandra Ghosh chose only the form (for him, Shakespeare); his ideological frame and mental makeup was structured on Krttivas's Ramayana and Kashiram Das's Mahabharata. It is only in his social and historical plays (Prafulla and Sirajuddaula, respectively) that Ghosh manages to extricate himself from a revivalist fervour. He is also credited for introducing psychological dimension in character interpretation, acting, and training of performers.
From about 1900 until the Great War, historical plays, often based on patriotic themes began to dominate the scene. Although Girish Chandra Ghosh continued to exert his influence, Dwijendralal Roy was an equal if not a greater factor to be considered. A good example of an intellectual of the colonial period who successfully assimilated the culture of the ruling race, Roy was not directly attached to any theatre. Infused with patriotism that was at once secular and humanist, he redirected the attention of his spectators to the spiritual realm of humanity. Some of Roy's better known plays are Rana Pratap Singha (1905), Nurjahan (1908) and Shajahan (1909).
Beside the mythological and historical plays mentioned above, the period also produced social dramas, domestic comedies, and gitabhinay musicals. Two other playwrights of this period were jyotirindranath tagore (1849-1925), and amrita lal basu (1852-1929). Jyotirindranath contributed a number of quality translations (Julius Caesar, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme etc) and historical plays. Amrita Lal Basu, also a well-known actor, earned his fame for his farces, which ridiculed the influence of European culture on Bengali society.
Blending of the indigenous and the European: Rabindranath Tagore Parallel to Girish Chandra Ghosh, Dwijendra Lal Roy and others in the public theatre but distinctly independent, rabindranath tagore (1861-1941) wrote and directed plays that were unique for their blend of the indigenous and the European - a blend so subtle that it almost appears organic. The form of theatre which Tagore evolved in his so-called symbolic-allegoric plays is a fusion of the song-and-dance (in the abundant use of song and in the absence of cause-and-effect formula for building action) and the European dramaturgy (in the use of conflict and a few techniques in building character). The conflict of spirit and matter that drives Raktakarabi (1926) and Muktadhara (1922), also Achalayatan (1922) to a large extent, disappears after the battle in Raja (1911) and is hardly present in Dakghar (1912). The influence of the song-and-dance tradition continues in Basanta (1923), Nabin (1931) and Shrabanagantha (1934). The absence of dramatic conflict is so apparent that a few scholars have refused to acknowledge them as plays.
Finally, in Chitrangada (1936), Chandalika (1938) and Shyama (1939), when he successfully blends the song-and-dance tradition, plays low on dramatic conflict and instead focuses on rasa, the influence of the indigenous is more than apparent. Vocal against the painted backdrop and the proscenium frame, Tagore preferred an intimate performance space like that of the jatra. His work, other than a few farces, mostly proved failures in the public theatre on the rare occasions when they were performed until the 1950s when Bahurupi, a theatre group in Calcutta, performed them. Nevertheless, his work has proved to be immensely influential on theatre practitioners and in literary circles.
ocial concerns and nationalism (1920s-1940s) The First World War and the death of the two stalwarts, Girish Chandra Ghosh and Dwijendralal Roy, saw a decline in the public theatre. When it began to revive again in the 20s, a qualitative change was noticeable. Socially, theatre began to be accepted by the cultured elite as an artistic medium, and an increasing number of persons with institutional education began to take up theatre as a serious artistic career. Plays on social themes began to attract greater attention than those on historical and mythological themes. The five-act model began to give way to the techniques of Ibsen and Shaw. The mythological plays that survived shifted focus from the supernatural to the human, while the historical plays attempted to project historical accuracy instead of melodramatic heroism.
The shift of emphasis was noticeable in production style as well. The acting style, pioneered by shishir kumar bhaduri (1889-1959), became less declamatory and more natural. Ensemble acting, meaningful composition, and non-melodramatic speech began to acquire importance. Picture-frame illusion of contemporary social life began to acquire increasing dominance. In 1931, Satu Sen returned from America to revolutionise lighting and set design in the Calcutta-based Bengali theatre. Foot-lights gave way to overhead directional lighting. The painted backdrop began to be replaced with the 'Box set'. Historical accuracy in costume and set design gradually replaced anachronism. Background music played by a live orchestra began to take on a more subdued note. The quality of songs and dances improved, and the indispensable troupe of dancing girls (sakhis) of the previous era gradually disappeared. The period also marked the emergence of the director as a co-ordinator who sought meaningful unity of all elements of a production.
Important playwrights of this period were manmatha roy (1899-1988), sachindra nath sengupta (1892-1961) and Bidhayak Bhattacharya (1907-1986). Manmatha Roy shot into prominence in 1923 with his one-act play, Muktir Dak, and set the trend of one-acters. Roy's plays bore contemporary relevance and reflected current issues, although he made use of mythological and historical materials. In Karagar (1930), banned by the British Government, he uses a familiar mythological tale from the Bhagavata Purana to project Krishna as the liberator from Kangsha's oppressive regime. Shachindranath Sengupta is remembered for his historical play Gairik Pataka, which passionately proclaimed patriotism when the Civil Disobedience Movement was at its height. However, Sengupta's primary contribution to Bengali theatre was the change he initiated both in content and form in plays on social themes. Here he abandoned the five-act structure and attempted to depict the psychology of his characters. In Jhader Rat (1931), an avant-garde play of his time, Sengupta probed into feminine psychology and championed the emancipation of women. Bidhayak bhattacharya, who made his public appearance with the social play Meghamukti (1938), is also well known for his depiction of the urban middle class in a changing society and the resulting clash of values in family life experienced during the 30s and the 40s. Some of his well-known plays are Matir Ghar (1939), Bish Bachhar Age (1939), Rakter Dak (1941) and a few others.
However, even with the best of Manmatha Roy, Shachindranath Sengupta and Bidhayak Bhattacharya, the public playhouses of Calcutta failed to project critical consciousness regarding contemporary social and political reality. Leading artists with socio-political concerns attempted to join hands successively through the Progressive Writers' Association (1936) and the Anti-Fascist Writers' and Artistes' Union (1942), without significant success. Finally, the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA; 1943) organised the city-based artists in an honest attempt to join the rank and file. Soon after its creation, Bengal was faced with a man-made spectre: the famine of 1943, which left 5 million dead. Faced with the reality of hunger and death, the Bengal branch of IPTA produced bijan bhattacharya's Nabanna (1944), which had a far-reaching influence on Bengali theatre. It initiated a new era of play- writing (by projecting immediate reality in familiar language) and acting (that was closer to daily life). Primarily it challenged the role and function of theatre practitioners in society and infused political direction in theatre. The post-Nabanna theatre of Calcutta created the trend of Group Theatre, ie, ideologically motivated groups of theatre activists who strove to attain artistic excellence as well as socio-political relevance in their work. Since such a concept of theatre was not economically viable, they chose not to accept payment for their work and therefore, for their daily sustenance, sought alternative employment.
East Pakistan: from crisis in identity to explosion (1947-1971) Inception of the European theatre in East Bengal took place in 1855 with a performance of Svarna Shrnkhal by durgadas kar at Barisal. However, until 1947, Calcutta was the centre of theatre and was emulated by the rest of Bengal. Theatre was dominated by middle-class Bengali Hindus. Their exodus to India after the creation of Pakistan in 1947 created fresh avenues for the urban Muslims, who till then had been placed in the political, economic and social backwaters. The theatre of the new country was slowly but decisively moving towards polarisation of two opposing camps: (i) the religion-based nationalists and (ii) the language-based nationalists. The religion-based trend was dominant in the urban areas outside Dhaka. It sought to glorify Islamic history through historical plays on Muslim rulers of the Middle East, India and Bengal, and the independence struggle of Pakistan. Important playwrights of this trend were Akbaruddin (1895-1978), ibrahim khan (1894-1978) and Ibrahim Khalil (1916- ). The second trend was dominant mainly in Dhaka city and playwrights belonging to this trend were also linked with Dhaka University-based play productions. Important among them were shawkat osman (1917-1998), nurul momen (1906-1989), Askar Ibne Shaikh (1925), jasimuddin (1903-1976) and munier chowdhury (1925-1971). In play production, Dhaka University students, with their progressive outlook, led the rest of the country. Almost all the plays produced at the University were written by, or adapted from the novels of, Rabindranath Tagore, sharat chandra chattopahdyay, tarashankar bandyopadhyay, Nurul momen, Askar Ibne Shaikh and Munier Chowdhury and had a social content. Except for a few scattered attempts, amateur groups produced all performances.
The language movement of 1952 worked as a catalyst for further intensifying the political polarisation of the language-based and the religious-based camps. In the theatre scene, there was a marked rise in social awareness and political commitment in the language-based nationalist camp. They continued their dominance in Dhaka city, with the university as their bastion. Munier Chowdhury wrote his epoch-making Kabar as a political prisoner in the Dhaka Central Jail, and it was performed by other political prisoners on 21 February 1953. Although the play reveals a strong influence of Irwin Shaw's Bury the Dead, it has remained one of the most important theatre pieces for its simplicity and social relevance. The play was performed at night by the prison inmates who improvised their set on a shoestring budget and were forced to use hurricane lanterns, lamps, and matchsticks as their lighting source. The essential appeal of the play lies in its central political issue (the inalienable right of a people to its cultural heritage) and poignant human suffering (police brutality and massacre).
In 1956 the Drama Circle was created. This was an amateur group of passionately committed young theatre activists, who played an important role in introducing contemporary Euro-American design concepts and performance techniques through their productions of European classics, contemporary American and local plays. akm bazlul karim (d 1977), associated with the group since its inception, is still remembered for his dedication and directorial excellence.
Martial Law was clamped down in 1958, effectively silencing the growing demand for social justice and political rights voiced by the language-based nationalists. Consequently, theatre in general lay impoverished in terms of socio-political awareness, concentrating more on plays toeing the central government's policy of religion-based nationalism or experimental work which were overtly 'subtle' or 'neutral'. In Dhaka city as well as district towns, the number of productions grew considerably. These were mostly run-of-the-mill social plays, along with some historical and mythological plays. There was also a short-lived attempt at professional theatre housed at the Minerva Theatre (1957-1964). Major experimental playwrights were syed waliullah (1922-1971) and Saeed Ahmed (b 1931). Waliullah brought to his work (Bahipir, Taranga Bhanga and Ujane Mrtyu) a European artistic sensibility and insight that had been hitherto unknown in Bangla theatre. Often termed a symbolist, Waliullah's symbolism is far removed from that of Maeterlinck or Tagore because of a strong materialist bias and the absence of spiritualism. Saeed Ahmed's Kalbela (The Thing, 1966) is a milestone in the theatre of South Asia for it introduced the theatre of the absurd for the first time. Later, he came up with two more plays that were avant-garde: Milepost and Trsnay. Zia Hyder's (b 1936) Shuvra Sundar Kalyani Ananda is another important avant-garde addition to contemporary theatre, where he seeks to explore the myth of peace in human society.
A popular uprising in 1969 cracked the central government's authoritative and suppressive rule. Politically conscious theatre activists responded to the growing language-based nationalist movement with street-plays and open-air performances that projected militant nationalist sentiment. Surprisingly, there were no organised attempts in putting up plays during the war of liberation either in the liberated areas or in the refugee camps in India.
Bangladesh: the flowering that was not (1971-1999) Theatre was possibly the most forceful and exuberant expression of post-liberation Bangladesh. Numerous non-professional theatre groups were formed all over the country, modelled after the group theatre movement in post-Nabanna Calcutta. The most important among these in Dhaka city were Theatre (established February 1972), Nagarik Natya Sampraday (established 1968, first performance August 1972), Natyachakra (established August 1972), Aranyak Natyadal (established 1972), Dhaka Theatre (established July 1973) and, in Chittagong, Theatre '73 (established 1973), and Arindam (established September 1974).
All these groups are committed to a language-based nationalism and, in varying degrees, believe in raising social consciousness through theatre. Most of the members are students, while a few belong to independent vocations. There are no professional theatre practitioners because the profession is not economically viable. During the early years of theatre in Bangladesh, none of the practitioners had formal training in theatre. However, they made up this deficiency with their zeal and exuberance. They raised the money for their productions through individual contributions, advertisements inserted in programme folders and box-office sales. Undaunted by the absence of a proscenium stage equipped with modern technical facilities, the theatre groups staged their productions in the small and poorly equipped Mahila Samity Auditorium that had originally been built for seminars. The range of texts performed by the groups varied widely: from Euro-American plays to contemporary originals written by group members themselves. A completely new set of playwrights appeared, important among whom were Abdullah al-Mamun, Mamunur Rashid, Syed Shamsul Huq, Salim al-Deen, Mumtazuddin Ahmed and SM Solaiman.
The post-liberation exuberance in theatre met complete saturation by the early 80s when the middle-class practitioners found it difficult to make ends meet with the little money performance generated. However, there were also developments in various directions. Possibly, the most significant of these was the induction of a number of theatre practitioners trained abroad, who added technique and skill to acting, design, and direction. By the end of the decade, three universities had theatre as a course of study: Chittagong University (introduced in 1970), jahangirnagar university (introduced in 1986) and the University of Dhaka (introduced in 1989). Two more institutes were also functioning by then: Natya Shikshangan (1976) and Theatre School (1990). Faced with autocratic rule in the political arena, many groups also took up theatre as a viable medium for popular protest. Significant among these were Jago Laksa Nur Hosain by Karak Natya Sampraday, Royal Bengal Tiger by Lokanatya Dal and Maharajer Gunakirtan by Desh Natak. Another important area of proliferation was the Mukta Natak movement initiated by Aranyak, in which members of the group (animateurs) sought to conscientise rural landless peasants and create performances with them. In mainstream theatre, the most interesting development was the attempt taken up by Dhaka Theatre and a number of other groups to incorporate indigenous performance elements in modern theatre practice in productions such as Keramat Mangal and Hat Hadai by Salim al-Deen (produced by Dhaka Theatre), Mahuyar Pala by Nazmul Ahsan (produced by Khulna Theatre) and Inggit and Ei Deshe Ei Beshe by S M Solaiman (produced by Dhaka Padatik).
During the 90s, three important attempts were made towards creating professional theatre: Bangla Theatre (1991), Theatre Art (1992) and the Centre for Asian Theatre (1994). All these, save the last, have failed. Although Aranyak's Mukta Natak movement has lost all its energy, theatre is being used by non-government organisations for addressing issues related to development. There have been some interesting productions, which include Chaka by Salim al-Deen (produced by Dhaka Theatre), adaptation of bisad-sindhu by mir mosharraf hossain (produced by Dhaka Padatik), Shes Sanglap by the Egyptian playwright Tawfiq al-Hakim (produced by Ganayana), Meraj Fakirer Ma by Abdullah al-Mamun (produced by Theatre), Irsa by Syed Shamsul Huq (produced by Nagarik), Kamalaranir Sagar Dighi (produced by the Department of Theatre and Music, University of Dhaka), an adaptation of Arthur Miller's Crucible (produced by Natyakendra) and Nitya Purana by Masum Reza (produced by Desh Natak).
n 2001, urban theatre in Bangladesh has lost much of its ideological commitment and is gradually being marginalised. The middle-class practitioners who bore the burden of performing for passion appear to have run out of steam. In an increasingly free-market economy and globalised cultural sway, theatre may soon find itself redundant. One option for it to survive is to turn professional, but it does not seem economically viable in the near future. The other option is to trust popular instinct. It has managed to survive against many odds for over fifteen centuries; surely it will survive as a cultural expression of the people*.
BANGLADESH THEATRE in 2003-2004
MOFIDUL HOQUE
Bengali New Year is celebrated in Bangladesh in mid-April and the Bengali calendar unfolds six seasons in a year. The subtle change of season is not well defined but one can have the feel of it. Likewise in Bangladesh there is nothing called the theatre season, it is not well-defined, but one can have the feel of it. The show goes on throughout the year, there is no recess or official beginning of the new season; but in practice, although not recognized distinctly, the theatre season begins in Sept-Oct with the advent of autumn and the easing of long monsoon rains. The six seasons of Bengal were tied to agricultural cycle together with rites and rituals of religion. Previously the traditional folk-theatre Jatra had very elaborate rituals at the beginning of its season, which commenced with the harvesting and Durga Puja, the major religious festival of the Hindus. It also had its end quite well marked. Jatra season was connected with nature's cycle and performances being held in villages during winter when the harvesting is over and people have free time. With growing urbanization and change in economic pattern that old practice has diminished and it has not been replaced by anything of modern structured economy. Consequently theatre season as such does not exist in Bangladesh, the show just goes on and on.
Infrastructure But the show cannot go on smoothly without proper infrastructure and institutional support and that has become the biggest problem for theatre in Bangladesh. Dhaka, the capital city with over 90 million population so far had only two small theatre halls and one of which is closed for over one year in order to renovate. The good news is the construction of the National Theatre, but that is still far from completion even after 10 years since the construction started. In December 2003 the experimental theatre hall in the National Theatre complex was opened formally and ITI Bangladesh Centre used the space as one of the venues of their theatre festival. But the 300 seat experimental theatre hall with all its modern facilities has not yet found regular use because of the absence of any user-friendly policy and subsidized rental fee for theatre groups.
Cooperative ventures but an overall need for Government support The lack of governmental support for theatre has led the theatre-people to mobilize whatever resource they can from the community and stand on their own feet. This is a difficult task but the respect and relevance theatre enjoys in society has helped it to make some dent. Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation has entered into long-term collaboration contract with Bengal Foundation, a philanthropist organization promoting arts. This support has enabled the Federation to organize workshops in different parts of the country, bring peripheral theatre groups to Dhaka to present their work and lot of other activities including support to selected experimental productions. Tirjak, a theatre group of Chittagong has renovated a small old hall and made it available for the local groups to perform. With support from the Chittagong City Corporation Tirjak is now building their own theatre which is expected to be opened at the end of the year. Shabadabali of Barisal could also build their own studio theatre. But these are small-scale efforts in consideration to what Government can do and should do. In the absence of appropriate policy and guideline the National Fine and Performing Arts Academy (Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy) has very little role to play. Government is yet to perform a supportive role to theatre, on the contrary it still clings to its controlling attitude towards theatre hall. Only a few years back the Dramatic Performance Control Act was abolished after a long struggle by theatre activists, but there isin practice an act called Public Place Performance Act which local administration implements to control performance of Jatra and also theatre in some cases. To invite foreign or regional groups to take part in local festivals is a hazardous process and the host organisation has to get clearance from three different ministries namely Ministry of Culture, Foreign Affairs and Home including national security agencies. Apart from such control cultural performances face other kind of attack upon them. The Bengali New Year musical celebration, the largest of which held open air in the park at early morning, three years ago witnessed brutal bomb attack killing innocent spectators. The fundamentalist group also raise hue and cry from time to time accusing some play or performance as blasphemous. In Faridpur, a district township, one play Katha Krishnakali (Story of Black Bud) became target of such attack. The play was one of theatre for development genre, aimed at raising public awareness about cross-border trafficking of women. The fundamentalist extremist group stopped the play by violently attacking the show and the director and playwright, young people in their twenties, were accused of blasphemy. Warrant of arrest was issued against them by local authority. Such incident shows the intolerant atmosphere created by certain quarter with ulterior motive. Similar attack was launched on the premier night against the play Bahe Prantojon (Saga of Marginalised People) in Rajshahi, written and directed by Moloy Bhowmik. But theatre people, with a long history of struggle behind them, are not intimidated by such violent attack and they are carrying on their shows.
Theatre productions in 2003 and 2004 In the year 2003 and early part of 2004 we have witnessed lot of activities on stage but very few major new productions. One of the reason was that most of the leading groups continued with the performance of their existing productions. Due to extreme lack of theatre space the groups cannot perform frequently and even for popular and significant production the group had to sit idle for long with on and off performance once or twice a month. Such limited opportunity to perform is taking its toll on the artists as well as on the group and this explains partially the lack of major new productions. One of the oldest and leading group ‘Theatre’ presented a new play Madhavi based on a story of Indian epic Mahabharata. The original Hindi play written by Bhisham Sahani, a major literary figure of India, has been translated into Bengali by Ashis Goswami and the play was ably directed by Ramendu Majumdar. The play centering around the fate of Princess Madhavi has found contemporary significance as it probes deeper into man-woman relationship and raises many questions which have relevance in modern society. The young actress Tropa Majumdar gave a memorable performance in the lead role. Dhaka Theatre, Nagorik, Aranyok continued with their previous productions which are usually drawing full houses. The productions were Nagorik’s Raktokarobi, and Kaalshondhya, Dhaka Theatre’s Prachya and Banapangshul and Aranyok’s Sangkranti. So they have not ventured into any new production during the period under review. Among the new productions we can identify a significant presence of women playwrights and directors. Samina Lutfa Nitra has writtern the play Tirthanker based on the epic Shahnama. It was staged by Subachan Natya Samsad and directed by Faiz Zahir. It can be treated as a reenactment of Persian influence on Bengali culture and Nitra could turn it into a play with strong anti-war message. The young playwright has earned praise for her maiden venture and is now working on a play about Khana, a medieval lady of wisdom. Versatile actress of Dhaka stage Rokeya Rafique Baby has directed the play Golapjan based on contemporary reality. She also excelled in the lead role. The play has been produced by Theatre Art Unit. Munira Yousuf Memy, another talented actress showed her skill in directing Bhubaner Ghat written by Syed Manzoorul Islam and produced by Natyajon.
New plays show a preference for myth or recreation of myth Among the new plays a preference for myth or recreation of myth proved to be a popular genre with different groups approaching the myth from different angle. Lokanatyadal presented Siddhidata, a plot mixing mythological characters and worldly creatures to achieve hilarious impact, directed by Liaquat Ali Lucky. Nagorik Natyangan Ensemble produced the Sanskrit classic Mrichakatik, directed by Jamaluddin Hossain, Natyadhara presented Atish Dipanker Saparza, written and directed by Alok Basu about a Buddhist monk of 10th century Bengal. Very recently the students of Theatre art and Music Department of Dhaka University impeccably produced a play by classical Sanskrit playwright of early age, Bhasa's Madhyam biyog (Missing the Middle Brother) adapted into Bangla. It was beautifully choreographed and acted. Two major male characters, Bhim and Ghatotchkoch were competently portrayed by two young actresses of the department.
Translations and adaptions another popular trend Translated and/or adapted plays are another popular trend in Bangladesh theatre. In the period under review Prachyanat, vibrant young group, presented Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, (directed by Towfiqul Islam Imon), Natyachakra staged August Strindberg’s Janak (The Father) directed by Debprasad Delmath, Theatre Art Unit presented Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (directed by Kamaluddin Nilu), Ganayan of Chittagong presented Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (directed by Kuntal Barua). Centre for Asian Thatre (CAT) presented a very well-knit production of Heiner Muller’s The Mission adapted by Saidus Saklaen and directed by Kamaluddin Neelu.
Reinterpretation of folk traditions - a major trend A major trend in Bangladesh theatre is re-interpretation of the folk tradition. Among such notable recent productions we can mention Sojan Badiar Ghat produced by Padatik Natya Samsad, Bahe Prantojan by Anushilon of Rajshahi, Sampan Naia by Uttaradhikar of Chittagong. Nrityanchal, a dance group, presented the traditional folk musical Mahua as a dance-drama.
Children's » theatre In recent years we have seen positive development in children’s theatre. Various groups all over the country are working with children. Although we do not have any permanent place for children theatre, that could not dampen the enthusiasm to work with children in theatre. The Peoples' Theatre Association annually organises festival of children theatre groups. Recently artist and dramaturg Mostafa Monwar established his own puppet theatre and fascinated the young audience with his imagination and innovation. Tona Tuni, a children theatre group performed Torai Bandha Gorar Dim, based on limericks by Edward Lear and Satyajit Ray. This production with dazzling costume, lighting, scenography, music and dance enthralled the audience both young and old. Palakar Kids, a children's drama school, has taken initiative to present weekly performance at their studio theatre. Sishu Theatre has produced two short skits under single bill titled Bhuth Shikar (Hunting the Demon), written and directed by Rezanur Rahman.
Contemporary problems on stage
Due to various reasons, intolerance of the people in power being one of them, contemporary reality and problems did not find direct reflection on stage although it was a very popular genre even a decade ago. Theatre in their new play Balod (The Fool) based on a story of renowned author Mohmmad Zafar Iqbal and directed by K. M. Haroon has exposed the evil face of religious fundamentalists in the backdrop of liberation war of Bangladesh. The play relate the past with present. Another play with contemporary significance was a docu-drama Tamas (Deep Darkness), presented by a theatre group from Chittagong. It was based on newspaper writings and reports about the brutal attack on religious minority at different places of the country. Sangkranti, the popular play of Aranyak, albeit symbolically depicted the problem involved in exposing the evil side of people in power where a group of rural performers put their life and existence in danger by mimicking the power groups in the annual village funfare through their song and dance. Amid such real life backdrop many theatre groups found it safe to make revival of their past successful plays which still have contemporary significance. Among such revivals are Ingeet (The Hint) by Dhaka Padatik, (exposing the barbarity of religious fundamentalists), Muntasir Fantasy by Dhaka Theatre (caricaturing the nouveau-riche class), The Captain of Kopenick, translation of Carl Zuckmayer's classic play presented by Nagorik (undermining the autocratic practices) etc.
Festivals Festivals have become an integral part of theatre in Bangladesh, which is an effort to compensate for the lack of theatre space and also attract new audiences. Street theatres are performed in the open centering major cultural events. Bangladesh Street Theatre Federation organises annual festival in February at the Martyrs Memorial with participation of groups from all over the country. This year it attracted a large number of audience and proved the appeal of street theatre. Similar National Street Theatre Festival is also organised by Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation is association with Bengal Foundation. There were many different theatre festivals organised by various groups, including a Festival of Theatre of Myth and Festival of Moliere's Plays. The biggest of the festivals was organised by ITI Bangladesh Centre in December, 2003. 'Celebrating Diversity' was the theme of the festival and 16 plays were staged in two different halls during the weeklong festival. There was also open-air performance of music, dance, street theatre children, theatre and folk plays. ITI Executive Council held its session in Bangladesh for the first time. Four of the permanent committees of ITI also held their Board Meeting during the festival. The committees included Cultural Identity and Development Committee, Dramatic Theatre Committee, Theatre Education Committee and Communication Committee. A two day international seminar on the theme ‘Celebrating Diversity’ also took place in Dhaka during this period.
Workshops for young theatre artists Recently ITI Bangladesh Centre organised two regional theatre workshops in succession which generated lot of interest among regional theatre artists. The first of the workshop was held under participatory programme of UNESCO and 26 young theatre artists from India, Nepal and Bangladesh participated in it. The theme of the 10-day workshop was ‘Space in theatre : choreography and innovation’ and the anchor person was Prabir Guha, eminent theatre director of India. The other workshop was initiated by CIDC of ITI Worldwide of which Nasiruddin Yousuff, noted theatre director of Bangladesh, is the President. The workshop was conducted by Alexander Stillmark of Germany and participated by theatre artists from India, Pakistan and Nepal. The workshop titled ‘My Unknown Enemy’ aspired to hold meeting between people of theatre from different countries and regions, which face each other in political, cultural and religious conflict situation. Similar workshops took place in 2002 in Bonn and in 2003 in Cairo. This unique workshop in Dhaka was done on the text excerpts of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot keeping in mind the socio-political realities of India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Theatre for Bangladesh is a celebration of life, but like life in Bangladesh it faces many odds. Nevertheless people tap their great source of energy to move forward and life goes on. Likewise the show goes on and theatre tries to fathom the deeper meaning of existence in order to gain spirit to overcome all the barriers. Theatre is facing many difficulties in Bangladesh but it is as exciting as ever.
Mofidul Hoque is a theatre critic and cultural activist. He is also a Board Member of ITI Communication Committee.
Dinabandhu Mitra
Michael Madhusudan Dutta
Rabindranath Tagore
Sisir Bhaduri
Girish Ghosh
Utpal Dutt
Ajitesh Bandyopadyay
Badal Sarkar
Arun Mukhopadhyay
Bibhas Chakrabarty
Rudraprasad Sengupta
Sohag Sen
Jochhan Dastidar
Bratya Basu
Suman Mukherjee
Goutam Halder
Swatilekha Sengupta
Abanti Chakraborty
Chandra Dastidar
Usha Ganguly
Joyraj Bhattacharya
Azad Abul Kalam
Manoj Mitra
THEATRE The Mirror of Class: Essays on Bengali Theatre by Himani Bannerji; Papyrus, Calcutta; Rs.200.
IT is a pity that this remarkable text on 20th century Bengali theatre - its ideology and practice - has remained confined within the shores of India. This book is not merely an evaluation of Bengali theatre through the linked prisms of class formation and class awareness but also a penetrating sociological study that explores the emergence and advance of the urban Bengali middle class whose contradictions, aspirations and compromises have been adequately reflected on the stage. In this sense, the very last chapter "The Mirror of Class - Class Subjectivity and Politics in 19th Century Bengal" forms an integral part of the book. This class in question, ironically, preceded the "bhadralok" Communist of later years and, as a result, the high-pitched dramaturgy of Girish Chandra Ghosh also anticipated the sensational epic theatre of Utpal Dutt. The author has examined these links between the past and present at the levels of attitude and creativity with incisive clarity. In fact, the last sentence of the book "Both ruled and ruling, a kind of Janus at birth, the colonial middle classes through their reorganisation of cultural and intellectual life captured moments of class experiences and desires", prompts us to recall the dramatisation of the "captured moments" that followed in our contemporary world. No wonder, Utpal Dutt decided to focus on this fragmented colonial psyche by writing a play on Michael Madhusudan Dutt who was ambivalent enough to sway between "colonial" admiration and "anti-colonial" revolt.
Courtesy: The Utpal Dutt Foundation for International Theatre Studies, Kolkata.
Utpal Dutt in one of his dramatic productions, "Othello". Dutt staged one production after another in Bengali theatre and tried to evolve a comprehensive theory of Epic Theatre.
All the seven chapters of this book are excellent examples of Marxian dissection of the Bengali theatre and mind. But if I were asked which two chapters score over the others, I will mention, unhesitatingly, "Representation and Class Politics in the Theatre of Utpal Dutt" and "Nation and Class in the Communist Aesthetics and the Theatre of Utpal Dutt". The author deliberately chose Utpal Dutt because he strode like a Colossus over the realm of Bengali theatre staging one production after another and, at the same time, trying to evolve a comprehensive theory of Epic Theatre which, the indefatigable Thespian hoped, should serve as a model for others.
Utpal Dutt, of course, borrowed the expression "Epic Theatre" from Bertolt Brecht, though his own praxis of "Epic Theatre" was poles apart from, indeed explicitly opposed to, Brecht's concept of the same. It is high time that we underlined this intrinsic difference because critics in India, often too glibly, draw a straight line from Brecht's "Mother Courage and her Children" to Utpal Dutt's "Barricade". Himani Bannerji is simply superb when she pinpoints the differences between the two dramatists and producers. In her words, "Utpal Dutt's Epic Theatre, unlike Brecht's Epic Theatre for class struggle, is first and foremost a nationalist theatre with an added on rather than intrinsic socialist agenda" (Page 13). When one elaborates this basic difference one concludes that whereas Utpal Dutt, closer to his own theatrical tradition and Stanislavsky (the Russian theatre director and actor), aspired to raise his Epic Theatre based on the reinvigorating power of myths, the wily Brecht formulated his vision by subjecting this very myth to question. One was anchored in his rich and vibrant epic-mythic mode, and the other delighted in sabotaging the myths from inside. Utpal Dutt needed colourful heroes, Brecht longed for a society which did not need heroes. Brecht's "Schweyk", "Mother Courage" and "Galileo" have nothing heroic about them in the Aristotelian or Elizabethan sense. Quite correctly, the analyst has traced the genesis of Utpal Dutt's epic-aesthetic to his admiration for (Josef) Stalin. In a trenchant sentence which closes the last chapter on Utpal Dutt, Himani Bannerji proposes in combative spirit, "His scheme of mythic realism is an aesthetic manifestation of his nationalist bourgeois socialism, whose code name could be Stalinism" (Page 118).
The succinct comparison leads to the unavoidable question: Why have Brecht's examples of Epic Theatre ("Mother Courage" and "Galileo") turned into classics and why are plays of Utpal Dutt - even those texts such as "Tiner Talwar" and "Dushapner Nagari" which mesmerised the audience - no longer read? Utpal Dutt could have claimed that his theatre sought to expedite revolution and did not seek immortality. But one could pose the counter-statement, namely, Brecht was no less a political being than Utpal Dutt and his plays were also devoted to the cause of Communism, unflinchingly? No doubt, the critic's sympathy lies with Bertolt Brecht. But her fairness also ensures that Utpal Dutt's ceaseless commitment receives the accolade that is due to it. In all his productions, some of them were breathtaking, Utpal Dutt achieved what he wanted to - "reaffirm the violent history of India, reaffirm the material tradition of its people, recount again and again the heroic tales of grand rebels and martyrs" (Page 70, Utpal Dutt's own words).
The basic question that the author has raised and also answered without mincing words is: To what extent has the politicised and progressive theatre of West Bengal dominated by the middle class since "Nabanna" (1944), the path-breaking production of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in the 1940s, till our times been able to fulfil its essentially political function of drawing in the exploited to the auditorium and expediting the cause of a socialist revolution? In other words, has this theatre been the "child of changing, restless, crisis-ridden and violent times"? (Page 19). Unfortunately, the playwrights, directors and other theatre-workers, in spite of being fired by the dream of liberation, have remained rooted to their middle class anchor. And because of this class-conscripted attitude which shackles the Being as well as Consciousness, even the historic "Nabanna" ("The New Harvest") "gives us little or no indication of the social forces that structure and surround the lives" of the famine-stricken peasants. Indeed, what the critic highlights as the failure in "Nabanna" has turned out to be the paradigmatic curse of the Left Theatre of Bengal. The words she has employed to define the severe class-limitation of "Nabanna" could easily be applied again and again in the context of many other plays we see regularly at Academy of Fine Arts, Sisir Mancha and other auditoriums: "It was the middle class playwrights, with sympathetic observations of the miseries of the people, who wrote the plays, and it was middle class actors and actresses who put on tattered clothes, carried begging bowls or sticks and spears and spoke in dialects, carefully erasing the traces of the "proper" and "high" Bengali they had spoken all their lives" (Page 48).
This intrinsic, class-dictated deficiency created a tough barrier when the middle class theatre-workers attempted to cross the border and stage the Bengali adaptation of Maxim Gorky's Mother in a lower middle class, proletarian settlement. The theatre group "Chetana", helped by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), staged "Mother" in a field where red flags fluttered, but the mothers and daughters who constituted the audience hardly received any political education from the performance. They simply could not identify themselves with the "Mother" on the stage as was evident in the comment, "that mother is not like you and me. It's white people's mother" (Page 44). Above all, the Bengali version of the play, instead of tracing the emergence of the mother as a steel-hard proletarian figure who has realised the essence of class struggle and declassed solidarity, offered a typical Bengali mother, sentimental and moral in the bourgeois sense of the term. The play was highly normative, not in the least dialectical. And the author, who saw it all with her own eyes, had to conclude, "It seemed like a garish, over-coloured political poster... The image of the working class came from book to life, not the other way" (Page 42).
Even when this same group under the able direction of Arun Mukherjee staged a remarkable play like "Jagannath" where "class became palpable as a social relation in each episode" (Page 36), the audience remained strictly middle class. In what is possibly the most revealing section of the book, the author describes how the tea vendor's boy, classless by birth, prefers to sell tea to the theatre-going babus in place of seeing the play himself, ostensibly meant for him. His simple words expose the terrible gap that has grown between the classes: "These things are for you people, for the gentle folk. Don't understand what's going on, what's being said"(Page 33). What follows from these words is no less terrible - we, the middle class, view these artistic productions of the middle class to experience a catharsis of sorts. The more the sensation on stage, the more the intensity of our purgation. Hence we return after seeing "Tiner Talwar" as "relieved" human beings enwrapped in our own web of bourgeois moralism. Our alienation is complete. Hence, neither the performance nor our participation should be equated with the sensuous and liberating activity about which Marx spoke in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts.
But we need elevating, creative labour even more urgently at this point of time when fascist-fundamentalist forces are hellbent to vulgarise and appropriate that very national history which inspired Utpal Dutt. Moreover, this labour should uphold the cause of social justice by forging a link between the oppressions and class, gender, caste and the new element of "race". Himani Bannerji, in "One Woman, Two Women, Without Women", shows how the class question is intrinsically linked with the feminist perspective. Her excellent interaction with Sobha Sen, one of India's great actresses, emphasises how in a semi-feudal, patriarchal set-up "class is engendered and gender classified" (Page 156).
It is doubtful if any other text on Bengali theatre has linked the history of dramatic performance with the history of the Bengali middle class with such scholarly verve, analytical brilliance and in so lucid a style. Using class as the defining prism, Himani Bannerji has focussed on the inherent limits of a class-defined creative enterprise whose Utopian resolve has not been nourished by the energy of classless activism. While reading her text, one is reminded of Louis Aragon's fervent query directed at Pablo Picasso: "Pablo, my friend what of our dreams / what of our dreams".
The advent of Bengali theatre may be dated back to 1831, when Prasanna Kumar Thakur established the 'Hindu Rangamanch' at Calcutta and staged Wilson's English translation of Bhavabhuti's Sanskrit drama 'Uttar Ramacharitam'.
In the initial days, Bengali theatre was influenced to some extent by ‘Yatra’ (folk plays acted on open stage).
During the early years, themes related to the society, religion, traditions and customs formed the major part of the contents of the plays.
After that, patriotism, horror of Bengal famine, aftermath of both World War and trauma of partition and riots in the post-Independence era found emotive expressions in Bengali theatre.
Bengali theatre continued its journey through 'Kirtivilas' of Yogendra Chandra Gupta,'Bhadrarjuna' of Taracharan,'Kulin Kula Sarvaswa' of Ramanarayana Tarkaratna and'Neel Darpan' of Deenbandhu Mitra.
Social dramas of Girish Chandra Ghosh, historical dramas of D.L.Roy and artistic dramas of Rabindranath Tagore continued to reach up to the stage of realistic dramas and marked the beginning of the parallel theatre.
But it was Shombhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt who can be credited with having given Modern Bengali theatre a thrust and injecting new life into the existing traditions. They were the true inheritors of the great theatre tradition began by Sisir Kumar Bhaduri and Bijon Bhattacharya.
The famous actor and playwright Girishchandra Ghosh, one of the pioneers of Bengali theatre, in his plays "Siraj-ud-daula" and "Mirkashim" presented Muslim characters as patriotic nationalist leaders equally respected by Hindus and Muslims.
Another famous playwright and poet Dijendralal Roy, in his play "Mebar Patan" (The Fall of Mewar), set a bright example of Hindu-Muslim amity through the relation between Amar Singh, a Hindu prince and Mahabat Khan, a converted Muslim.
Ritwik Ghatak, the famous playwright and actor and film director wrote "Dalil" (The Deed) in 1951 wherein the people living in East and West Bengal feel sad and agitated because their motherland has been partitioned.
The famous playwright and actor Utpal Dutt wrote "Itihasher Kathgoray" (On the Derk of History) in 1965 wherein Dutt shows that communal disbelief and hatred generated by the outbreak of War between India and Pakistan gradually weaken and fade away
The legend, Shambhu Mitra and his immensely talented wife Tripti Mitra went on to notch many successful productions for Bohurupee, a group formed by them, including Dashchakra, Raktakarabi, Galilieo and Chand Baniker Pala. Today their equally talented daughter Saonli Mitra is carrying on the production for this group.
Bengal also had the likes of Ajitesh Bandopadhyay who founded Bohurupee and the great Badal Sircar, whose plays like Evam Indrajit, continue to fascinate the Indian psyche. But that was Bengali theatre.
Even Hindi theatre flourished in Bengal under the likes of Shyamanad Jalan, Pratibha Agarwal and Usha Ganguli, Anamika, Padatik and Rangkarmee (of Rudra Prasad Sen Gupta) continue even today to provide thought provoking fare to the theatre-going public of Bengal.
They may not be titans but their contribution to the keeping alive the vibrant tradition of theatre in Bengal is worth accolades.
In dilemma, CPM eyes stick
Somnath adamant, party mulls action
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080717/jsp/frontpage/story_9561655.jsp
JAYANTH JACOB AND BISWAJIT ROY
July 16: Fuming but befuddled, the CPM leadership is thinking of denouncing Somnath Chatterjee at the central committee meeting this weekend if he does not step down as Speaker by then, sources said today.
Chatterjee, however, betrayed little sign of giving up his post before the trust vote on July 22. “It’s a million-dollar question what I will do on July 22,” he told Times Now television on board a flight to Hyderabad.
The CPM central committee is scheduled to meet in Delhi on July 19 and 20. The sources said that if the defiance continued, the party would be left with “little option” but to “denounce” Chatterjee.
The careful choice of words — “denunciation” — lays bare the dilemma of the party in deploying the usual disciplinary measures on the veteran who has become an unlikely tormentor of Prakash Karat. The party usually showcauses a member accused of flouting discipline, suspends the person if no satisfactory reply is furnished and sometimes pulls the expulsion trigger.
But in the case of Chatterjee, such measures are certain to ignite an outcry in the party with the potential to provide an outlet to the discontent about voting along with the BJP on the trust motion.
Besides, the CPM will find it difficult to formally charge Chatterjee with indiscipline as the party had been claiming in public the Speaker was free to take his own decision, though privately it has been piling pressure on him to quit.
If the CPM decides on denunciation, it could accuse Chatterjee of not taking into account “the political situation” — a euphemism for the need to topple the government, even if it means voting along with the BJP.
Somnath Chatterjee
But the sources said the CPM leadership was still hopeful of a solution. The party’s best option — Chatterjee recanting — looks unlikely.
Two other options are unpalatable to the party: if Chatterjee presides over the trust motion and then resigns — a possible option — it is of no use to the CPM. If he resigns as Speaker before the vote, he is likely to quit as MP also, which will be a bigger embarrassment to the party.
CPM central committee leader Mohammad Salim said it “would have been better if the party had discussed” with Chatterjee before including his name in the list.
CPM sources claimed that the party had given Chatterjee a long rope, including a statement today by politburo member Sitaram Yechury.
The statement, apparently issued to clarify reports attributed to Yechury, virtually admitted an oversight on a technical ground. “What I had said is that the Speaker’s name should be included in the CPI(M) list as he was elected as a CPI(M) candidate but with an asterisk denoting that he is the Lok Sabha Speaker, as is the normal parliamentary practice,” Yechury’s statement said.
The statement prompted sections of the party to split hairs to establish whether it represented a climbdown or a hardening of stand.
“It’s virtually a public apology on behalf of the leadership. Now we hope that Somnathda, being a large-hearted person, will no more stick to his position as he has already succeeded in making a point,” a party leader said.
But others said Yechury’s statement subtly asserted the party’s right to enlist Chatterjee as a voter in the House.
Subhas in touch with Speaker
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Basu
Calcutta, July 16: Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, both opposed to voting along with the BJP, are believed to have spoken to each other today.
Sources said Chatterjee gave Chakraborty the impression that he would not resign before the trust vote.
Despite a censure threat, Chakraborty refused to budge from his stand that the CPM should not vote with the BJP. Asked whether he would withdraw his statement, he said: “Why should I?”
Jyoti Basu, Chakraborty’s mentor, apparently told him today he should not have spoken out through the media.
But party sources said Basu was unlikely to have been unhappy at the statement.
Basu unwell
Basu, who turned 95 a few days ago, hurt himself when he fell off his bed. He has chest pain but doctors did not detect any fracture, his aide Joykrishna Ghosh said. Ignoring Basu’s reservations, the party has arranged a night attendant.
Risk & Rajiv on Rahul lips
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. (PTI)
Lucknow, July 16: In one of the most forceful arguments for the nuclear deal, Rahul Gandhi today said it was a “risk” worth taking for the benefit of the country and drew a parallel with his father’s dream of a computerised India which had then received similar condemnation from the Left.
Rahul, on a tour of his constituency Amethi, reiterated his praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and lauded him for demonstrating “extraordinary vision, tenacity and leadership” in his efforts to make the deal a reality at the risk of his own government.
Stating that he was extending “100 per cent” support to Singh, the Nehru-Gandhi scion said: “For ideological or political reasons the deal is being opposed. But the Congress has taken a decision which is correct. If something is in the interest of the people, numbers do not matter….
“Sometimes in life, risks have to be taken. The Prime Minister thinks it is in the interest of the country. If the government falls in the process, so be it.”
“So be it” is the phrase the Prime Minister used to dare the Left last August. It was also not lost on Delhi’s political number crunchers — busy tabulating the votes each side is believed to be commanding — that for the second time in less than a week, Rahul has spoken of the risk of the government falling.
Today, Rahul took a swipe at the Left, which has been virulently critical of the deal, and saw in the protests a strain similar to its opposition to his father Rajiv Gandhi’s vision of a computerised India.
Rahul recalled how the Left parties in the mid-eighties had stonewalled the introduction of computers in government offices on the ground that it would lead to massive retrenchment.
Rahul said the criticism faced by his father was “unjust and mischievous”, as he, like the Prime Minister now, had wanted to do some good for India. “Even then, everybody thought the move to introduce computers was ridiculous,” he said.
Ironically, the Left, which had spearheaded the campaign against computerisation, is now a firm believer in the benefits of technology. The CPM’s offices in New Delhi and elsewhere are fully computerised and most of its frontline leaders cannot be parted from their laptops.
Rahul also made an appeal to Young India, saying he hoped the deal would have the backing of young MPs irrespective of party affiliation. “I am sure all young Lok Sabha members, even those from the Opposition, are convinced that the nuclear deal is in the country’s interest,” he said.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Nuke Opera: Skin Exposure Realty Reality Ramp
Nuke Opera: Skin Exposure Realty Reality Ramp
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 25
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
CPI(M) MP slams Somnath for not quitting
New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Hitting out at Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for not quitting his post, a senior CPI(M) MP today said his argument of not voting along with BJP holds no water as he had accepted the saffron party's support during the election to the post of Speaker.
"His argument does not hold water. He did not have any problem when BJP supported his candidature to the post of Speaker," Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP from Kerala's Chirayankeezhu, said here.
He noted that the UPA, Left and the BJP had voted in favour of many issues together during the present term of the Lok Sabha.
"This (Chatterjee's argument) is childish. Every party has its own stand on issues. Even the Speaker has to toe his party's line," Radhakrishnan, a former Speaker of Kerala Assembly, said.
Taking a potshot at the Speaker, he said, "does Chatterjee de-board a plane if he finds that a BJP MP in it while travelling?" Chatterjee has came under pressure from his party to quit the post after the Left withdrew support to the UPA but he is understood to have raised questions over the CPI(M)'s decision to vote along with BJP against the UPA government during the trust vote. PTI
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/AA1D15468B1F59AA652574880054CCFB?OpenDocument
I have talked to some friendly editors of so called national dailies and asked them, ` How do you get the smell of the recipe created in Indira Bhawan? What discussion goes on in between West Bengal CPIM Gestapo heads to have an escape route to bail out the government as well as the Nuke deal? Who knows what plan is chalked out there? Is West Bengal CPIM ready to face fresh Elections at this point? How they are supposed to persuade a reluctant senior most leader to resign as Speaker? Has Chatterjee the courage to hold on unless his long time partners are rock solid behind them? What Pranab told Basu? how do you got the Letter Bomb from the Marxist speaker?”
I got no answer. But the media leaders accepted that the information's leak from the power bases and this Leak happens to be the main source of News Break. Reporters are fed well!
Is any information leak is free of Mirch Massala?
Does any interest group, specially the most organised Political gestapo in this world, leak any information to undermine its base at any cost?
Nandigram still tense
Statesman News Service
TAMLUK, July 15: Tension ran high in Nandigram today, a day before the proposed visit of the leaders of Matangini Mahila Samity (MMS), in the trouble torn villages, when some Trinamul Congress workers allegedly forced some CPI-M workers to shut down their shops at Tekhali market, Maheshpur, Southkhali, Natunbazar and Bankimmore.
At least 15 CPI-M workers were threatened with dire consequences until they closed their shops at these markets in Nandigram today, said Mr Ashok Guria, a CPI-M district secretariat member.
Mr Guria alleged, around 300 party supporters from different villages are not being able to initiate cultivation during this monsoon as they have been threatened by the Trinamul workers to stay away from cultivation. Their arguments is that these supporters had strongly supported the government’ views on industrialisation and so they would not be allowed to go ahead with cultivation.When asked about the incident, Mr Abu Taher, a Trinamul Congress leader said his party colleagues had to go through same situation a few months ago and even Mr Laxman Seth had announced in a meeting that those who will oppose the industrialisation will not be provided any employment in the proposed chemical hub.
Meanwhile, when asked about the visit of the Matangini Mahila Samity leaders at the villages in Nandigram, Mr Guria said: “When they stayed during the trouble period in Nandigram, they had only roles to motivate the villagers against the CPI-M. So, this time, they will do the same job. I have reports that their workers are campaigning here about their visit on Wednesday”.
Just see! It is still full of smoke and fire!
So ridiculous are the speculations of ideological debate or Constitutional obligations!
From my little experience, I put the Money on CPIM`s masterstroke to save the deal and the governemnt as well as its political fate and face!
And it is nothing the political Skin Exposure of a very sexy commodity, the post of speaker!
And just read this!
I am tired of speculation: Somnath
16 Jul 2008, 2130 hrs IST,Times Now
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has finally broken his silence on the speculation on whether or not he will give up the chair. Speaking exclusively to Times Now , Somnath Chatterjee kept his cards close to his chest saying that he would reveal his decision on July 21 - the day the trust vote motion will be introduced in the Lok Sabha.
"I stand by my earlier statement. There is unnecessary speculation in the media ... wait till 22nd," said Somnath Chatterjee on-board a flight to Hyderabad.
Probed further as to what was his decision on the Speakership issue, Chatterjee said, "It is a million dollar question...you keep on speculating."
Till now, Somnath Chatterjee had been silent, even as it was reported that he disagreed with the CPM on voting alongside the BJP in the trust vote.
Hitting out at Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for not quitting his post, a senior CPM MP on Wednesday said his argument of not voting along with BJP holds no water as he had accepted the saffron party's support during the election to the post of Speaker.
Chatterjee has came under pressure from his party to quit the post after the Left withdrew support to the UPA but he is understood to have raised questions over the CPM's decision to vote along with BJP against the UPA government during the trust vote.
Sources in the CPM say Somnath has communicated his decision to mentor Jyoti Basu and would only quit if Basu asks him to. In fact in Kolkata, the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, accompanied by Industry Ministry Nirupam Sen, met Jyoti Basu for the second time in two days seeking his intervention to persuade the Speaker to toe the party line.
It was reported that Somnath Chatterjee had also written to Karat about his position but this was brushed aside by Karat in Delhi on Tuesday and then again in Chennai on Wednesday morning. According to the sources, Somnath Chatterjee is unlikely to quit, choosing to stay on as Speaker and preside over the trust vote on 21st and 22nd of the month of July.
Facing defiance from Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee over the issue of his continuance in office, the CPM today insisted that there was nothing wrong in including his name in the list of MPs withdrawing support to the UPA as he was elected on a party ticket.
CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in a statement in New Delhi that "disinformation campaign" on the issue of inclusion of Speaker's name in the CPM list submitted to the President was doing the rounds.
"What I said is that the Speaker's name should be included in the CPM list as he was elected as a CPM candidate but with an asterisk denoting that he is the Lok Sabha Speaker, as is the normal Parliamentary procedure," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/I_am_tired_of_speculation_Somnath/articleshow/3241986.cms
US Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had told Pakistan's top civil and military leadership that the US could take unilateral military action if Pakistan is unable to stop cross-border attacks on Afghanistan!US Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had told Pakistan's top civil and military leadership that the US could take unilateral military action if Pakistan is unable to stop.
You have to allow a space, very delicate to decide, for Exposure!
Long way back ten years at least, my energetic niece Munia told me while discussing her career as a blooming fashion designer. Her mother Beena is my real cousin who is based in Pratap Khand, Jhilmil colony, New Delhi, where some of the Delhi journalists also reside. My cousin Arun has got his three story house in Jahangirpura in West Delhi bordering karnal, Hariyana. I seldom visit the place and his wife Jharna, my wife Savita`s maternal village related niece complain so often.
Beena and my another cousin Subhash share most of my childhood days as Meeradi was married away right in 1961. Beena is just a year younger than me. Subhash, the son of Chhotokaka is another year younger. Beena or Subhash never argued with me anytime. While the twosome quarreled too much. Beena and Subhash had been the dearest students of our music teacher while I never could cope with anything in music.
Beena was married in 1973 while I was appearing in High School exam. Her husband Niranjan Sarkar, an ITI electrician belonged to Hastinapur , Meerut. He was then engaged in Madan Mill Meerut. He mobilised to Muradnagar very soon and finally settled in Delhi after spending sometime in Rohatak, Hariyana.
Munia, the eldest offspring in the family appeared in 1978. She has two IT specialist brothers Dilip and Bishwajeet.
The children were associated with redical student`s association.
Even, Munia joined a conference in Kolkata and did not call me. later I befriended with Delhi University Radical students` leaders.
All of them talked so much on ideology and Marxist deviation in Indian Politics.
Kanchan kumar Mukherjee was a hero for them and I knew the guy who translated Sukanto Bhattacharya. I was disillusioned with the ideological bankruptcy of the Maoist, Naxalite friends while I gave Kanchan da every document on Citizenship Amendment Bill and partition victim Dalit Bengali refugees persecution in India to present the case in Mumbai resistance forum as I could not be present there for I was busy in North East. Kanchan da sat over all these documents and did say nothing while our JNU friends and representatives from Patna led by Pushpraj raised the issue. strangely enough. The Ambedkarites resisted against the inclusion of the issue in agenda. Sainath called me and expressed shock.
Later, in Kolkata, While the on going demonstration against Nandigram Massacre was going very strong thanks to the so called Civil society and the dias was shared by Mahashweta Debi, Medha Patkar, Rasheeda B, Shaonli Mitra, Sunand Sanyal, Dipankar Bhattacharya and kolkat cultural item, I could not resist myself talking to Dipankar Bhattachary, the general Secretary of CPIML as the song written by my dearest friend Gorkh Pandey did electrify the audience. Deepankar agreed to discuss the resistance strategies against Brhaminical ruling Hegemony in west Bengal led by CPIM. But the party leaders are avoiding to fix a date and a full year has passed.
The children in Delhi could never know any thing about the Communist betrayals in India. they never touched the heat and dust in Telengana, Shrikakulam, Dhimri Block and Naxal Bari. they tended to target me as a soft spot to hit for their romantic revolutionary adventure.
Munia was then in a little focus as Suchitra Sarkar, the fashion designer from NIFT who presented her creations in solo exhibitions in Metros. She also discussed fashion with me. the children discussed a lot on Politics, dram and literature. They had the children of Virendra Jain, a well known reputed Hindi Novelist in their friend circle. They were somehow proud for their poor uncle who did also appear in prints often!
I wondered how my dearest niece was engaged in ramps with models exposing skin! How did it related to Ideology and politics! They could not convince me. Munia is married in an Elite Brahmin Chakrabati family and gave up her career as fashion Designer for her love with Computer engineer husband. None of them talks politics!
But I have got the answer!
The Politics and Ideology combined in India is nothing but Realty Reality Ramp as we witness the Truth emerging out of Somanth Chatterjee Letter Bomb! Meanwhile we have seen the height of hypocrisy as the Marxists pulled down Jyoti Basu in its historical Blunder. The Historical Blunder is repeated once again on the name of anti Imperialsim.
I repeat Indian Ruling Class has never joined in Anti Imperialism War anytime in History. Rather it crushed , betrayed the Indigenous nationalities engaged in anti imperialism war.
Without any resistance since 1991, the beginning of LPG and Neoliberalism, the communist Brahmans in India are posing Hard Core Patriots in anti imperialist campaign all of a sudden while no one may stop either Indo US strategic partnership or the Nuke Deal.
But the Parliamentary Nuke Opera is Blooming like bamboos in North East!
MNCs has taken over Indian economy and Indigenous Production system. It is a chain of massacres infinite and Marxists lead way ahead on the capitalist way of Urbanisation and Industrialisation with SEZ, Chemical Hub, Nuclear plants, auto and credit Boom, Outsourcing IT, corporate services, retail chain and nuclear plant!
What good Somnath as a champion parliamentarian has done to Bengal or Bolpur or Shanti Niketan, is no secret!
Who are afraid of earlier elections?
Why Buddha and Nirupam meet Jyoti basu, the nanogenerian so often these days? Who may say that these gentlemen are not trying their best to chalk out a master Plan to resist Praksh Karat and save the deal as well as government?
Media speculations deal just with the Rotten Nonsense of ideology which Pranab Mukherjee ant the gang repeat to avoid any head on collision with the left so the alliance could be possible again after fresh elections to stop RSS, the fascists to hold state Power in the Centre. The marxists opted to ally with the Dalit Queen in UP while they never believed in Ambedkar, Dalit movement and Dalit liberation.
The Marriage Ended but Copulation continues.
Indian Media hides well the Realty Realities of Indian power politics and creates every delicate space for Skin Exposure!
Now just see the developments!
With just six days to go for the trust vote in parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday said he was still the speaker while his parent Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said he would take "an appropriate decision at the appropriate time".
"I am still the speaker," Chatterjee told reporters in New delhi.
The issue of what Chatterjee would do has gained prominence as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trust vote in parliament draws closer. The Left's withdrawal of support has reduced the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to a minority and each vote will be crucial for its survival.
The CPI-M leadership reportedly faces a dilemma with Chatterjee - who became the speaker as part of the Left's understanding with the UPA when it extended its outside support in 2004 - refusing to resign after the Communists pulled out last week.
Chatterjee's comments came just after CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat reiterated that the decision to give up the speaker's post had been left to Chatterjee.
"The speaker will decide himself what he wants to do," Karat told reporters in Chennai airport where he arrived Wednesday for a party meeting.
CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury added here: "The party has taken a decision that it was up to the speaker. The speaker will take an appropriate decision at the appropriate time."
Yechury also issued a statement clarifying that the party was following "normal parliamentary practice" by putting Chatterjee's name in the list of MPs submitted to President Pratibha Patil after it withdrew support.
Pointing out that there had been a "disinformation" campaign over the inclusion of Chatterjee's name in the list, Yechury said: "What I had said is that the speaker’s name should be included in the CPI-M list as he was elected as a CPI-M candidate but with an asterisk denoting that currently he is the Lok Sabha speaker, as is the normal parliamentary practice."
The ruling Congress condemned the controversy over the speaker's resignation.
"The Congress condemns the unfortunate attempt to politicise the high constitutional office of the Lok Sabha speaker, which has resulted in a public controversy. The speaker is appointed by the entire Lok Sabha, not by one party," Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said.
"The speaker rises above party affiliation and serves as the speaker of the Lok Sabha in a non-partisan manner. The controversy will create a dangerous precedence," Natarajan warned.
Nuke plants safe, go for the deal: nuclear safety expert
India should shed its apprehensions over the safety of atomic power plants as well as reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal and operationalise it to bring about a “paradigm shift” in the energy scenario, a nuclear safety expert said in Chennai on Wednesday.
“There are currently 400 nuclear reactors in operation in different parts of the world...Including in earthquake-prone places like Japan,” said L K Krishnan, former director, safety research and health physics group, Indira Gandhi centre for atomic research of the department of atomic energy at Kalpakkam near here.
He said two well-known nuclear accidents, one at Chernobyl in Russia and three mile islands in US are the rare ones. “The Chernobyl reactor is a different kind,” said Krishnan, who takes pride in associating with the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant which withstood the 2004 tsunami.
The tsunami caused by the Indian ocean earthquake caused widespread damage in Kalpakkam coast, but the reactors remained unaffected and according to officials, no casualties were reported from the plant.
While the nuclear deal created a political storm in the country, some critics also cautioned about dangers posed by mega nuclear plants which are expected to come up in a number of places in India if the deal is operationalised.
On the deal, Krishnan asserts that India should go ahead with it as it provides access to buy 1000 mw reactors.
“We should go for it. The first reason is if we go about building reactors ourselves, it's going to take a long time. See how much time it took to build a fast breeder reactor,” he said.
“If this deal goes through we can buy a lot of things which were denied to us due to dual use capability. Won't that be good for us?” Krishnan asked.
He also believes that India should have separated its nuclear power reactors meant for civilian energy and those meant for weapons programme well before going to the IAEA with the recent safeguards agreement.
“If you are not going to use a particular facility for weapons purpose, what is the problem in someone coming and taking a look? Today if we want to buy anything for a reactor, they won't sell it to you due to dual use problem. But if the deal goes through, we can declare reactors for energy use.... They may even sell us new reactors,” he said.
Even Russia at present promised to sell only six reactors to Kudankulam nuclear power plant and not more, he said.
“We can go for large reactors but today only 500 mw turbines are being made in India. If we go for bigger reactors we have to import turbines to suit the size. Five years down the line, if we produce 1000 mw turbines, we can go for bigger reactors.”
He likens the import of uranium, which was expected to be possible after the operationalisation of the IAEA safeguards agreement and securing exemption from NSG countries, with that of buying oil and said one should not be worried over stoppage of supplies.
“Are we not buying oil. We are...Depending on other countries for energy. Even for the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, security issues are involved. What if it is closed (after operationalisation)?” he asked.
On apprehensions about rolling back of the deal if India carried out nuclear tests again, he asked “hasn't it happened before”, referring to sanctions imposed on India after the 1998 nuclear tests.
“Every time sanctions were imposed, the us and other countries lifted them subsequently. Even if they impose it again, it would be only for a while. They will come back to you like in 1998 because we are economically strong,” he said.
“I do not know why we need to conduct another test. Nuclear weapons are not for use. It is only strategic deterrence,” he said adding that the deal will bring about a “paradigm shift” in the country's energy scenario.
“All along we have been isolated. We will come into the mainstream.” On the Hyde act, which BJP and the left oppose, he said the us act was brought in mainly by the non-proliferation lobby and a US-centric law. It need not be accepted by parliament.
Krishnan also questioned suggestions to increase thermal generation to avoid dependence on nuclear power.
“Coal mining cannot be doubled in India. For that, we have to go for deep mining. The ash content of our coal is high and cannot be easily transported. The geological survey of India has been saying it is difficult to open new mines as they are in reserve forest areas or in built up settlements, making it difficult. So it is not easy. Emissions will bring new pressures on us on issues relating to global warming.”
On increasing hydropower generation, he said it largely depends on the monsoon. Also, China has just agreed to share the data on the Brahmaputra river, which has potential to develop hydel power.
“And we have to depend on China for adequate quantity of water. So, overall it is useful to have nuclear energy option,” he said.
Think beyond Iraq, fight Al Qaeda in Afganistan: Obama, McCain
"This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century
Washington: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday said the US must broaden its foreign policy focus beyond Iraq, as he pledged to end the war and focus on fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, while Republican John McCain put forward his strategy for addressing ongoing violence there.
In a speech on foreign policy in Washington ahead of a planned trip to Europe and the Middle East, Obama said the war in Iraq "distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize."
"This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe," he said.
He renewed his call to withdraw most US troops from Iraq within 16 months if he is elected, and said at least two brigades should be shifted from Iraq to defeating Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"In fact, as should have been apparent to President Bush and Senator McCain, the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was," Obama said.
While he admitted a surge in US troops has helped reduce violence in Iraq, he emphasized that it did not change the need to withdraw US troops from the country.
McCain, a long-time supporter of the troop surge, criticized Obama's plan and said his fellow senator should should wait until he assesses the situation in Iraq in person before putting forward a plan.
McCain called for a comprehensive strategy for the conflict in Afghanistan, including a troop increase of three brigades and a renewed international commitment to the conflict there.
"Insecurity in Afghanistan is the world's problem, and the world should share the costs," McCain told a townhall forum in the southwestern US state of New Mexico. He said a civilian-military campaign plan could help to combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The Taliban has launched a major offensive in recent weeks while seeking refuge in neighbouring Pakistan, including a rash of suicide bombings that have left scores of people dead. More than three dozen people died in the July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
President George W Bush told reporters Tuesday that the violent situation in Afghanistan has grown worse than that in Iraq because of resilient Taliban militants and their determination to kill innocent people.
During a White House press conference, Bush said Afghanistan now looks similar to Iraq two years ago, when violence peaked and the country was on the verge of a sectarian civil war.
McCain noted that several NATO countries have placed restrictions on where and how their troops can operate in Afghanistan. "That's no way to run a war," he said, in calling for a more unified command.
On Iran, Obama said "no tool of statecraft should be taken off the table" in diplomatic efforts to convince the country to halt its nuclear programme.
"I will use all elements of American power to pressure the Iranian regime, starting with aggressive, principled and direct diplomacy - diplomacy backed with strong sanctions and without preconditions," Obama said.
A Washington Post-ABC poll released late Monday showed that Americans were evenly divided between the Iraq strategies of the two presumptive candidates.
But when it came to either candidate's capability as an effective commander in chief, McCain won hands down with a 72-percent positive rating. Obama only received a 48 percent thumbs-up on his capability as the nation's top military officer.
Obama's speech also focused on keeping nuclear weapons from terrorists, achieving energy security and rebuilding US alliances with other countries.
Source : Indo-Asian News Service
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex continued its down-slide on Wednesday by losing over 100 points at close on persistent selling pressure amid ongoing political crisis. As Corporate India, which has grown globally in stature, is still a far cry from the professional management as family-owned monoliths in the country still prefer insiders and relatives over better qualified outsiders and squabble unproductively, says US magazine Newsweek. Commenting on the bitter battle between Ambani siblings, the publication said in its latest issue that the feud further underscores the need for the businesses to outgrow from their mostly family-run setups.
Unipolar US Corporate Imperialism and realliance of Zionist, Hindu white manusmriti apartheid forces against all Indigenous enslaved communities worldwide is the themesong of the ongoing Nuke Opera whatsoever the Acors prononce on stage!
Parsvnath Developers Ltd will invest 4 billion rupees in a knowledge city project in north India, which will be completed over the next 10 years, its chairman said on Wednesday.
By Shobhana Chandra July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid by US consumers jumped in June by the most since 2005 on spiraling costs for fuel and food, intensifying the pressure on households struggling with falling home prices and the credit crunch.
Pelosi Statement on Today's Record Drop in Oil Prices
Somnath not ready to reconcile, to chair trust vote
Diptosh Majumdar / CNN-IBN
Published on Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 20:30, Updated at Wed, Jul 16, 2008 in Nation section
Tags: Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker , New Delhi
E-mail this report | Print this report
NOTHING TO LISTEN: Even Jyoti Basu, who is also Chatterjee's mentor, has failed to mollify him.
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Keywords: Jyoti Basu, Trust Vote
New Delhi: It seems that at least for the moment Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has triumphed over his opponents within his party - the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
The Speaker will be there when the Vote of Confidence takes place on July 22.
Chatterjee is angry and his outburst is not because he has an unruly Lok Sabha to control. His anger is directed at his own party for trying to force him out of Speaker's post without keeping him in the loop.
Chatterjee believes he cannot be pushed out of a constitutional post in this manner. But his party says they didn't exactly ride roughshod over him.
"When the name was submitted to the President it should have been submitted with a mark saying that he is currently the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Putting the mark and not saying that was not done inadvertently," Sitaram Yechury, CPI-M Politburo member, said.
Even intercession by the party patriarch, Jyoti Basu, who is also Chatterjee's mentor, has failed to mollify him.
If he quits before the Vote of Confidence, he'll not only give up his Speaker's job, he'll even give up his Member of Parliament seat.
In fact, sources close to the Speaker have told CNN-IBN that he is even planning to quit the party.
Basu, of course, has been requested to try and convince Chatterjee once more that he should respect the party line.
But the Speaker is in no mood to relent.
In fact, quite by coincidence, it is Jyoti Basu's supporters who are making a fuss over having to vote alongside the Bharatiya Janata Party in the floor test.
West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty, who is also a Basu loyalist, said, "I cannot be happy if circumstances lead to such a position that the CPI-M and BJP come together and take a decision to fight and to bring down the UPA Government."
The Speaker is away for two days for a medical check-up in Hyderabad.
But his fate may be decided by the crucial Central committee meeting this weekend.
He never had too many supporters in the party but the party leadership believes that a confrontation with a man of his stature is best avoidable at the moment.
Last update: 9:18 p.m. EDT July 15, 2008
WASHINGTON, July 15, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this evening on the record drop in oil prices today -- the largest drop in 17 years:
"Today, the price of oil per barrel dropped $6.44 in one day -- the second highest one-day drop in history -- when the Federal Reserve Chairman predicted lower U.S. oil consumption. The biggest drop in history came 17 years ago, when President George H.W. Bush released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 1991 and the price per barrel dropped 34 percent in one day.
"President Bush tells us that there are no quick fixes -- but history proves otherwise. President Bush should free our oil by releasing a small amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and bring the price down further. Obstinance does nothing to help Americans struggling with record gas prices and a host of economic concerns."
SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pelosi-statement-todays-record-drop/story.aspx?guid=%7B67D2C259-3FFD-42D6-A695-B107AD9765DF%7D&dist=hppr
IAEA has no obligation on fuel supplies or building strategic reserves: Karat
Vinay Kumar
Assurances by government in Parliament and outside have not been fulfilled, says Left
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There is only a vague mention of corrective measures in preamble”
Statement says the Left parties’ concerns are not addressed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Friday maintained that the government’s move to go ahead with the IAEA safeguards agreement would be harmful to India’s interests.
They said it was clear that the agreement did not address the fundamental problems in the controversial Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement with the U.S. on civilian nuclear cooperation.
“It did not take much for us to study the safeguards agreement. There is nothing unexpected in it and we asked the government not to go ahead with it because it is one step forward in operationalising the 123 Agreement,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat told journalists at a press conference.
His senior party colleague and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, CPI national secretary D. Raja, and G. Devarajan of the Forward Bloc were present.
Fuel supply
Mr. Karat said the safeguards agreement did not take care of fuel supply, strategic reserves and corrective measures regarding fuel supply. He said that as a regulatory body, the International Atomic Energy Agency had no obligation on either fuel supplies or building strategic reserves.
“As a result of operationalising the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal, India will place its costly imported reactors under perpetual IAEA safeguards and risk their permanent shutdown in case it fails to toe the U.S. line on foreign policy issues,” a joint statement by the general secretaries of the CPI(M), the CPI, the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party of India said.
The four-page statement said the text of the safeguards agreement was “hidden” from the Left parties and people in order to suppress the fact that India “is about to bind its entire civilian nuclear energy programme into the IAEA safeguards in perpetuity without getting concrete assurances for uninterrupted fuel supply, right to build strategic reserves and right to take corrective steps in case fuel supplies are stopped.”
It said the so-called “India-specific safeguards” agreement sent to the IAEA Board of Governors made it clear that the repeated assurances by the UPA government in Parliament and outside, on securing uninterrupted fuel supply assurances and strategic fuel reserves, had not been fulfilled.
But for the facilities India proposed to put under the IAEA safeguards, it would be treated as a non-nuclear weapons state.
No special rights
“Clearly, India will not have any special rights in its safeguarded facilities and this directly contradicts the assurances given by the Prime Minister to Parliament. Nuclear weapon states, as defined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, have the right to take any facility out of safeguards, a right India will not have for the reactors it is offering to the IAEA for safeguards,” it pointed out.
The statement said there was only a vague mention of “corrective measures” in the preamble. As against the vagueness of the “corrective measures” figuring in the preamble, what was spelt out clearly in the body of the agreement was that India could withdraw its facilities from safeguards only if it was jointly agreed to between India and the IAEA and if these facilities were no longer usable for any nuclear activity.
Posing a key question with respect to the IAEA safeguards, the Left wondered how it could be ensured that once India’s civilian reactors came under safeguards in perpetuity, the country would not be blackmailed by withholding of nuclear fuel supplies, as the U.S. did in Tarapur following Pokhran-I.
The Left said the final arbiter of any interpretation of the agreement and dispute settlement was the IAEA Board of Governors, whose decision would be final.
“If India is held non-compliant, though it is not so by its own interpretation, it can be referred to the Security Council for action, including sanctions. The Iran case is an example.”
The statement said the Left parties’ concerns were not addressed. These are:
“In case the U.S. or other countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) renege on fuel supply assurances for imported reactors, will India have the ability to withdraw these reactors from the IAEA safeguards? If the U.S./NSG countries renege on fuel supply assurances, can we withdraw our indigenous civilian reactors from the IAEA safeguards? What are the corrective steps India can take if fuel supplies are interrupted by the U.S./NSG countries?
“What are the conditions that India must fulfil if corrective steps are to be put into operation? If we have to bring nuclear fuel from the non-safeguarded part of our nuclear programme for these reactors in case of fuel supply assurances not being fulfilled, will we have the ability to take it back again?
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/12/stories/2008071260361200.htm
Political realignment over N-deal
A section of UPA leaders are advising the govt against angering key outside supporters in view of the next Lok Sabha elections
New Delhi: A political realignment over Indo-US nuclear deal appears on cards as the Congress makes hectic efforts to reach out to new parties, including Samajwadi Party (SP), to bail out the UPA government in the event of withdrawal of support by Left parties.
Samajwadi Party, which has 39 members in Lok Sabha, is gradually becoming a foe-turned-friend for Congress which seeks to extend the lifeline of the coalition government headed by it if the Left pulls the plug.
Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Ajit Singh, whose party has three members in the Lok Sabha, has already had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and H D Devegowda-led JD(S) is also being seen as an ally by the ruling party.
UPA sources say Samajwadi Party has been driving a hard bargain but SP leaders are coy about any 'deal' with Congress on the nuclear deal.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had a meeting with Agriculture Minister and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, after which the two leaders left for foreign tours -- Mukherjee to Egypt and Pawar to Dubai.
Pawar also had a meeting with CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday night.
While Left leaders are chalking out the strategy on July four, a section of UPA leaders are advising against angering the key outside supporters in view of the feeling that their help would also be needed after next Lok Sabha elections.
This section feels that the next meeting of UPA-Left committee could be held anytime between 12 to 15 July.
No rift between Karat, Yechuri: CPI
"The reports are baseless," CPI secretary Raja said, referring to media reports that CPI-M politburo member Yechury was opposed to the four Left parties voting against the Manmohan Singh government in the July 22 trust vote
Chennai: There was no rift between Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury over the Left's decision to withdraw support to the government, Communist Party of India (CPI) secretary D. Raja said here Wednesday.
"The reports are baseless," Raja said, referring to media reports that CPI-M politburo member Yechury was opposed to the four Left parties voting against the Manmohan Singh government in the July 22 trust vote.
"He (Yechury) is with us. There is no difference of opinion among the Left on the issue."
Yechury himself last week denied differences with CPI-M general secretary Karat. Some media reports interpreted his trip to Britain for an event organised by the British parliament as signaling his disapproval over the CPI-M move to withdraw its backing to the government when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was away in Japan to attend the G8 summit.
Raja, here to address a public meeting to explain the four Left parties' opposition to the India-US deal, was talking to the media at the airport.
Answering criticism that the Left's withdrawal of support to the Manmohan Singh government could strengthen the BJP, Raja reiterated: "We will be the first to oppose the communal BJP. It is unfair to say that we have joined hands with the BJP to dislodge the UPA government."
Raja blamed the prime minister squarely "for the present situation", saying he "has a single point agenda" to push the nuclear deal.
"We are pursuing our own policy against the deal," he said
Don't expect any dramatic change in inflation: RBI
Reddy is said to have replied it was not proper to compare India with developed countries and the situation here was not as bad as in some other developing countries
New Delhi: Painting a grim picture of the evolving situation on the price front, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor YV Reddy on told Members of Parliament (MPs) that the situation was unlikely to improve dramatically anytime soon.
An MP who attended the three-hour meeting with the RBI brass quoted Reddy as saying that the world economy had slipped into a state of "stagflation", a situation characterised by high inflation and low economic growth. Inflation in the Euro zone hit 4 per cent in June and the growth in the bloc is expected to slow sharply.
In India, economists have forecast that the inflation rate would average more than 10 per cent in the current fiscal, 2008-09, and have lowered their growth rate expectation to around 7.5 per cent, from 8.5-9 per cent earlier.
Reddy and Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan were briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on the inflationary situation and the measures taken by the central bank to curb prices and dampen inflationary expectations.
Some committee members asked Reddy why India was facing a double-digit inflation when the western countries had been able to contain their inflation rates in the range of 3-4 per cent.
Compare the comparables
Reddy is said to have replied it was not proper to compare India with developed countries and the situation here was not as bad as in some other developing countries.
The members of the committee chaired by BJP MP Ananth Kumar also expressed concern over the increasing burden on home loan borrowers due to rising interest rates and questioned the effectiveness of interest rate hikes in curbing inflation.
The RBI is scheduled to review the monetary policy on July 29. Some analysts have forecast another round of rate increases by the central bank. Last month, it had raised the cash reserve ratio and the repo rate by 50 basis points each.
Another member of the committee Business Standard spoke with said while the central bank was creating a "liquidity crunch" within the country by squeezing the money supply, it continued to allow higher capital inflows into the stock market, which is adding to inflationary pressures.
Headline inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index, crossed the RBI's comfort level of 5.5 per cent in mid-February this year and accelerated to near 12 per cent this June, driven mainly by higher food and commodity prices.
Global crude oil prices, which have touched a record high, forced the government to raise retail fuel prices in the first week of June further pushing the present inflation rate up.
Source: Business Standard
Gold glitters like never before
Weakening dollar pushes gold to all-time high. Inherently gold has proved as a safeguarding pill in case of global financial crisis
Mumbai: Dollar weakness boosted gold to its lifetime high in India, while the yellow metal rose to a three-month high in London primarily on heightened tensions over Iran and fears of a fresh meltdown in the US financial markets.
Quoted at $980.3 an ounce (oz) in early afternoon trade, standard gold closed in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar at Rs 13,680 per 10 gram, a rise of Rs 370 from the previous close. Similarly, pure gold closed with a similar gain at Rs 13,730 per 10 gram. Dollar is currently trading at 43.23 against rupee, a rise of about 110 per cent since the peak of gold price early this year.
"Inherently, gold has proved as a safeguarding pill in case of global financial crisis. At this level, however, profit booking is imminent. Therefore, there is the possibility of a correction in price," said Prithviraj Kothari, Director of Riddhi Siddhi Bullion. According to an analyst, a further rise in the prices of gold is inevitable as tension between Israel and Iran is mounting.
Disruption in petroleum shipments
Speculation is rife that Israel may attack Iran, leading to disruption in Persian Gulf petroleum shipments. This may result in oil reaching a new high.
The meltdown in the global financial sector continues to highlight one of gold's greatest attributes as the safe haven for investment. The yellow metal is referred to as the only money that is no one's liability.
"Gold continued to remain as the portfolio diversifier as the metal has offered a return of 14 per cent this year so far against 42 per cent negative return offered by Nifty. Other asset classes have offered negative return in the last year. Commodities like crude oil and other means of energy are trading near lifetime highs. Hence, funds are diverted towards gold," said Harish Galipelli, Research Head of Karvy Komtrade.
Source: Business Standard
Somnath defiant, Left firm about resignation
Manoj C G
Posted online: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 09:25:29
Updated: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 09:21:21
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Somnath-holds-out--Left-ponders-ways-to-make-him-toe-party-line/336301/
New Delhi, July 16: Somnath Chatterjee’s reluctance to step down as Speaker in open defiance of a diktat by his party CPM on Tuesday became the nucleus of the political showdown between the Congress and the Left barely a week ahead of the trust vote in Parliament.
While the CPM remained firm that he should resign, an embattled Chatterjee got support from other quarters. The Samajwadi Party asked him to stay on, saying he was “the representative of the entire House”, and the Congress indicated that it too had no problem if he remained in office.
The BJP, on the other hand, said the tussle only showed the 'contradictions within' the CPM and it was up to the Speaker and his party to decide on his continuance in office.
Sources in the CPM said the Speaker’s insistence to continue will now be discussed at the party’s Central Committee meeting in New Delhi on July 19. This came amid reports that Chatterjee had written a letter to CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, indicating his unwillingness to resign and his inability to vote along with the BJP during the July 22 trust vote. He is also learnt to have conveyed to the party leadership that if made to go, he will also quit as MP.
Asked about the letter by Chatterjee, Karat said “we don’t write letters.”
But a senior CPM politburo member, contacted by The Indian Express, said the party had received the letter. He would not divulge the details, saying it was an internal organisational matter.
Though mulling ways to make Chatterjee fall in line, the CPM continues to insist in public that it never asked the Speaker to step down. “I have already made a statement that the Speaker will decide for himself. I have nothing more to say,” Karat said.
Chatterjee’s stance is seen an an indication of a bigger churning in the party against the decision to vote alongside the BJP. In his capacity as a CPM MP, Chatterjee is said to have reminded the party leadership of the political resolution adopted at the CPM congress in Coimbatore which called for continuing the fight against the BJP.
Senior CPM member Sitaram Yechury continued his efforts to persuade Chatterjee who is upset with the party’s decision to include his name, without consulting him, in the list of MPs who have withdrawn support to the UPA government.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav met Chatterjee today and requested him not to step down as Speaker.
“We had come to meet Somnath Chatterjee with a message from our party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who asked us to request him not to quit as Speaker as he had been elected to the post unanimously,” said Amar Singh after his meeting with Chatterjee.
The SP leaders said Chatterjee was “not just a representative of his party but the representative of the entire House” and should not quit from his post.
What does the N-deal have to do with Muslims?
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080057250
Mohammad Sajjad
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (New Delhi)
With the accentuation of the current political crisis - on the issue of the nuclear deal with the USA - an unlikely question has also been raised: what is the position of the Indian Muslims on the deal?
This particular question has got more attention with a statement of Samajwadi Party leader, Amar Singh that some of the important Muslim theologians of certain Islamic institutions of Uttar Pradesh have expressed their approval for the deal. Do the theologians give their opinions on non-religious issues? Are they competent enough to elaborate upon the implications of the nuclear deal?
At the very outset it should be made amply clear that a particular religious or social group should not have any specific position on this issue. The deal may be good or bad certainly, but not for a religion/religious community. Equally for every layman to understand that the deal would be useful or harmful uniformly for all the people of a nation.
So, why did this question emerge? It emerged because the Left Front is resisting the deal tooth and nail; and its consistently strident opposition to the majoritarian anti- Muslim communal politics in India (represented by political formations like the BJP, Shiv Sena) is something that attracts the Muslim vote.
Similarly, the Samajwadi (literally socialist but in practice its politics hardly go beyond narrow casteism) Party also expects significant support from among the Muslim electorate. Amar Singh therefore insisted on propagating that he has obtained a 'no-objection-certificate' from the Muslim theologians. It sounded quite ridiculous because: (a) theologians are no experts on the economic and political impact of the nuclear deal, they are rather meant to express their opinion strictly on theological issues, (b) the debate around the nuclear issue has been taking place in Parliament and in media for the last two years and even more. Yet, the 39 members of the Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha preferred to remain blissfully ignorant and chose to understand its implications only after having decided to extend support to the Congress-led ruling coalition of the UPA.
The whole nation is watching this obnoxious exercise in political opportunism. It is indeed a matter of great concern that huge amount of public money spent on the parliamentarians has been thrown down the drain by these 39 MPs who chose not to take a position on the issue for more than two years and ultimately expressed their approval of the deal not because of its usefulness for the nation but in greed of power. And this greed of power is sought to be covered up in the name of keeping communal forces at bay.
Conversely, the high ideal of secularism is (once again) being prostituted by them, for their own narrow political interests. Not only the political rivals but also the media has amply demonstrated the fact that the Samajwadi Party has come to the rescue of the UPA government with certain corporate objectives. Certain interests will have to be protected in exchange of support to the UPA. Moreover, coming closer to the ruling coalition will help them raise funds for the next elections particularly when the BSP, led by b te noir Mayawati is in power in its home turf Uttar Pradesh.
USA is the leading global imperialist power subjecting many sovereign (read Muslim) countries (like Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran etc. and demonizing Islam as being the ideological source of terrorism across the globe particularly since the attack on the WTC on 11th September 2001) to all kinds of victimization, and therefore India's friendship with the USA might probably be seen with some apprehension by a section of the Indian Muslims. But even that probable apprehension has not been expressed or articulated by any significant Muslim leader/institution. If at all Urdu and Indian Muslims could be presumed to be synonymous, then the stands articulated in the Urdu media may be taken as an indicator of Muslim opinion. To the best of my knowledge, no Urdu newspaper has taken a position on the issue from a sectional perspective of Indian Muslims. Certain reported clauses in the nuclear deal are reported to be hinting that the signatory nation will have to extend its support to the USA if it decides to attack some (West Asian) countries. It might worry the Muslims. Nevertheless, the moot question is whether the Muslim theologians are aware of it. In all probability, the answer is a big NO.
Now, coming to the issue of the deal itself: it is rather surprising that the Left Front, during the last two years did not feel like educating the masses about its reservations against the deal, through vernacular print and electronic media or through public meetings in educational campuses and street corners. It has left the common people substantially ignorant and confused about the implications of the deal.
Analysts are already saying that the Left had to divorce the UPA anyway by this time, as they have to contest against the Congress in the next general elections.
Moreover, the report card of the Left is very poor among Muslims, because 65% of the forcefully dispossessed peasants in Nandigram and Singur of West Bengal happen to be Muslims.
The sad fact is that quite a substantial section of the politically informed citizens are ignorant/ confused about the implications of the deal. Then what to say of the 'poor' theologians? The politically motivated opinions are simply adding to the people's confusion and disgust.
The leading opposition BJP's opinion against the deal is supposed to be a dishonest product of their desperation about the fall of the UPA (and facilitating them to grab power in the midst of rising inflation and the UPA's worrying helplessness to contain it). Otherwise, the BJP-led NDA government (1999-2004) is alleged to have shown its unambiguous propensity toward the deal. Even though every political party is claiming to speak (on the nuclear issue) in the interest of the nation, the common perception is gaining strong ground that all these opinions are motivated more by electoral considerations (as the next Lok Sabha elections are to be held in April 2009), and that the USA can't be so magnanimous toward solving India's energy requirements only out of selfless friendship. The common electorate has apprehensions that the USA must be charging a heavy/unbearable price for it.
Sections of the media/politicians should therefore spare the Indian Muslims on the nuclear issue. Let all the citizens (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains ) be educated on the issue strictly as free citizens.
(Mohammad Sajjad is a lecturer in History at the Aligarh Muslim University. The views expressed here are his own. NDTV.com takes no responsibility for the views expressed in the article.)
CPM tries to douse one fire, RSP lights another
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, July 15: The CPI-M central committee today sought an explanation from West Bengal transport minister and CPI-M state secretariat member Mr Subhash Chakraborty for his statement questioning the rationale of the party decision on the trust vote in the Lok Sabha and airing the view that Speaker Mr Somnath Chatterjee be allowed to continue in office. But the fissures within the Left ~ around issues as well as personalities ~ stood out in sharp relief when RSP and senior Left Front Mr Kshiti Goswami, who is also a Cabinet minister, criticised both Mr Chakraborty and Mr Chatterjee for "discrediting" the CPI-M's general secretary Mr Prakesh Karat and his "post".
"The issue of party discipline is common to all Communist parties. The post of the general secretary in a Communist party is a prestigious one and should not be discredited in this manner," said Mr Goswami. While Mr Chakraborty came under fire for expressing his opinion "outside party fora", the Speaker was bluntly reminded by Mr Goswami that he had been elected on the party symbol and common manifesto of the Left Front, not just the CPI-M.
"All four Left parties decided together to put forward his name as Speaker. Similarly, the list of MPs (owing political allegiance to the CPI-M and the Left Front) with Mr Chatterjee's name was submitted to the President when we decided collectively to withdraw support from the UPA government," Mr Goswami said. According to him, the question should have been settled within the party and the Left Front and the apparent refusal of the Speaker to quit when reportedly asked to by his party general secretary amounted to an "act of indiscipline". This has raised questions about the discipline of the Communists and has shaken the confidence of our followers, he said.
The RSP also lambasted some Left leaders who have been hinting that they were in favour of abstaining during the trust vote. "The UPA has done nothing to stop the spread of communal parties. They have failed to stop the BJP from coming to power in most states, yet they have tried to hold on to our support on the argument that communal forces must be kept at bay," Mr Goswami said, reacting to a query ~ also been raised by Mr Chatterjee and Mr Chakraborty ~ on how he could justify voting with the BJP to topple the government.
Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, said propriety and parliamentary convention demand that the Speaker quit his post as he is a lawmaker belonging to a party which is no longer a ruling or supporting party. "I don't have any personal enmity against him but he should resign," she said. She added: "He was not elected Speaker unanimously. I did not support his candidature. I may have been alone (the lone MP) but I did not support him.”
Left slams PM-Mukesh meet, PMO hits back
Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, July 15: A day after Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mr Mukesh Ambani meeting Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Left criticised the PMO for acting as a "the conciliation office" for corporates. The PMO today made it clear that there was no question of Dr Singh getting involved in corporate affairs and that his meeting with Mr Ambani was part of his regular interaction with industry leaders.
“The PMO should not become the conciliation office for warring corporates, however desperate the ruling party may be to retain power,” the CPI-M Politburo said in a terse, hard-hitting statement today, a charge strongly dismissed by the Prime Minister’s Office. “The corporate houses are openly in the fray to lobby their interests in the run up to the confidence vote,” the CPI-M statement said, noting that a “dangerous precedent” has been set with the Prime Minister “being asked to personally intervene to mediate between the Ambani brothers”. The CPI also deplored the “involvement of the Prime Minister’s Office and the PM in corporate wars”.
The CPI-M’s statement clearly referred to SP general secretary Mr Amar Singh’s recent controversial suggestion asking the PM to mediate for a rapprochement between the Ambani brothers for the health of the country’s economy. In the Congress circles, Mr Singh is thought to be gunning for Mukesh while holding a brief for younger brother Anil.
The PMO, however, immediately rejected reports and the Left’s suggestions that the PM was intervening in the feud between Ambani brothers. “People of India know Manmohan Singh better than to believe that he would get involved in corporate affairs” PM’s media advisor Mr Sanjaya Baru, said. On the controversy gripping the Mukesh-PM meeting, he said: “PM meets corporate leaders all the time to discuss national economic issues as any leader of modern economy would.”
Iran-Teheran tussle
The Congress today condemned any "unilateral military action" against Iran while the CPI-M urged the Centre to end military ties with Israel if it was "really concerned" about Teheran. "Talk of military options and pre-emptive strikes should be avoided," Congress general-secretary Mr M Veerappa Moily said here. But the CPI-M said New Delhi should call off its military ties with Tel Aviv if it had genuine concerns for Iran.
A K Bhattacharya: Birds of the same feather
NEW DELHI DIARY
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi July 16, 2008, 4:27 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=328811
Political developments in the last few weeks may eventually help save the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and allow it to conclude the India-US civilian nuclear deal. But these very developments are bound to make every Indian a little uneasy about the state of politics in this country. A coalition government does require political parties with different ideologies to forge an alliance based on some common policies and principles. But what one saw in the last few weeks was something different. This requires elaboration.
The Left has been opposed to the India-US civilian nuclear deal right from the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had hammered out an agreement with US President George Bush last year. The Left was not just opposed to the deal. It had threatened to withdraw support to the government if Manmohan Singh went ahead with the deal. So, when the UPA government did go ahead with the deal early this month, the Left withdrew its support. That stance of the Left was completely understandable. What one could not understand was the Left's untiring efforts, subsequently, to pull down the government even if that meant being on the same boat as its arch enemy, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
There were even reports that a senior Left leader did not discount the possibility of his party supporting a BJP-led coalition at the Centre, provided the saffron party shed its "communal agenda". That statement has not yet been challenged or contradicted by the Left parties or the leader in question. A few days later, the CPI-M general secretary visited BSP boss Mayawati, sparking off rumours that the Left might even consider seeking her support with a view to defeating the UPA government. The Left's opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal was at least consistent and arose from its belief and ideological position. But the stance of the BJP (which acknowledges the US to be India's strategic partner) on the India-US civil nuclear deal has been wholly inconsistent. And the BSP is not yet known for its views on this issue.
So, it was difficult to understand why the Left would even think of joining hands with these two parties to defeat the UPA. The only explanation was that the Left was so piqued by the Congress' insistence on the deal that it wanted to teach the Manmohan Singh government a lesson by defeating it on the floor of the Lok Sabha. But was that a mature response from the Left? Perhaps, a more principled stand would have been to withdraw support to the UPA and not look for any alliance that might seem opportunistic with the sole aim of defeating a government. This is a view that has come from some Left leaders in Bengal, who have expressed their apprehensions about adverse electoral consequences of voting along with BJP to defeat the UPA government.
Even the Constitutionally sacred position of the Lok Sabha Speaker was not spared from such politically embarrassing initiatives. The Left parties included the name of the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, in the list of the members of Parliament submitted to the President while withdrawing support to the government. Worse, sufficient pressure was exerted on the Speaker to resign from his position. So far, the Speaker has managed to resist such pressure. Within the Left, senior leaders from Bengal have questioned the need for seeking Mr Chatterjee's resignation particularly when he was appointed to that position unanimously. But the Left wants to claim Mr Chatterjee as a Lok Sabha member when the trust votes are counted in the Lok Sabha next week. Compulsions of politics can indeed force a political party to throw all principles and conventions to the wind. That this could happen even to the Left is a major disappointment.
No less disappointing has been the conduct of the Samajwadi Party (SP), which bailed the Congress out by promising it the crucial support. It used APJ Abdul Kalam's endorsement of the India-US civil nuclear deal, among other things, to convince itself and its political constituency that all was well with the pact. It has shown no qualms about airing its economic agenda, which seems to be a slightly reworded agenda of a major industrial house. That this agenda is not just to benefit that industrial house but also to place its rivals in a disadvantageous position makes it shameful. The UPA government may have bought more trouble than it had bargained for by seeking the SP's support. It has to pay a price for having got the SP's support to save the nuclear deal. But the point to be noted is that the SP's behaviour in this ongoing political drama does not surprise anyone. But the Left's behaviour does make one wonder if all political parties in this country have now become indistinguishable from each other — banking less on principles and more on opportunism.
Story Comments Total Post : 2
Posted By : abntakle on 16 July,2008
A K Bhattacharya's analysis is pathetic . The CPM knew fully well when extending support in 2004 that ManMohan Singh wanted to proceed with a Nuclear & Strategic alliance with US , so why did it extend support then ? A valiant attempt of the Bengali/ keralite Mafia in the English Media to project what are just pain old Super Parochial Bengali/ Keralite Senas(CPM+CPI+RSP+FB) -which could teach the Shiv Sena/MNS extreme parochialism - as the epitome of intelligence ,honesty and cosmopolitan
Posted By : phazra on 16 July,2008
The principleless political parties like Lefts,BSP and SP, all have been doing what, is nothing but an opportinistic approach to the UPA.It is surprising that they do not possess any strong determination and thorough knowledge respect to any national issue of importance.They have played false with the UPA shamelessly without considering the wellness of N-deal.Our political parties very often behaveike 'Birds of a feather flocks together
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 25
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
CPI(M) MP slams Somnath for not quitting
New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Hitting out at Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for not quitting his post, a senior CPI(M) MP today said his argument of not voting along with BJP holds no water as he had accepted the saffron party's support during the election to the post of Speaker.
"His argument does not hold water. He did not have any problem when BJP supported his candidature to the post of Speaker," Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP from Kerala's Chirayankeezhu, said here.
He noted that the UPA, Left and the BJP had voted in favour of many issues together during the present term of the Lok Sabha.
"This (Chatterjee's argument) is childish. Every party has its own stand on issues. Even the Speaker has to toe his party's line," Radhakrishnan, a former Speaker of Kerala Assembly, said.
Taking a potshot at the Speaker, he said, "does Chatterjee de-board a plane if he finds that a BJP MP in it while travelling?" Chatterjee has came under pressure from his party to quit the post after the Left withdrew support to the UPA but he is understood to have raised questions over the CPI(M)'s decision to vote along with BJP against the UPA government during the trust vote. PTI
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/AA1D15468B1F59AA652574880054CCFB?OpenDocument
I have talked to some friendly editors of so called national dailies and asked them, ` How do you get the smell of the recipe created in Indira Bhawan? What discussion goes on in between West Bengal CPIM Gestapo heads to have an escape route to bail out the government as well as the Nuke deal? Who knows what plan is chalked out there? Is West Bengal CPIM ready to face fresh Elections at this point? How they are supposed to persuade a reluctant senior most leader to resign as Speaker? Has Chatterjee the courage to hold on unless his long time partners are rock solid behind them? What Pranab told Basu? how do you got the Letter Bomb from the Marxist speaker?”
I got no answer. But the media leaders accepted that the information's leak from the power bases and this Leak happens to be the main source of News Break. Reporters are fed well!
Is any information leak is free of Mirch Massala?
Does any interest group, specially the most organised Political gestapo in this world, leak any information to undermine its base at any cost?
Nandigram still tense
Statesman News Service
TAMLUK, July 15: Tension ran high in Nandigram today, a day before the proposed visit of the leaders of Matangini Mahila Samity (MMS), in the trouble torn villages, when some Trinamul Congress workers allegedly forced some CPI-M workers to shut down their shops at Tekhali market, Maheshpur, Southkhali, Natunbazar and Bankimmore.
At least 15 CPI-M workers were threatened with dire consequences until they closed their shops at these markets in Nandigram today, said Mr Ashok Guria, a CPI-M district secretariat member.
Mr Guria alleged, around 300 party supporters from different villages are not being able to initiate cultivation during this monsoon as they have been threatened by the Trinamul workers to stay away from cultivation. Their arguments is that these supporters had strongly supported the government’ views on industrialisation and so they would not be allowed to go ahead with cultivation.When asked about the incident, Mr Abu Taher, a Trinamul Congress leader said his party colleagues had to go through same situation a few months ago and even Mr Laxman Seth had announced in a meeting that those who will oppose the industrialisation will not be provided any employment in the proposed chemical hub.
Meanwhile, when asked about the visit of the Matangini Mahila Samity leaders at the villages in Nandigram, Mr Guria said: “When they stayed during the trouble period in Nandigram, they had only roles to motivate the villagers against the CPI-M. So, this time, they will do the same job. I have reports that their workers are campaigning here about their visit on Wednesday”.
Just see! It is still full of smoke and fire!
So ridiculous are the speculations of ideological debate or Constitutional obligations!
From my little experience, I put the Money on CPIM`s masterstroke to save the deal and the governemnt as well as its political fate and face!
And it is nothing the political Skin Exposure of a very sexy commodity, the post of speaker!
And just read this!
I am tired of speculation: Somnath
16 Jul 2008, 2130 hrs IST,Times Now
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has finally broken his silence on the speculation on whether or not he will give up the chair. Speaking exclusively to Times Now , Somnath Chatterjee kept his cards close to his chest saying that he would reveal his decision on July 21 - the day the trust vote motion will be introduced in the Lok Sabha.
"I stand by my earlier statement. There is unnecessary speculation in the media ... wait till 22nd," said Somnath Chatterjee on-board a flight to Hyderabad.
Probed further as to what was his decision on the Speakership issue, Chatterjee said, "It is a million dollar question...you keep on speculating."
Till now, Somnath Chatterjee had been silent, even as it was reported that he disagreed with the CPM on voting alongside the BJP in the trust vote.
Hitting out at Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for not quitting his post, a senior CPM MP on Wednesday said his argument of not voting along with BJP holds no water as he had accepted the saffron party's support during the election to the post of Speaker.
Chatterjee has came under pressure from his party to quit the post after the Left withdrew support to the UPA but he is understood to have raised questions over the CPM's decision to vote along with BJP against the UPA government during the trust vote.
Sources in the CPM say Somnath has communicated his decision to mentor Jyoti Basu and would only quit if Basu asks him to. In fact in Kolkata, the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, accompanied by Industry Ministry Nirupam Sen, met Jyoti Basu for the second time in two days seeking his intervention to persuade the Speaker to toe the party line.
It was reported that Somnath Chatterjee had also written to Karat about his position but this was brushed aside by Karat in Delhi on Tuesday and then again in Chennai on Wednesday morning. According to the sources, Somnath Chatterjee is unlikely to quit, choosing to stay on as Speaker and preside over the trust vote on 21st and 22nd of the month of July.
Facing defiance from Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee over the issue of his continuance in office, the CPM today insisted that there was nothing wrong in including his name in the list of MPs withdrawing support to the UPA as he was elected on a party ticket.
CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in a statement in New Delhi that "disinformation campaign" on the issue of inclusion of Speaker's name in the CPM list submitted to the President was doing the rounds.
"What I said is that the Speaker's name should be included in the CPM list as he was elected as a CPM candidate but with an asterisk denoting that he is the Lok Sabha Speaker, as is the normal Parliamentary procedure," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/I_am_tired_of_speculation_Somnath/articleshow/3241986.cms
US Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had told Pakistan's top civil and military leadership that the US could take unilateral military action if Pakistan is unable to stop cross-border attacks on Afghanistan!US Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had told Pakistan's top civil and military leadership that the US could take unilateral military action if Pakistan is unable to stop.
You have to allow a space, very delicate to decide, for Exposure!
Long way back ten years at least, my energetic niece Munia told me while discussing her career as a blooming fashion designer. Her mother Beena is my real cousin who is based in Pratap Khand, Jhilmil colony, New Delhi, where some of the Delhi journalists also reside. My cousin Arun has got his three story house in Jahangirpura in West Delhi bordering karnal, Hariyana. I seldom visit the place and his wife Jharna, my wife Savita`s maternal village related niece complain so often.
Beena and my another cousin Subhash share most of my childhood days as Meeradi was married away right in 1961. Beena is just a year younger than me. Subhash, the son of Chhotokaka is another year younger. Beena or Subhash never argued with me anytime. While the twosome quarreled too much. Beena and Subhash had been the dearest students of our music teacher while I never could cope with anything in music.
Beena was married in 1973 while I was appearing in High School exam. Her husband Niranjan Sarkar, an ITI electrician belonged to Hastinapur , Meerut. He was then engaged in Madan Mill Meerut. He mobilised to Muradnagar very soon and finally settled in Delhi after spending sometime in Rohatak, Hariyana.
Munia, the eldest offspring in the family appeared in 1978. She has two IT specialist brothers Dilip and Bishwajeet.
The children were associated with redical student`s association.
Even, Munia joined a conference in Kolkata and did not call me. later I befriended with Delhi University Radical students` leaders.
All of them talked so much on ideology and Marxist deviation in Indian Politics.
Kanchan kumar Mukherjee was a hero for them and I knew the guy who translated Sukanto Bhattacharya. I was disillusioned with the ideological bankruptcy of the Maoist, Naxalite friends while I gave Kanchan da every document on Citizenship Amendment Bill and partition victim Dalit Bengali refugees persecution in India to present the case in Mumbai resistance forum as I could not be present there for I was busy in North East. Kanchan da sat over all these documents and did say nothing while our JNU friends and representatives from Patna led by Pushpraj raised the issue. strangely enough. The Ambedkarites resisted against the inclusion of the issue in agenda. Sainath called me and expressed shock.
Later, in Kolkata, While the on going demonstration against Nandigram Massacre was going very strong thanks to the so called Civil society and the dias was shared by Mahashweta Debi, Medha Patkar, Rasheeda B, Shaonli Mitra, Sunand Sanyal, Dipankar Bhattacharya and kolkat cultural item, I could not resist myself talking to Dipankar Bhattachary, the general Secretary of CPIML as the song written by my dearest friend Gorkh Pandey did electrify the audience. Deepankar agreed to discuss the resistance strategies against Brhaminical ruling Hegemony in west Bengal led by CPIM. But the party leaders are avoiding to fix a date and a full year has passed.
The children in Delhi could never know any thing about the Communist betrayals in India. they never touched the heat and dust in Telengana, Shrikakulam, Dhimri Block and Naxal Bari. they tended to target me as a soft spot to hit for their romantic revolutionary adventure.
Munia was then in a little focus as Suchitra Sarkar, the fashion designer from NIFT who presented her creations in solo exhibitions in Metros. She also discussed fashion with me. the children discussed a lot on Politics, dram and literature. They had the children of Virendra Jain, a well known reputed Hindi Novelist in their friend circle. They were somehow proud for their poor uncle who did also appear in prints often!
I wondered how my dearest niece was engaged in ramps with models exposing skin! How did it related to Ideology and politics! They could not convince me. Munia is married in an Elite Brahmin Chakrabati family and gave up her career as fashion Designer for her love with Computer engineer husband. None of them talks politics!
But I have got the answer!
The Politics and Ideology combined in India is nothing but Realty Reality Ramp as we witness the Truth emerging out of Somanth Chatterjee Letter Bomb! Meanwhile we have seen the height of hypocrisy as the Marxists pulled down Jyoti Basu in its historical Blunder. The Historical Blunder is repeated once again on the name of anti Imperialsim.
I repeat Indian Ruling Class has never joined in Anti Imperialism War anytime in History. Rather it crushed , betrayed the Indigenous nationalities engaged in anti imperialism war.
Without any resistance since 1991, the beginning of LPG and Neoliberalism, the communist Brahmans in India are posing Hard Core Patriots in anti imperialist campaign all of a sudden while no one may stop either Indo US strategic partnership or the Nuke Deal.
But the Parliamentary Nuke Opera is Blooming like bamboos in North East!
MNCs has taken over Indian economy and Indigenous Production system. It is a chain of massacres infinite and Marxists lead way ahead on the capitalist way of Urbanisation and Industrialisation with SEZ, Chemical Hub, Nuclear plants, auto and credit Boom, Outsourcing IT, corporate services, retail chain and nuclear plant!
What good Somnath as a champion parliamentarian has done to Bengal or Bolpur or Shanti Niketan, is no secret!
Who are afraid of earlier elections?
Why Buddha and Nirupam meet Jyoti basu, the nanogenerian so often these days? Who may say that these gentlemen are not trying their best to chalk out a master Plan to resist Praksh Karat and save the deal as well as government?
Media speculations deal just with the Rotten Nonsense of ideology which Pranab Mukherjee ant the gang repeat to avoid any head on collision with the left so the alliance could be possible again after fresh elections to stop RSS, the fascists to hold state Power in the Centre. The marxists opted to ally with the Dalit Queen in UP while they never believed in Ambedkar, Dalit movement and Dalit liberation.
The Marriage Ended but Copulation continues.
Indian Media hides well the Realty Realities of Indian power politics and creates every delicate space for Skin Exposure!
Now just see the developments!
With just six days to go for the trust vote in parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday said he was still the speaker while his parent Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said he would take "an appropriate decision at the appropriate time".
"I am still the speaker," Chatterjee told reporters in New delhi.
The issue of what Chatterjee would do has gained prominence as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trust vote in parliament draws closer. The Left's withdrawal of support has reduced the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to a minority and each vote will be crucial for its survival.
The CPI-M leadership reportedly faces a dilemma with Chatterjee - who became the speaker as part of the Left's understanding with the UPA when it extended its outside support in 2004 - refusing to resign after the Communists pulled out last week.
Chatterjee's comments came just after CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat reiterated that the decision to give up the speaker's post had been left to Chatterjee.
"The speaker will decide himself what he wants to do," Karat told reporters in Chennai airport where he arrived Wednesday for a party meeting.
CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury added here: "The party has taken a decision that it was up to the speaker. The speaker will take an appropriate decision at the appropriate time."
Yechury also issued a statement clarifying that the party was following "normal parliamentary practice" by putting Chatterjee's name in the list of MPs submitted to President Pratibha Patil after it withdrew support.
Pointing out that there had been a "disinformation" campaign over the inclusion of Chatterjee's name in the list, Yechury said: "What I had said is that the speaker’s name should be included in the CPI-M list as he was elected as a CPI-M candidate but with an asterisk denoting that currently he is the Lok Sabha speaker, as is the normal parliamentary practice."
The ruling Congress condemned the controversy over the speaker's resignation.
"The Congress condemns the unfortunate attempt to politicise the high constitutional office of the Lok Sabha speaker, which has resulted in a public controversy. The speaker is appointed by the entire Lok Sabha, not by one party," Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said.
"The speaker rises above party affiliation and serves as the speaker of the Lok Sabha in a non-partisan manner. The controversy will create a dangerous precedence," Natarajan warned.
Nuke plants safe, go for the deal: nuclear safety expert
India should shed its apprehensions over the safety of atomic power plants as well as reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal and operationalise it to bring about a “paradigm shift” in the energy scenario, a nuclear safety expert said in Chennai on Wednesday.
“There are currently 400 nuclear reactors in operation in different parts of the world...Including in earthquake-prone places like Japan,” said L K Krishnan, former director, safety research and health physics group, Indira Gandhi centre for atomic research of the department of atomic energy at Kalpakkam near here.
He said two well-known nuclear accidents, one at Chernobyl in Russia and three mile islands in US are the rare ones. “The Chernobyl reactor is a different kind,” said Krishnan, who takes pride in associating with the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant which withstood the 2004 tsunami.
The tsunami caused by the Indian ocean earthquake caused widespread damage in Kalpakkam coast, but the reactors remained unaffected and according to officials, no casualties were reported from the plant.
While the nuclear deal created a political storm in the country, some critics also cautioned about dangers posed by mega nuclear plants which are expected to come up in a number of places in India if the deal is operationalised.
On the deal, Krishnan asserts that India should go ahead with it as it provides access to buy 1000 mw reactors.
“We should go for it. The first reason is if we go about building reactors ourselves, it's going to take a long time. See how much time it took to build a fast breeder reactor,” he said.
“If this deal goes through we can buy a lot of things which were denied to us due to dual use capability. Won't that be good for us?” Krishnan asked.
He also believes that India should have separated its nuclear power reactors meant for civilian energy and those meant for weapons programme well before going to the IAEA with the recent safeguards agreement.
“If you are not going to use a particular facility for weapons purpose, what is the problem in someone coming and taking a look? Today if we want to buy anything for a reactor, they won't sell it to you due to dual use problem. But if the deal goes through, we can declare reactors for energy use.... They may even sell us new reactors,” he said.
Even Russia at present promised to sell only six reactors to Kudankulam nuclear power plant and not more, he said.
“We can go for large reactors but today only 500 mw turbines are being made in India. If we go for bigger reactors we have to import turbines to suit the size. Five years down the line, if we produce 1000 mw turbines, we can go for bigger reactors.”
He likens the import of uranium, which was expected to be possible after the operationalisation of the IAEA safeguards agreement and securing exemption from NSG countries, with that of buying oil and said one should not be worried over stoppage of supplies.
“Are we not buying oil. We are...Depending on other countries for energy. Even for the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, security issues are involved. What if it is closed (after operationalisation)?” he asked.
On apprehensions about rolling back of the deal if India carried out nuclear tests again, he asked “hasn't it happened before”, referring to sanctions imposed on India after the 1998 nuclear tests.
“Every time sanctions were imposed, the us and other countries lifted them subsequently. Even if they impose it again, it would be only for a while. They will come back to you like in 1998 because we are economically strong,” he said.
“I do not know why we need to conduct another test. Nuclear weapons are not for use. It is only strategic deterrence,” he said adding that the deal will bring about a “paradigm shift” in the country's energy scenario.
“All along we have been isolated. We will come into the mainstream.” On the Hyde act, which BJP and the left oppose, he said the us act was brought in mainly by the non-proliferation lobby and a US-centric law. It need not be accepted by parliament.
Krishnan also questioned suggestions to increase thermal generation to avoid dependence on nuclear power.
“Coal mining cannot be doubled in India. For that, we have to go for deep mining. The ash content of our coal is high and cannot be easily transported. The geological survey of India has been saying it is difficult to open new mines as they are in reserve forest areas or in built up settlements, making it difficult. So it is not easy. Emissions will bring new pressures on us on issues relating to global warming.”
On increasing hydropower generation, he said it largely depends on the monsoon. Also, China has just agreed to share the data on the Brahmaputra river, which has potential to develop hydel power.
“And we have to depend on China for adequate quantity of water. So, overall it is useful to have nuclear energy option,” he said.
Think beyond Iraq, fight Al Qaeda in Afganistan: Obama, McCain
"This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century
Washington: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday said the US must broaden its foreign policy focus beyond Iraq, as he pledged to end the war and focus on fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, while Republican John McCain put forward his strategy for addressing ongoing violence there.
In a speech on foreign policy in Washington ahead of a planned trip to Europe and the Middle East, Obama said the war in Iraq "distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize."
"This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe," he said.
He renewed his call to withdraw most US troops from Iraq within 16 months if he is elected, and said at least two brigades should be shifted from Iraq to defeating Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"In fact, as should have been apparent to President Bush and Senator McCain, the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was," Obama said.
While he admitted a surge in US troops has helped reduce violence in Iraq, he emphasized that it did not change the need to withdraw US troops from the country.
McCain, a long-time supporter of the troop surge, criticized Obama's plan and said his fellow senator should should wait until he assesses the situation in Iraq in person before putting forward a plan.
McCain called for a comprehensive strategy for the conflict in Afghanistan, including a troop increase of three brigades and a renewed international commitment to the conflict there.
"Insecurity in Afghanistan is the world's problem, and the world should share the costs," McCain told a townhall forum in the southwestern US state of New Mexico. He said a civilian-military campaign plan could help to combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The Taliban has launched a major offensive in recent weeks while seeking refuge in neighbouring Pakistan, including a rash of suicide bombings that have left scores of people dead. More than three dozen people died in the July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
President George W Bush told reporters Tuesday that the violent situation in Afghanistan has grown worse than that in Iraq because of resilient Taliban militants and their determination to kill innocent people.
During a White House press conference, Bush said Afghanistan now looks similar to Iraq two years ago, when violence peaked and the country was on the verge of a sectarian civil war.
McCain noted that several NATO countries have placed restrictions on where and how their troops can operate in Afghanistan. "That's no way to run a war," he said, in calling for a more unified command.
On Iran, Obama said "no tool of statecraft should be taken off the table" in diplomatic efforts to convince the country to halt its nuclear programme.
"I will use all elements of American power to pressure the Iranian regime, starting with aggressive, principled and direct diplomacy - diplomacy backed with strong sanctions and without preconditions," Obama said.
A Washington Post-ABC poll released late Monday showed that Americans were evenly divided between the Iraq strategies of the two presumptive candidates.
But when it came to either candidate's capability as an effective commander in chief, McCain won hands down with a 72-percent positive rating. Obama only received a 48 percent thumbs-up on his capability as the nation's top military officer.
Obama's speech also focused on keeping nuclear weapons from terrorists, achieving energy security and rebuilding US alliances with other countries.
Source : Indo-Asian News Service
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex continued its down-slide on Wednesday by losing over 100 points at close on persistent selling pressure amid ongoing political crisis. As Corporate India, which has grown globally in stature, is still a far cry from the professional management as family-owned monoliths in the country still prefer insiders and relatives over better qualified outsiders and squabble unproductively, says US magazine Newsweek. Commenting on the bitter battle between Ambani siblings, the publication said in its latest issue that the feud further underscores the need for the businesses to outgrow from their mostly family-run setups.
Unipolar US Corporate Imperialism and realliance of Zionist, Hindu white manusmriti apartheid forces against all Indigenous enslaved communities worldwide is the themesong of the ongoing Nuke Opera whatsoever the Acors prononce on stage!
Parsvnath Developers Ltd will invest 4 billion rupees in a knowledge city project in north India, which will be completed over the next 10 years, its chairman said on Wednesday.
By Shobhana Chandra July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid by US consumers jumped in June by the most since 2005 on spiraling costs for fuel and food, intensifying the pressure on households struggling with falling home prices and the credit crunch.
Pelosi Statement on Today's Record Drop in Oil Prices
Somnath not ready to reconcile, to chair trust vote
Diptosh Majumdar / CNN-IBN
Published on Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 20:30, Updated at Wed, Jul 16, 2008 in Nation section
Tags: Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker , New Delhi
E-mail this report | Print this report
NOTHING TO LISTEN: Even Jyoti Basu, who is also Chatterjee's mentor, has failed to mollify him.
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Somnath should not quit as Speaker: Amar Singh
Somnath: First Communist to become LS Speaker
Somnath speaks his minds, takes a stand against party
Keywords: Jyoti Basu, Trust Vote
New Delhi: It seems that at least for the moment Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has triumphed over his opponents within his party - the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
The Speaker will be there when the Vote of Confidence takes place on July 22.
Chatterjee is angry and his outburst is not because he has an unruly Lok Sabha to control. His anger is directed at his own party for trying to force him out of Speaker's post without keeping him in the loop.
Chatterjee believes he cannot be pushed out of a constitutional post in this manner. But his party says they didn't exactly ride roughshod over him.
"When the name was submitted to the President it should have been submitted with a mark saying that he is currently the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Putting the mark and not saying that was not done inadvertently," Sitaram Yechury, CPI-M Politburo member, said.
Even intercession by the party patriarch, Jyoti Basu, who is also Chatterjee's mentor, has failed to mollify him.
If he quits before the Vote of Confidence, he'll not only give up his Speaker's job, he'll even give up his Member of Parliament seat.
In fact, sources close to the Speaker have told CNN-IBN that he is even planning to quit the party.
Basu, of course, has been requested to try and convince Chatterjee once more that he should respect the party line.
But the Speaker is in no mood to relent.
In fact, quite by coincidence, it is Jyoti Basu's supporters who are making a fuss over having to vote alongside the Bharatiya Janata Party in the floor test.
West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty, who is also a Basu loyalist, said, "I cannot be happy if circumstances lead to such a position that the CPI-M and BJP come together and take a decision to fight and to bring down the UPA Government."
The Speaker is away for two days for a medical check-up in Hyderabad.
But his fate may be decided by the crucial Central committee meeting this weekend.
He never had too many supporters in the party but the party leadership believes that a confrontation with a man of his stature is best avoidable at the moment.
Last update: 9:18 p.m. EDT July 15, 2008
WASHINGTON, July 15, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this evening on the record drop in oil prices today -- the largest drop in 17 years:
"Today, the price of oil per barrel dropped $6.44 in one day -- the second highest one-day drop in history -- when the Federal Reserve Chairman predicted lower U.S. oil consumption. The biggest drop in history came 17 years ago, when President George H.W. Bush released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 1991 and the price per barrel dropped 34 percent in one day.
"President Bush tells us that there are no quick fixes -- but history proves otherwise. President Bush should free our oil by releasing a small amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and bring the price down further. Obstinance does nothing to help Americans struggling with record gas prices and a host of economic concerns."
SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pelosi-statement-todays-record-drop/story.aspx?guid=%7B67D2C259-3FFD-42D6-A695-B107AD9765DF%7D&dist=hppr
IAEA has no obligation on fuel supplies or building strategic reserves: Karat
Vinay Kumar
Assurances by government in Parliament and outside have not been fulfilled, says Left
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There is only a vague mention of corrective measures in preamble”
Statement says the Left parties’ concerns are not addressed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Friday maintained that the government’s move to go ahead with the IAEA safeguards agreement would be harmful to India’s interests.
They said it was clear that the agreement did not address the fundamental problems in the controversial Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement with the U.S. on civilian nuclear cooperation.
“It did not take much for us to study the safeguards agreement. There is nothing unexpected in it and we asked the government not to go ahead with it because it is one step forward in operationalising the 123 Agreement,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat told journalists at a press conference.
His senior party colleague and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, CPI national secretary D. Raja, and G. Devarajan of the Forward Bloc were present.
Fuel supply
Mr. Karat said the safeguards agreement did not take care of fuel supply, strategic reserves and corrective measures regarding fuel supply. He said that as a regulatory body, the International Atomic Energy Agency had no obligation on either fuel supplies or building strategic reserves.
“As a result of operationalising the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal, India will place its costly imported reactors under perpetual IAEA safeguards and risk their permanent shutdown in case it fails to toe the U.S. line on foreign policy issues,” a joint statement by the general secretaries of the CPI(M), the CPI, the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party of India said.
The four-page statement said the text of the safeguards agreement was “hidden” from the Left parties and people in order to suppress the fact that India “is about to bind its entire civilian nuclear energy programme into the IAEA safeguards in perpetuity without getting concrete assurances for uninterrupted fuel supply, right to build strategic reserves and right to take corrective steps in case fuel supplies are stopped.”
It said the so-called “India-specific safeguards” agreement sent to the IAEA Board of Governors made it clear that the repeated assurances by the UPA government in Parliament and outside, on securing uninterrupted fuel supply assurances and strategic fuel reserves, had not been fulfilled.
But for the facilities India proposed to put under the IAEA safeguards, it would be treated as a non-nuclear weapons state.
No special rights
“Clearly, India will not have any special rights in its safeguarded facilities and this directly contradicts the assurances given by the Prime Minister to Parliament. Nuclear weapon states, as defined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, have the right to take any facility out of safeguards, a right India will not have for the reactors it is offering to the IAEA for safeguards,” it pointed out.
The statement said there was only a vague mention of “corrective measures” in the preamble. As against the vagueness of the “corrective measures” figuring in the preamble, what was spelt out clearly in the body of the agreement was that India could withdraw its facilities from safeguards only if it was jointly agreed to between India and the IAEA and if these facilities were no longer usable for any nuclear activity.
Posing a key question with respect to the IAEA safeguards, the Left wondered how it could be ensured that once India’s civilian reactors came under safeguards in perpetuity, the country would not be blackmailed by withholding of nuclear fuel supplies, as the U.S. did in Tarapur following Pokhran-I.
The Left said the final arbiter of any interpretation of the agreement and dispute settlement was the IAEA Board of Governors, whose decision would be final.
“If India is held non-compliant, though it is not so by its own interpretation, it can be referred to the Security Council for action, including sanctions. The Iran case is an example.”
The statement said the Left parties’ concerns were not addressed. These are:
“In case the U.S. or other countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) renege on fuel supply assurances for imported reactors, will India have the ability to withdraw these reactors from the IAEA safeguards? If the U.S./NSG countries renege on fuel supply assurances, can we withdraw our indigenous civilian reactors from the IAEA safeguards? What are the corrective steps India can take if fuel supplies are interrupted by the U.S./NSG countries?
“What are the conditions that India must fulfil if corrective steps are to be put into operation? If we have to bring nuclear fuel from the non-safeguarded part of our nuclear programme for these reactors in case of fuel supply assurances not being fulfilled, will we have the ability to take it back again?
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/12/stories/2008071260361200.htm
Political realignment over N-deal
A section of UPA leaders are advising the govt against angering key outside supporters in view of the next Lok Sabha elections
New Delhi: A political realignment over Indo-US nuclear deal appears on cards as the Congress makes hectic efforts to reach out to new parties, including Samajwadi Party (SP), to bail out the UPA government in the event of withdrawal of support by Left parties.
Samajwadi Party, which has 39 members in Lok Sabha, is gradually becoming a foe-turned-friend for Congress which seeks to extend the lifeline of the coalition government headed by it if the Left pulls the plug.
Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Ajit Singh, whose party has three members in the Lok Sabha, has already had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and H D Devegowda-led JD(S) is also being seen as an ally by the ruling party.
UPA sources say Samajwadi Party has been driving a hard bargain but SP leaders are coy about any 'deal' with Congress on the nuclear deal.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had a meeting with Agriculture Minister and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, after which the two leaders left for foreign tours -- Mukherjee to Egypt and Pawar to Dubai.
Pawar also had a meeting with CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday night.
While Left leaders are chalking out the strategy on July four, a section of UPA leaders are advising against angering the key outside supporters in view of the feeling that their help would also be needed after next Lok Sabha elections.
This section feels that the next meeting of UPA-Left committee could be held anytime between 12 to 15 July.
No rift between Karat, Yechuri: CPI
"The reports are baseless," CPI secretary Raja said, referring to media reports that CPI-M politburo member Yechury was opposed to the four Left parties voting against the Manmohan Singh government in the July 22 trust vote
Chennai: There was no rift between Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury over the Left's decision to withdraw support to the government, Communist Party of India (CPI) secretary D. Raja said here Wednesday.
"The reports are baseless," Raja said, referring to media reports that CPI-M politburo member Yechury was opposed to the four Left parties voting against the Manmohan Singh government in the July 22 trust vote.
"He (Yechury) is with us. There is no difference of opinion among the Left on the issue."
Yechury himself last week denied differences with CPI-M general secretary Karat. Some media reports interpreted his trip to Britain for an event organised by the British parliament as signaling his disapproval over the CPI-M move to withdraw its backing to the government when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was away in Japan to attend the G8 summit.
Raja, here to address a public meeting to explain the four Left parties' opposition to the India-US deal, was talking to the media at the airport.
Answering criticism that the Left's withdrawal of support to the Manmohan Singh government could strengthen the BJP, Raja reiterated: "We will be the first to oppose the communal BJP. It is unfair to say that we have joined hands with the BJP to dislodge the UPA government."
Raja blamed the prime minister squarely "for the present situation", saying he "has a single point agenda" to push the nuclear deal.
"We are pursuing our own policy against the deal," he said
Don't expect any dramatic change in inflation: RBI
Reddy is said to have replied it was not proper to compare India with developed countries and the situation here was not as bad as in some other developing countries
New Delhi: Painting a grim picture of the evolving situation on the price front, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor YV Reddy on told Members of Parliament (MPs) that the situation was unlikely to improve dramatically anytime soon.
An MP who attended the three-hour meeting with the RBI brass quoted Reddy as saying that the world economy had slipped into a state of "stagflation", a situation characterised by high inflation and low economic growth. Inflation in the Euro zone hit 4 per cent in June and the growth in the bloc is expected to slow sharply.
In India, economists have forecast that the inflation rate would average more than 10 per cent in the current fiscal, 2008-09, and have lowered their growth rate expectation to around 7.5 per cent, from 8.5-9 per cent earlier.
Reddy and Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan were briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on the inflationary situation and the measures taken by the central bank to curb prices and dampen inflationary expectations.
Some committee members asked Reddy why India was facing a double-digit inflation when the western countries had been able to contain their inflation rates in the range of 3-4 per cent.
Compare the comparables
Reddy is said to have replied it was not proper to compare India with developed countries and the situation here was not as bad as in some other developing countries.
The members of the committee chaired by BJP MP Ananth Kumar also expressed concern over the increasing burden on home loan borrowers due to rising interest rates and questioned the effectiveness of interest rate hikes in curbing inflation.
The RBI is scheduled to review the monetary policy on July 29. Some analysts have forecast another round of rate increases by the central bank. Last month, it had raised the cash reserve ratio and the repo rate by 50 basis points each.
Another member of the committee Business Standard spoke with said while the central bank was creating a "liquidity crunch" within the country by squeezing the money supply, it continued to allow higher capital inflows into the stock market, which is adding to inflationary pressures.
Headline inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index, crossed the RBI's comfort level of 5.5 per cent in mid-February this year and accelerated to near 12 per cent this June, driven mainly by higher food and commodity prices.
Global crude oil prices, which have touched a record high, forced the government to raise retail fuel prices in the first week of June further pushing the present inflation rate up.
Source: Business Standard
Gold glitters like never before
Weakening dollar pushes gold to all-time high. Inherently gold has proved as a safeguarding pill in case of global financial crisis
Mumbai: Dollar weakness boosted gold to its lifetime high in India, while the yellow metal rose to a three-month high in London primarily on heightened tensions over Iran and fears of a fresh meltdown in the US financial markets.
Quoted at $980.3 an ounce (oz) in early afternoon trade, standard gold closed in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar at Rs 13,680 per 10 gram, a rise of Rs 370 from the previous close. Similarly, pure gold closed with a similar gain at Rs 13,730 per 10 gram. Dollar is currently trading at 43.23 against rupee, a rise of about 110 per cent since the peak of gold price early this year.
"Inherently, gold has proved as a safeguarding pill in case of global financial crisis. At this level, however, profit booking is imminent. Therefore, there is the possibility of a correction in price," said Prithviraj Kothari, Director of Riddhi Siddhi Bullion. According to an analyst, a further rise in the prices of gold is inevitable as tension between Israel and Iran is mounting.
Disruption in petroleum shipments
Speculation is rife that Israel may attack Iran, leading to disruption in Persian Gulf petroleum shipments. This may result in oil reaching a new high.
The meltdown in the global financial sector continues to highlight one of gold's greatest attributes as the safe haven for investment. The yellow metal is referred to as the only money that is no one's liability.
"Gold continued to remain as the portfolio diversifier as the metal has offered a return of 14 per cent this year so far against 42 per cent negative return offered by Nifty. Other asset classes have offered negative return in the last year. Commodities like crude oil and other means of energy are trading near lifetime highs. Hence, funds are diverted towards gold," said Harish Galipelli, Research Head of Karvy Komtrade.
Source: Business Standard
Somnath defiant, Left firm about resignation
Manoj C G
Posted online: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 09:25:29
Updated: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 09:21:21
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Somnath-holds-out--Left-ponders-ways-to-make-him-toe-party-line/336301/
New Delhi, July 16: Somnath Chatterjee’s reluctance to step down as Speaker in open defiance of a diktat by his party CPM on Tuesday became the nucleus of the political showdown between the Congress and the Left barely a week ahead of the trust vote in Parliament.
While the CPM remained firm that he should resign, an embattled Chatterjee got support from other quarters. The Samajwadi Party asked him to stay on, saying he was “the representative of the entire House”, and the Congress indicated that it too had no problem if he remained in office.
The BJP, on the other hand, said the tussle only showed the 'contradictions within' the CPM and it was up to the Speaker and his party to decide on his continuance in office.
Sources in the CPM said the Speaker’s insistence to continue will now be discussed at the party’s Central Committee meeting in New Delhi on July 19. This came amid reports that Chatterjee had written a letter to CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, indicating his unwillingness to resign and his inability to vote along with the BJP during the July 22 trust vote. He is also learnt to have conveyed to the party leadership that if made to go, he will also quit as MP.
Asked about the letter by Chatterjee, Karat said “we don’t write letters.”
But a senior CPM politburo member, contacted by The Indian Express, said the party had received the letter. He would not divulge the details, saying it was an internal organisational matter.
Though mulling ways to make Chatterjee fall in line, the CPM continues to insist in public that it never asked the Speaker to step down. “I have already made a statement that the Speaker will decide for himself. I have nothing more to say,” Karat said.
Chatterjee’s stance is seen an an indication of a bigger churning in the party against the decision to vote alongside the BJP. In his capacity as a CPM MP, Chatterjee is said to have reminded the party leadership of the political resolution adopted at the CPM congress in Coimbatore which called for continuing the fight against the BJP.
Senior CPM member Sitaram Yechury continued his efforts to persuade Chatterjee who is upset with the party’s decision to include his name, without consulting him, in the list of MPs who have withdrawn support to the UPA government.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav met Chatterjee today and requested him not to step down as Speaker.
“We had come to meet Somnath Chatterjee with a message from our party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who asked us to request him not to quit as Speaker as he had been elected to the post unanimously,” said Amar Singh after his meeting with Chatterjee.
The SP leaders said Chatterjee was “not just a representative of his party but the representative of the entire House” and should not quit from his post.
What does the N-deal have to do with Muslims?
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080057250
Mohammad Sajjad
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (New Delhi)
With the accentuation of the current political crisis - on the issue of the nuclear deal with the USA - an unlikely question has also been raised: what is the position of the Indian Muslims on the deal?
This particular question has got more attention with a statement of Samajwadi Party leader, Amar Singh that some of the important Muslim theologians of certain Islamic institutions of Uttar Pradesh have expressed their approval for the deal. Do the theologians give their opinions on non-religious issues? Are they competent enough to elaborate upon the implications of the nuclear deal?
At the very outset it should be made amply clear that a particular religious or social group should not have any specific position on this issue. The deal may be good or bad certainly, but not for a religion/religious community. Equally for every layman to understand that the deal would be useful or harmful uniformly for all the people of a nation.
So, why did this question emerge? It emerged because the Left Front is resisting the deal tooth and nail; and its consistently strident opposition to the majoritarian anti- Muslim communal politics in India (represented by political formations like the BJP, Shiv Sena) is something that attracts the Muslim vote.
Similarly, the Samajwadi (literally socialist but in practice its politics hardly go beyond narrow casteism) Party also expects significant support from among the Muslim electorate. Amar Singh therefore insisted on propagating that he has obtained a 'no-objection-certificate' from the Muslim theologians. It sounded quite ridiculous because: (a) theologians are no experts on the economic and political impact of the nuclear deal, they are rather meant to express their opinion strictly on theological issues, (b) the debate around the nuclear issue has been taking place in Parliament and in media for the last two years and even more. Yet, the 39 members of the Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha preferred to remain blissfully ignorant and chose to understand its implications only after having decided to extend support to the Congress-led ruling coalition of the UPA.
The whole nation is watching this obnoxious exercise in political opportunism. It is indeed a matter of great concern that huge amount of public money spent on the parliamentarians has been thrown down the drain by these 39 MPs who chose not to take a position on the issue for more than two years and ultimately expressed their approval of the deal not because of its usefulness for the nation but in greed of power. And this greed of power is sought to be covered up in the name of keeping communal forces at bay.
Conversely, the high ideal of secularism is (once again) being prostituted by them, for their own narrow political interests. Not only the political rivals but also the media has amply demonstrated the fact that the Samajwadi Party has come to the rescue of the UPA government with certain corporate objectives. Certain interests will have to be protected in exchange of support to the UPA. Moreover, coming closer to the ruling coalition will help them raise funds for the next elections particularly when the BSP, led by b te noir Mayawati is in power in its home turf Uttar Pradesh.
USA is the leading global imperialist power subjecting many sovereign (read Muslim) countries (like Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran etc. and demonizing Islam as being the ideological source of terrorism across the globe particularly since the attack on the WTC on 11th September 2001) to all kinds of victimization, and therefore India's friendship with the USA might probably be seen with some apprehension by a section of the Indian Muslims. But even that probable apprehension has not been expressed or articulated by any significant Muslim leader/institution. If at all Urdu and Indian Muslims could be presumed to be synonymous, then the stands articulated in the Urdu media may be taken as an indicator of Muslim opinion. To the best of my knowledge, no Urdu newspaper has taken a position on the issue from a sectional perspective of Indian Muslims. Certain reported clauses in the nuclear deal are reported to be hinting that the signatory nation will have to extend its support to the USA if it decides to attack some (West Asian) countries. It might worry the Muslims. Nevertheless, the moot question is whether the Muslim theologians are aware of it. In all probability, the answer is a big NO.
Now, coming to the issue of the deal itself: it is rather surprising that the Left Front, during the last two years did not feel like educating the masses about its reservations against the deal, through vernacular print and electronic media or through public meetings in educational campuses and street corners. It has left the common people substantially ignorant and confused about the implications of the deal.
Analysts are already saying that the Left had to divorce the UPA anyway by this time, as they have to contest against the Congress in the next general elections.
Moreover, the report card of the Left is very poor among Muslims, because 65% of the forcefully dispossessed peasants in Nandigram and Singur of West Bengal happen to be Muslims.
The sad fact is that quite a substantial section of the politically informed citizens are ignorant/ confused about the implications of the deal. Then what to say of the 'poor' theologians? The politically motivated opinions are simply adding to the people's confusion and disgust.
The leading opposition BJP's opinion against the deal is supposed to be a dishonest product of their desperation about the fall of the UPA (and facilitating them to grab power in the midst of rising inflation and the UPA's worrying helplessness to contain it). Otherwise, the BJP-led NDA government (1999-2004) is alleged to have shown its unambiguous propensity toward the deal. Even though every political party is claiming to speak (on the nuclear issue) in the interest of the nation, the common perception is gaining strong ground that all these opinions are motivated more by electoral considerations (as the next Lok Sabha elections are to be held in April 2009), and that the USA can't be so magnanimous toward solving India's energy requirements only out of selfless friendship. The common electorate has apprehensions that the USA must be charging a heavy/unbearable price for it.
Sections of the media/politicians should therefore spare the Indian Muslims on the nuclear issue. Let all the citizens (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains ) be educated on the issue strictly as free citizens.
(Mohammad Sajjad is a lecturer in History at the Aligarh Muslim University. The views expressed here are his own. NDTV.com takes no responsibility for the views expressed in the article.)
CPM tries to douse one fire, RSP lights another
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, July 15: The CPI-M central committee today sought an explanation from West Bengal transport minister and CPI-M state secretariat member Mr Subhash Chakraborty for his statement questioning the rationale of the party decision on the trust vote in the Lok Sabha and airing the view that Speaker Mr Somnath Chatterjee be allowed to continue in office. But the fissures within the Left ~ around issues as well as personalities ~ stood out in sharp relief when RSP and senior Left Front Mr Kshiti Goswami, who is also a Cabinet minister, criticised both Mr Chakraborty and Mr Chatterjee for "discrediting" the CPI-M's general secretary Mr Prakesh Karat and his "post".
"The issue of party discipline is common to all Communist parties. The post of the general secretary in a Communist party is a prestigious one and should not be discredited in this manner," said Mr Goswami. While Mr Chakraborty came under fire for expressing his opinion "outside party fora", the Speaker was bluntly reminded by Mr Goswami that he had been elected on the party symbol and common manifesto of the Left Front, not just the CPI-M.
"All four Left parties decided together to put forward his name as Speaker. Similarly, the list of MPs (owing political allegiance to the CPI-M and the Left Front) with Mr Chatterjee's name was submitted to the President when we decided collectively to withdraw support from the UPA government," Mr Goswami said. According to him, the question should have been settled within the party and the Left Front and the apparent refusal of the Speaker to quit when reportedly asked to by his party general secretary amounted to an "act of indiscipline". This has raised questions about the discipline of the Communists and has shaken the confidence of our followers, he said.
The RSP also lambasted some Left leaders who have been hinting that they were in favour of abstaining during the trust vote. "The UPA has done nothing to stop the spread of communal parties. They have failed to stop the BJP from coming to power in most states, yet they have tried to hold on to our support on the argument that communal forces must be kept at bay," Mr Goswami said, reacting to a query ~ also been raised by Mr Chatterjee and Mr Chakraborty ~ on how he could justify voting with the BJP to topple the government.
Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, said propriety and parliamentary convention demand that the Speaker quit his post as he is a lawmaker belonging to a party which is no longer a ruling or supporting party. "I don't have any personal enmity against him but he should resign," she said. She added: "He was not elected Speaker unanimously. I did not support his candidature. I may have been alone (the lone MP) but I did not support him.”
Left slams PM-Mukesh meet, PMO hits back
Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, July 15: A day after Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mr Mukesh Ambani meeting Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Left criticised the PMO for acting as a "the conciliation office" for corporates. The PMO today made it clear that there was no question of Dr Singh getting involved in corporate affairs and that his meeting with Mr Ambani was part of his regular interaction with industry leaders.
“The PMO should not become the conciliation office for warring corporates, however desperate the ruling party may be to retain power,” the CPI-M Politburo said in a terse, hard-hitting statement today, a charge strongly dismissed by the Prime Minister’s Office. “The corporate houses are openly in the fray to lobby their interests in the run up to the confidence vote,” the CPI-M statement said, noting that a “dangerous precedent” has been set with the Prime Minister “being asked to personally intervene to mediate between the Ambani brothers”. The CPI also deplored the “involvement of the Prime Minister’s Office and the PM in corporate wars”.
The CPI-M’s statement clearly referred to SP general secretary Mr Amar Singh’s recent controversial suggestion asking the PM to mediate for a rapprochement between the Ambani brothers for the health of the country’s economy. In the Congress circles, Mr Singh is thought to be gunning for Mukesh while holding a brief for younger brother Anil.
The PMO, however, immediately rejected reports and the Left’s suggestions that the PM was intervening in the feud between Ambani brothers. “People of India know Manmohan Singh better than to believe that he would get involved in corporate affairs” PM’s media advisor Mr Sanjaya Baru, said. On the controversy gripping the Mukesh-PM meeting, he said: “PM meets corporate leaders all the time to discuss national economic issues as any leader of modern economy would.”
Iran-Teheran tussle
The Congress today condemned any "unilateral military action" against Iran while the CPI-M urged the Centre to end military ties with Israel if it was "really concerned" about Teheran. "Talk of military options and pre-emptive strikes should be avoided," Congress general-secretary Mr M Veerappa Moily said here. But the CPI-M said New Delhi should call off its military ties with Tel Aviv if it had genuine concerns for Iran.
A K Bhattacharya: Birds of the same feather
NEW DELHI DIARY
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi July 16, 2008, 4:27 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=328811
Political developments in the last few weeks may eventually help save the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and allow it to conclude the India-US civilian nuclear deal. But these very developments are bound to make every Indian a little uneasy about the state of politics in this country. A coalition government does require political parties with different ideologies to forge an alliance based on some common policies and principles. But what one saw in the last few weeks was something different. This requires elaboration.
The Left has been opposed to the India-US civilian nuclear deal right from the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had hammered out an agreement with US President George Bush last year. The Left was not just opposed to the deal. It had threatened to withdraw support to the government if Manmohan Singh went ahead with the deal. So, when the UPA government did go ahead with the deal early this month, the Left withdrew its support. That stance of the Left was completely understandable. What one could not understand was the Left's untiring efforts, subsequently, to pull down the government even if that meant being on the same boat as its arch enemy, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
There were even reports that a senior Left leader did not discount the possibility of his party supporting a BJP-led coalition at the Centre, provided the saffron party shed its "communal agenda". That statement has not yet been challenged or contradicted by the Left parties or the leader in question. A few days later, the CPI-M general secretary visited BSP boss Mayawati, sparking off rumours that the Left might even consider seeking her support with a view to defeating the UPA government. The Left's opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal was at least consistent and arose from its belief and ideological position. But the stance of the BJP (which acknowledges the US to be India's strategic partner) on the India-US civil nuclear deal has been wholly inconsistent. And the BSP is not yet known for its views on this issue.
So, it was difficult to understand why the Left would even think of joining hands with these two parties to defeat the UPA. The only explanation was that the Left was so piqued by the Congress' insistence on the deal that it wanted to teach the Manmohan Singh government a lesson by defeating it on the floor of the Lok Sabha. But was that a mature response from the Left? Perhaps, a more principled stand would have been to withdraw support to the UPA and not look for any alliance that might seem opportunistic with the sole aim of defeating a government. This is a view that has come from some Left leaders in Bengal, who have expressed their apprehensions about adverse electoral consequences of voting along with BJP to defeat the UPA government.
Even the Constitutionally sacred position of the Lok Sabha Speaker was not spared from such politically embarrassing initiatives. The Left parties included the name of the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, in the list of the members of Parliament submitted to the President while withdrawing support to the government. Worse, sufficient pressure was exerted on the Speaker to resign from his position. So far, the Speaker has managed to resist such pressure. Within the Left, senior leaders from Bengal have questioned the need for seeking Mr Chatterjee's resignation particularly when he was appointed to that position unanimously. But the Left wants to claim Mr Chatterjee as a Lok Sabha member when the trust votes are counted in the Lok Sabha next week. Compulsions of politics can indeed force a political party to throw all principles and conventions to the wind. That this could happen even to the Left is a major disappointment.
No less disappointing has been the conduct of the Samajwadi Party (SP), which bailed the Congress out by promising it the crucial support. It used APJ Abdul Kalam's endorsement of the India-US civil nuclear deal, among other things, to convince itself and its political constituency that all was well with the pact. It has shown no qualms about airing its economic agenda, which seems to be a slightly reworded agenda of a major industrial house. That this agenda is not just to benefit that industrial house but also to place its rivals in a disadvantageous position makes it shameful. The UPA government may have bought more trouble than it had bargained for by seeking the SP's support. It has to pay a price for having got the SP's support to save the nuclear deal. But the point to be noted is that the SP's behaviour in this ongoing political drama does not surprise anyone. But the Left's behaviour does make one wonder if all political parties in this country have now become indistinguishable from each other — banking less on principles and more on opportunism.
Story Comments Total Post : 2
Posted By : abntakle on 16 July,2008
A K Bhattacharya's analysis is pathetic . The CPM knew fully well when extending support in 2004 that ManMohan Singh wanted to proceed with a Nuclear & Strategic alliance with US , so why did it extend support then ? A valiant attempt of the Bengali/ keralite Mafia in the English Media to project what are just pain old Super Parochial Bengali/ Keralite Senas(CPM+CPI+RSP+FB) -which could teach the Shiv Sena/MNS extreme parochialism - as the epitome of intelligence ,honesty and cosmopolitan
Posted By : phazra on 16 July,2008
The principleless political parties like Lefts,BSP and SP, all have been doing what, is nothing but an opportinistic approach to the UPA.It is surprising that they do not possess any strong determination and thorough knowledge respect to any national issue of importance.They have played false with the UPA shamelessly without considering the wellness of N-deal.Our political parties very often behaveike 'Birds of a feather flocks together
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