I'm three months too late to write about monsoon this year. Ah, better late than never.

I've always been a rain-thunderstorm-puddly person and monsoon in India is lush and exceptionally beautiful. Its brishti that we wait for every year, craving a quiet stormy afternoon, wrapped up in a blanket, sipping hot chocolate, the whiff of spicy khichdi, posto and the eternal maachh bhaja (fish fry)...excusing the occasional murky puddles! I seriously couldn't resist grabbing my camera and snapping away to satisfaction at the playground today afternoon. The toys against the lush green was like color therapy!

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani has come out in support of Tata’s beleaguered Nano project in Singur, West Bengal, saying, “It’s a unique and innovative initiative which will establish India’s position as a small car hub”.

“The Indian Industry must be encouraged to make such large investments in order to build the country’s competitiveness as well as support job creation,” the chairman of the largest private sector company in India said.

Warning that a “fear psychosis is being created” to slow down certain projects of national importance, Ambani said this would be counter-productive for the country’s economic growth, its global image as well as our ability to attract investments from across the world. Ambani’s statement comes in the wake of Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata threatening to pull out the Rs 1,500-crore small car project from West Bengal after facing continued political opposition led by Trinamool Congress.

“The Indian industry and the political leadership in the country need to work together to deliver on the aspirations of the millions of Indians in urban and rural areas,” Ambani said.

“If anybody is under impression that we have made Rs 1,500-crore investment and will not move from the state, they are wrong. Whatever be the cost, we will move out if the situation demands so,” Ratan Tata had last week said.

Industry chambers CII, Ficci and Assocham have also supported the Tata and asked the West Bengal government to resolve the land issue with the opposition.

Mahananda Weir Sukna, Siliguri

Mahananda Weir Sukna, Siliguri, located at a distance of about 18 km from the town of Siliguri, is a picnic spot. Situated inside the Mahananda Wild Life Sanctuary, this beautiful picnic spot is a ‘must visit’ during a trip to Siliguri.

Kalijhora, Siliguri

Kalijhora, Siliguri, located at a distance of about 27 km from the main town of Siliguri, is another beautiful picnic spot.

Jaldapara, Siliguri

Jaldapara, Siliguri, located at a distance of about 124 km from Siliguri, is a not to be missed place while a trip to Siliguri. The Wild Life Sanctuary at Jaldapara, offers visitors an opportunity to see the rare one horned rhino besides the commonly seen attractions such as deer, bison, etc.

Mirik, Siliguri

Mirik, Siliguri, situated at an altitude of 5800 ft, is a a new hill-resort. Located almost midway on a one-hundred kilometer alternative route between Darjeeling (a popular hill station) and Siliguri is a ‘must visit’ place in Siliguri.

Air: Bagdogra, about 16 km away from Siliguri, is the nearest airport linking Siliguri with the rest of the country through air. Several airlines inclusing Indian Airlines and Jet Airways offer scheduled services to and from Bagdogra. From here, one can reach Siliguri by a taxi.

Rail: Being a junction of North-East Frontier Railway, Siliguri is easily accessible through rail.

The three important railway stations in Siliguri are: Siliguri Town, the oldest railway station in the area (opened in 1880); Siliguri Junction, opened in 1949 and is the only railway station in the country to have all the three gauges of rail tracks; and New Jalpaiguri, opened in the year 1961 and is located about six km south of Siliguri.

Direct rail services are available between Siliguri and a number of important cities in the country including Delhi, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Chennai (formerly Madras), Kolkata and Cochin.

What’s more, the popular ‘Toy Train’ that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling passes through the town of Siliguri.

Road: National Highway No. 31A (NH31A) passes through the town of Siliguri. Regular bus services link Siliguri with the neighboring areas.

One can also hire a jeep from Siliguri to reach neighbouring hill towns such as Darjeeling, Gangtok, Mirik, Kurseong, Jorethang, Kalimpong and Namchi.

For local travel needs, most commonly used means include local buses, auto rickshaws/tempos and cycle-rickshaws. There are no metered taxis or auto-rickshaws available in Siliguri.

Siliguri is situated at the base of the great Himalaya range of mountains in the plains (at an altitude of about 329 ft).

The climate of Siliguri is characterized mainly by three seasons: summer season, winter season and monsoon season.

During summer season, the temperature in Siliguri remains below 38 degree C: Siliguri is considerably cooler than the central and the southern regions of the state.

During winter months, Siliguri remains relatively cool with the temperature ranging between a maximum of about 15 degree C and a minimum of about 3 degree C.

During the monsoon season, between the months of June and September, Siliguri receives heavy rains. Avoid a trip to Siliguri during monsoon season.

Siliguri can be visited anytime during the year. However, it is not recommended to visit Siliguri during monsoon season.

Siliguri, also referred to as the City of Hospitality, is a town situated in the Darjeeling district of the Indian state of West Bengal. North Bengal’s commercial nerve center, Siliguri is the largest city in the district and the second largest city in the state.

Located in the Chicken's Neck, a narrow strip of land connecting mainland India to its North-eastern states, Siliguri is a rapidly developing metropolis.

Siliguri, the gateway to the North East of India, is a base for basic supplies to the entire region. Many big companies have their offices in Siliguri. The main businesses in Siliguri can be described as four T’s: Tea, Timber, Tourism and Transport.

According to India census 2001, the total population in Siliguri was 470,304: males constitute 53 per cent of the total population while females constitute 47 per cent.

The languages that are mainly used in Siliguri are Bengali, Hindi, Nepali and English.

Penat, teruja, happy dan besttt!!!! adalah antara perkataan yang boleh jarey gambarkan sepanjang berlangsungnya show kucing yang julung-julung kali diadakan di Sabah ni..

Tersangat happy bila dapat berjumpa dengan geng-geng Feline Society of Malaysia, terutama En. Nor Arisham, breeder terkenal, Jimmy dengan Maine Coon beliau, Mr. Ben Hsu dari Borneo Cat Club, peminat-peminat kucing, rakan-rakan bloggers, serta kesemua judges-judges yang di jemput, Rod U'ren (Australia), Becky Orlando (USA), Wayne Trevathan (USA) dan Diana Rothermel(USA).

Artikel lengkap dan gambar show akan di post kemudian.. ada banyak nak story nih.. so, tunggguuuuuuu...

sekarang jarey nak tidur..

penat bah! ZZZZZZZZ.........

This is how it is. Tata Motors, one of India's more successful business ventures and presently owner of both the Jaguar and Land Rover marquees, has developed the world's least expensive car, the Tata Nano. The Nano costs a hundred thousand rupees, which is about $2,500. This one car could revolutionise Indian industry, merging a China-like low-cost manufacturing ethic with an innovative automobile that seems poised to repeat the success of the Japanese car industry.

From the other side of the equation, West Bengal's economy has been bled white by communist misrule and myopia for over 30 years. Finally, someone in that party seems to be channelling Deng Xiaoping, and steps are being taken to slowly nurse the place back to some semblance of decency, may be even its now-legendary greatness. The timing is perfect; the pieces fit. As Tata prepares to move into the Big League, it can carry West Bengal to better altitudes. Alas, what it can't give Bengalis is a better attitude.

Tata needs about 997 acres of land to build the factory that will provide local jobs, manufacture a remarkable piece of (cost) engineering, and showcase India's technological prowess to the world. The WB government, populated by communists who were once responsible for the blanket exodus of businesses out of the state, obliged and provided the land. Now, Mamata Bannerjee, an opposition leader who can be used as Fig. 1 in any thesis on Indian politics' unhealthy habit of opposition-for-opposition's-sake, has declared an indefinite siege of the factory, demanding 400 acres of that land be returned to local farmers.

Time to step back and take in a full view of the situation. On one corner, a politician asking for the short-term benefits of a small number of farmers in one small district, and asking for it with such adamantine stance as to seem almost missionary in her zeal. On the other, the opportunity for an entire state to finally limber up from the stupor of decades and move along with the rest of the country, already miles ahead.

Tata doesn't need to put its plant here, really. There already are other Indian states moving in on the kill, most notably Orissa. Bengalis may treat Oriyas with a disdain that comes from a misplaced conviction in their own cultural superiority, but the raw truth is that while Bengal has languished, Orissa has warped ahead to become the pre-eminent voice in the region. Companies that once filed out of Calcutta are now marching back in to Bhubaneshwar - the Oriya capital - to set up eastern operations. Tata may be Bengal's last chance for a long, long time. Time, perhaps, to get tough and recall another Vulcan gem - the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

In West Bengal the Left Front government is in a mess as its Chief Minister is at a complete loss as to what to say about the premier industrial house of India, the Tatas's intention to pull out their Nano operation from the disputed site of Singur. I had discussed a long time ago that Mamata Bannerjee in her eagerness to put herself forward as the new and real power centre in West Bengal will adopt exactly the strategies the Left had used almost 30-35 years ago to come to power and want the Tatas to negotiate with her directly. At that time it was the Left which had championed crippling strikes, and its consistent slogan was that "Tatas and the Birlas" were the enemies of the people, against whom the agrarian labour and workers of the weakened industry should fight.  Combined with the arrogance and reliance on sycophants that the Left leadership has practised in West Bengal for a long time, it was a matter of time before the upcoming generations got psychologically detached from the "Left". The Tatas have little to do but pull out, unless Mamata Bannerjee is prepared to swallow her pride, which in her impatience to get a piece of the cake seems most unlikely. By insisting on her conditions Mamata will also prove that she is just a small politician like Buddhadev and not a statesperson.

Some bloggers who criticize armchair politicians think holding free and fair elections is necessary and sufficient to solve the Kashmir problem and isolate the separatist Hurriyat. This sort of daydreaming comes out of a complete failure to understand what Islam is all about - its is a complete system of politics, and it is shrewd enough to realize that wherever it manages a foothold it has to completely erase all traces of pre-Islamic identities, cultures and independent or rational thought not dictated by the theologians. The basic social institution through which a new born citizen learns social and political behaviour is the education system. This made the Islamic leadership target the secular schools established under the general Indian pattern in Kashmir, but the Madrassahs were left intact, so that children would be forced to get only Islamic brainwashing and nothing else. A whole generation in the Kashmir valley has grown up indoctrinated in the most primitive and violent aspects of Islamic ideology, that of pretending "peace" as long as weak in numbers and launch violent expansion against non-Muslims as soon as sufficient numerical strength is reached. By allowing this to happen and protecting Islamic erasure of the pre-Islamic cultural roots of the Kashmiri's the Congress has now brought India to a point where separatist support is widespread. Just as the British left no longer capable of coping with the mess they created in India the Congress too will retreat, leaving the non-Muslim people of India to suffer the brunt of their mismanagement.

Air: Bagdogra, which is located at a distance of about 90 km from Darjeeling, is the nearest airport which connects Darjeeling with the rest of the country through air. Regular Services are offered by several airlines including Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Deccan from/to the major cities in the country including Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati.

Rail: Siliguri, which is located at a distance of about 80 km from Darjeeling, and New Jalpaiguri, which is located at a distance of about 88 km from Darjeeling, are the two nearest railway stations connecting Darjeeling with the rest of the country. Direct trains are available from both of these two railway stations to major cities in India including Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi, Guwahati and many more.

Road: You can also reach Darjeeling via road as regular bus services are available from Siliguri and other neighboring cities and towns including Kurseong, Gangtok and Kalimpong. You can also choose to hire a private vehicle from these places to reach Darjeeling.

Other most popular means of transport are the four wheel drives, including Land Rovers—they are able to navigate the region’s steep inclines easily.

And, during monsoon season, both rail and road links get disrupted due to land-sliding in the region.

While in Darjeeling, you have the options of hiring a taxi or driving a two-wheeler for your local transport needs. Bicycles and walking are also preferred means of local transport in Darjeeling!

Contributions

Ayurvedic innoculation for smallpox. Treatment was done by inoculation with year-old smallpox matter. The inoculators would travel all across India pricking the skin of the arm with a small metal instrument using "variolous matter" taken from pustules produced by the previous year's inoculations. The effectiveness of this system was confirmed by the British doctor Howell based on his residence in Bengal.

Classification of diseases, causes, symptoms and complications

Chapter on Masurika (Small Pox)

Few issue based Rationale for the creation of a new administrative, legislative and judicial set up in Darjeeling Hills and Dooars.

Issue- Slavery of Tea Garden Workers since the British Raj…
Dogmatic Communists have ruled West Bengal for over a quarter of century now, nonetheless, they have in no way grasped the structure on which the Tea Gardens of Darjeeling and Dooars is operationally managed.

Generations of same families living in Tea Gardens have been encouraged to enslave themselves and survive on penury. Even after the establishment of Darjeeling Hill Council, there were no initiations to free over 80,000 people of slavery and give them higher status of farmers who could own land on which their families have toiled for generations. Continually since the British Era, dependents of Tea Garden workers numbering close to 700,000 people living in 100 odd tea gardens in Darjeeling Hills and Dooars have no ownership right to their ancestral residential homes despite their private investment on extension, repair and maintenance. The status of their properties are limited to that of a “labour quarter” subject to lease contract of the management company and state as the land owners and not secured by individual legal documents in favour of the workers.

This has resulted in workers not being able to capitalize on their assets, thereby, forcing them to be continually be “bonded as a labour” of the company presently managing the Garden and it amounts to their ancestral land and residence being a form of collateral submitted to the tea company in exchange of work and right to reside.

This current structure of ownership/management of Tea Garden is a continuation of British Raj structure and the status of tea estate workers has remained same ever since and the government of West Bengal never bothered to apply the famous communist dogma of “land to the tiller” here unlike the rest of Bengal. The feudalistic structure remained with White Bada Sahebs being replaced by Calcutta based Brown Sahebs continuing with the privilege of absolute rule but with no accountability on regulation, welfare and local development.

The Calcutta based Tea Companies govern over these local communities with absolute impunity and is only driven by top line sales and annual bottom line returns while West Bengal establishment continues to hand these companies semi administrative rights like distribution of utility services like electricity and telecom, maintenance of roads, primary health care etc while frame conditions for government outreach and sustainable development was further eroded during the Subash Ghising era in the Tea Gardens.

Very clearly, with dynamic market forces is driving the economic output of the Darjeeling and Dooars Tea Garden settlements and West Bengal’s being a perennial under performer in market based economy isn’t West Bengal too big a state to be managed properly and Darjeeling Hills and Dooars too complex for Calcutta policy makers to comprehend ?

Furthermore, wouldn’t it be better for the people to Darjeeling Hills and Dooars be given the right to form a superior administrative set up for local governance in any form or structure?

Issue-Despair in Dooars…
The state of Adivasi people in Dooars area is in complete despair with every indicator about these communities being below state and national average. Indigenous people of Dooars like the Koch and Totos are completely lagging behind in all parameters of human development such as such as literacy percentage, per capita income, school enrollment percentage, access to higher education, access to medical services or unemployment percentage.

We often hear about cases of suicides and hunger related deaths especially amongst the Adivasi community and further their indigenous language and culture is in process of being eroded owing to their strength of population numbers being diluted due to the arrival of mainstream ethnic Bengalis in traditional Adivasi land.

Evidently, the cause of the Adivasi community in Dooars and North Bengal has never being prominently featured in West Bengal’s governments’ priority list despite the Marxist government being one of the world’s longest ruling government.

Would you not agree that there will be a better focus on the development of these communities should Dooars be handled by a smaller and local administrative and legislative set up?

Issue-West Bengal not gaining the required Momentum for Growth…
India as a nation has one of the fastest growing economies and is being lauded for the continuous growth that it has managed since last one decade, however, many independent studies continues to place West Bengal in the bottom rung of investment attractiveness and lags behind in all the parameters in creating investment friendly environment.

Years of cadre driven philosophy of Marxist Government has infiltrated all institution of government, including the law and order machinery hence the West Bengal has not been able to attract neither domestic nor foreign investment thereby not being able to create employment and opportunities for it’s people to partake.

Darjeeling and Dooars possesses unique potential in the areas of specialized agriculture, floriculture, hydropower, handicrafts for exports, non timber forest products such as medicinal and aromatic plants and furthermore on service sectors such as Tourism and Information Technology Enabled sectors ( ITES).

Would not it better for an empowered local government to harness these potential as Planners sitting in Calcutta has failed categorically to start any initiation to facilitate Darjeeling Hills and Dooars join and contribute to the growth momentum of larger Indian economy?

Issue-Weak Governance and failure of service delivery…
Governance either federal, state or local is the key issue and will continue to be a key issue and governments world wide including some state governments within India are embarking on steep learning curve to improve government services such essential utilities, tighter regulations on environment, justice delivery, human rights, law and order, education, health, employment and broad based local economic development and other continuously evolving infrastructural requirement such as telecom, transport and digital communication.

Innovative programs have been designed at macro, meso and micro levels of governance to enhance the delivery of these services by many governments, nevertheless, one never hears of West Bengal government being creative and committed for any such programs.

In actual fact, for example, West Bengal Government’s Health care system is considered to be one of the poorest in the world and for years’ variety of independent media has highlighted the deplorable conditions of state run hospitals across West Bengal. Similarly, the state run educational facilities are poorly funded and the majority of public prefer privately run educational services despite the Marxist promises of competitive educational quality.

Would it not be better for Darjeeling and Dooars to create a small functional administrative, legislative and juidicial set up so that there is a complete accountability of the elected representative and allow powers of democracy to function?

S T Tamang
Gomdhen Dhim
Upper Dumaram,
Kurseong

Basu said that the Bengal CPI(M) had been witness for some time now and with alarm to the manner in which the GJM leadership was depriving the people of the Darjeeling hill areas of one after another democratic right.  An ambience of terror has been created that had left the hill people gasping in fear.

The GJM has issued 'orders' that unless the people participated in its 'programmes,' they would be the target of attacks, harassments, and even social boycott.  The Darjeeling CPI(M) office was once again attacked on August 4, ransacked, and but for the brave resistance offered by the Party members who were inside, would have been occupied by force.  

A brief attempt was even made to fly a GJM flag from the top of the CPI(M) office - the challenge was foiled.  The Bengal CPI(M) has strongly condemned this attack and the ill-gotten attempt to forcibly occupy the office of the CPI(M) in Darjeeling town - and elsewhere in the hills.

“The GJM is also found engaged in the dangerous game of indulging itself in acts of provocation to try to create segregation and then a rift between the hill people and the plains people. This is an extremely condemnable, heinous act, and all such attempts at disruption of the people's unity should be opposed by every democratic-minded people. This sort of destructive activity will serve to complicate matters at the time when there was a process started for a tripartite meeting between the central government, the state government and the GJM up in Delhi”, the statement noted.

The Bengal CPI(M) has called for peace, amity, and people-to-people friendship in both the hill and the plains areas and has called upon the people at large to strengthen democracy and democratic norms everywhere in the district. (People's democracy)

A Bangladeshi’s visit to Pakistan shatters her paradigms

Posted on July 27, 2008 by Moin Ansari

A Bangladeshi respecting Pakistanis, that’s something you won’t find very often from someone from Bangladesh. But the Bangladeshi visitor, Fariha, went to Pakistan and met the regular people, and her perception of Pakistan changed from the traditional anti-Paki views, which was imprinted to us in Bangladesh, to an open minded view. Read the article below thoroughly and you’ll realize us Bengalis are not that different from our fellow Pakistanis.

Fariha wrote:

“ Apko kia pata, ke humara dil apke liye kitna rota hai. Jab aap logo ko koi taklif hota hai to humain lagta hain k taklif humain ho raha hai. Bohot pyar karte hai hum aap se. alag ho gaye to kya hua. Bhai to bhai hota hai. Bangladeshi to humare bhai hai.” Rafe, 60-something, Bus-driver, Lahore

I’ve met people from different parts of the world and traveled to a few places myself. But never, not once, in any of my interactions or travels, have I ever come across a race of people who have made me feel so proud of my nationality: Bangladeshi. But then, I visited Pakistan. I was born in an independent Bangladesh. I’ve never had to struggle to get my voice heard, I was allowed to vote (till quite recently) and I’m allowed to speak my mind. Until my trip to Pakistan, I had never realized how precious all these things are. I had always regarded Pakistan, a distant country, as a bitter chapter in our history. But only after meeting the people did I realize how close we could be and how much my heritage means to them. Never before have I received so much respect for just being Bangladeshi.

Till quite recently, I had never visited Pakistan. Neither had my parents. Since the only Pakistanis I’d met belonged to the educated bourgeoisie class, I had assumed that it was only this select lot who were aware of the atrocities committed in 1971. I had always believed that most Pakistanis believed that Bangladeshis were Kafirs who had let India take them over and regarded us with disdain. Don’t ask me why I thought all of this or what explanation I have for my notions. My notions had stemmed from the prevalent attitude of our pro-liberation buddhijibis, who have, through their own glorifications of our War of Liberation, somehow equated patriotism as anti-Pakistani feeling and instilled that in some of us. In fact, I still know people who think that to be a true patriot you would have to hate Pakistan, with all its institutions and people. Our elders in Bangladesh, somehow always let us think that Pakistanis don’t care about Bangladesh. I’m not blaming them for my ill-conceived ideas. I was partly to blame for judging a whole race simply on the basis of the half-truths I had heard. I am not proud of what I thought. But my recent trip to Pakistan has made me feel proud of who I am and I am proud of my newly acquired views. Though I think that I now face the threat of being termed a ‘paki-lover’ or ‘Rajakar’, I am writing this because I think that our generation needs to know the other side of the story.

To be perfectly honest, upon our arrival at Islamabad, since the very first people we had met were bureaucrats, I didn’t buy into the whole “Pakistani-Bangladeshi bhai bhai” ideology they seemed to desperately convey to us. To me it seemed too forceful, too elaborate and too far removed from what we in Bangladesh have been led to believe about Pakistani attitude towards Bangladesh. If every shop-keeper, hotel-boy, porter, flight-attendant, bus-driver and almost everyone else I had met hadn’t echoed the same sentiments, I probably never would’ve believed that Pakistani people actually believe that we are still their brothers and they love us. It’s love that is rooted in our shared history, in our present day struggles to make our mark in this world, our efforts to rise above poverty and frustration at watching our neighbors grow at exponential rates as we combat the demons of corruption and bad governance.

“There are so many things we need to learn from Bangladesh. In fact, I personally think that your Caretaker Government system is very effective and we’re trying to emulate that”, an Additional Secretary told the ten-member media delegation from Bangladesh. Nothing was said, but their admiration for our achievements, including in establishing democracy and keeping it for 15 years, was apparent. In Karachi, an official of the Press Information Department under their Ministry of Information regaled the success of our homegrown micro-credit formula and it’s award-winning success. As far as the bureaucracy of Pakistan was concerned, everywhere we went we were greeted by praise and accolade. Even with 106 licensed private TV channels and 60 on-air channels, the Government of Pakistan marveled at how the journalists in Bangladesh are better trained and more sensitized. In a country where GEO News was closed down for violating State of Emergency rules, the Bangladeshi media received accolade from the Pakistani media for the courage demonstrated and the torture survived. In a media world now free of ‘press advise’ from intelligence agencies or foreign ministries, they marveled at the openness of our media. Peshawar Press Club gave the media delegates a reception and Express News threw a dinner. I am told that this is commonplace for all delegates from Bangladesh visiting Pakistan. But it most certainly wasn’t commonplace for me. No one had ever told me that this is how much respect these people have for us. All I have learnt from the learned, well-versed editors of our progressive newspapers is that Pakistan, the monsters who had killed our people in 1971 is now a failed nation. They forgot to mention the people of Pakistan, the warmth and hospitality they extend to all visiting Bangladeshis and the love and respect they still have for us. They never taught us how to help them or how to become friends with Pakistanis. Ulta, this was frowned upon. We weren’t told about how much they crave our friendship.

I had always believed that the atrocities committed in1971 by the Pakistani Military Hanadar Bahini, the genocide and the rapes would be a taboo topic for us in Pakistan. Taboo not just on the account us being invited by the Pakistan Government, but also because I had believed the Pakistani version of the events of 1971 to be different from ours. Therefore, you can imagine my shock when everyone I met mentioned our Liberation War (mind you, not the “Fall of Dhaka”) as ‘mistakes made by us in 1971, that shouldn’t have happened and we wish they hadn’t happened’. Rafe chacha, the man who drove our bus said to me, ‘beta, Bhutto ne jo kia, bohot galat kia. Mujhe to ootni talim bhi nahi hai, par itna to mujhe bhi pata hai’. Roughly translated, he meant that despite his lack of formal education, even he was aware of the atrocities committed by Bhutto (not just Yahya Khan, the executioner, but also the dictator) in 1971. Later on, he even explained to me how now that all of Pakistan is racially divided; they understand how Bangladesh must have felt. Rafe chacha even said to me how the people of Pakistan feel that political leadership in Bangladesh is much stronger than in Pakistan. ‘Benazir Bhutto jo thi, wo bhi zamindar ki beti thi. Oon ko kia pata k 3 din se mere ghar mei atta nahi hai. Aap k muluk mei to kitne acche admi hai, leaders hai. Humai aaj take k bhi sahi admi nahi mila. Aap ka jo dr.yunus hai, un ho ne garib o k barei mei socha, kuch kia. Humare yaha ek bhi aisa admi nahi mila’, he remorses. He said he echoed the sentiments of the rural working class who are always struggling to survive the repeated onslaughts of the political turmoil in the country. The ups and downs of power-play-who wins the elections or who looses, really never affects the common man. He knows that politics is not for him. He knows regardless of who wins the election, if there ever is one, at the end, he looses. Successive regimes have only helped to widen the rich and poor divide and people like Rafe chacha seek a program like micro-credit to improve their financial conditions. There are millions like Rafe chacha who would benefit from the models developed by our NGOs and civil society organizations that help the grassroots people. Even a PID official admitted that Sheikh Hasina is his favorite South Asian leader because she stands for the common man. The sectarian violence, the non-homogenous population and the increasing rich and poor divide has helped people like Rafe chacha and the likes of him realize and empathize with our plights pre-71. We, as Bangladeshis, as an independent, sovereign nation, with our certain successful social organization models are now in the capacity to help them and save them from the fate we had suffered.

“Baji aap Bangladesh se hai? Arre kia baat hai. Phir to aap hamare mehman hai. Aap ko kia pilau? Paani yia Cola? Aap meri puri dukan le jao koi masla nahi. Mehman hai aap humare’. I got tired of hearing these lines. I heard the same lines in Islamabad, in Murree, in Karachi and even in Peshawar. A pukhtun shopkeeper abandoned his shop in the evening, in a jomjomat bazaar just to show a few lost Bangladeshi journalists the way to another bazaar. In fact, the Pathans made these guys have dinner with them, saying that Bangladeshis were not just guests but brothers.I have never received so much love and respect anywhere else in the world, for simply being Bangladeshi. Everywhere I went, everyone I met, somehow managed to show this chit of a Bangladeshi girl, with her uncovered head and bare arms, an amazing display of camaraderie and respect. I really don’t know what I have in common with the man from Waziristan who dragged my luggage across the streets of Saddar in Peshawar or the teachers of Peshawar University who were going berserk trying to find an old picture of my grandfather which could’ve been anywhere in Pakistan. They didn’t have to do any of that. They are not answerable to any government, theirs or mine. They didn’t know me. They belong to a different nation, a different culture and an altogether different world. But somehow, they were able to relate to me before I could relate to them. They called me a sister even before I would consider them friends. They made the first move, they extended their hand of friendship and their love and hospitality. They gave me love because they believed that their leaders had wronged us in ’71, but we have survived and grown stronger, and more successful than them. We have greater literacy rates and more female participation in all sections of the socio-economic system. From Islamabad to Peshawar and in Karachi, all they gave us was love and respect and all they wanted from us was knowledge. They humbly expressed remorse for 1971 for the actions of the Pakistani military. In every action of theirs, I saw a call for help and solidarity. I felt that this nation, once so known to our forefathers, now completely alien to us, needs us to cooperate with them, help them up, just like one brother (even an estranged one) would help another. They made me feel strong and powerful. They made me feel proud of our achievements—all the things that we take for granted at home. This wasn’t the kind of pride you feel when you defeat another team in cricket or when you realize someone else is worse off than you. This was the first time in my life a foreign country and people, by their own good actions, had made me feel so proud of my Bangladeshi heritage.

In war-ravaged NWFP, where the local government is still struggling to accommodate the refugees, ensure minimum security and attain a minimum standard of living for its entire populace, we were perhaps best received. The governor of NWFP, Mr. Owais Ghani only reinstated Pakistan’s new attitude towards Bangladesh, ‘Let us not be prisoners of our past. Let us learn from our past and now look forward’.

In my humble opinion and still limited purview of the world, I feel that Bangladesh and our hard-earned independence have been vindicated. We have proven to Pakistan, home to our military oppressors and bloodthirsty dictator of 1971, that we have survived and we’ve only gotten better. Now, it’s time to show them just strong we are by sharing some of our strengths with them and helping them out in their struggles.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. If we now close our doors to Pakistan, we will be shutting out a friend. The people of Pakistan have nothing but respect for Bangladesh. They want to learn. They want to know. But what will be our call? Will we play into the hands of those who have used the sentiments of 1971 to progress their own vested interests or should we promote our inherently peaceful and progressive way of life to a nation that looks up at us with hope and an offer of friendship. Again, at the risk of being labeled, I dare suggest that perhaps, it’s time to call truce and move on. We will never forget 1971, but then taking pride in our history should not be analogous to hating the people of another country, who were also victims of their circumstances and military oppressors.

DOLA RE DOLA RE

The song Dola Re Dola Re is from the hindi movie Devdas. Devdas is a movie of a Bengali(Bengal is in the eastern side of India) guy called Devdas. He is in love with a woman named Paro. But there are misunderstandings and lack of trust in their re4lationship which leads Devdas to lose his morale. He gets himself indulged in alcohol and prostitute.

Movie Name:Devdas

Song Name: Dola Re Dola

Film Name: Devdas

Music: Ismail Darbar

Lyrics: Nusrat Badr

Singers: K.K., Shreya Ghosal, and Kavita Subramaniam

Watch video of the original song.

Or Choose the song from here to listen the remix of the song.

Lyrics and meaning of the song:

--MALE--

Hey dola re dola re dola re dola

Hey, sway, sway, sway, sway

Hey dola re

Hey, sway

--FEMALE 1--

Haan, haan, hm aah

--FEMALE 2--

Haan, haan, haan haan

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

Haan, haan, haan haan - 2

--FEMALE 2--

Oh maahi

Oh lover

--FEMALE 1--

Hey dola re dola re dola re dola

Hey, I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--FEMALE 2--

Hey dola re dola re dola re dola

Hey, I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--FEMALE 1--

Lag jaane do najariya, gir jaane do bijuriya

Let gazes come, let lighting fall

--CHORUS--

Bijuriya, bijuriya, gir jaane do aaj bijuriya

Lighting, lighting, let lightning fall today

--FEMALE 2--

Lag jaane do najariya, gir jaane do bijuriya

Let gazes come, let lightning fall

Baandhke main ghunghroo

Strapping on jingles

--FEMALE 1--

Pahenke main paayal

Wearing anklets

--FEMALE 2--

Oh, baandhke main ghunghroo

Oh, strapping on jingles

--FEMALE 1--

Pahenke main paayal

Wearing anklets

Ho jhoomke naachoongi ghoomke naachoongi

Oh, shaking I will dance, spinning I will dance

--FEMALE 2--

Dola re dola re dola re dola

I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--FEMALE 1--

Dola re dola re dola re dola

I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--CHORUS--

Dekho ji dekho dekho kaise yeh jhankaar hai

Look sir, look look how this jingling is

Inki aankhon mein dekho piyaji ka pyaar hai

In her eyes look her lover's love is there

Inki aawaaz mein haai kaisi thanadaar hai

In her voice, oh, what authority there is

Piya ki yaadon mein yeh jiya beqaraar hai

In her lover's memories this heart is restless

--FEMALE 2--

Haai, haai, haai aai aai aai aai

--FEMALE 1--

Maathe ki bindiya mein voh hai

In the bindi of my forehead is him

--FEMALE 2--

Mm, palkon ki nindiya mein voh hai

In the sleep of my eyelashes is him

--FEMALE 1--

Tere to tan mann mein voh hai

In your body and mind is him

--FEMALE 2--

Teri bhi dhadkan mein voh hai

Even in your heartbeat is him

--FEMALE 1--

Choodi ki chhan chhan mein voh hai

In the jingle of bracelets is him

--FEMALE 2--

Kangan ki khan khan mein voh hai

In the jangle of bangels is him

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

Choodi ki chhan chhan mein voh hai

In the jingle of bracelets is him

Kangan ki khan khan mein voh hai

In the jangle of bangels is him

--FEMALE 2--

Baandhke main ghunghroo

Strapping on jingles

--FEMALE 1--

Haan, pahenke main paayal

Yes, wearing anklets

--FEMALE 2--

O jhoomke naachoongi ghoomke naachoongi

Oh, shaking I will dance, spinning I will dance

--FEMALE 1--

Dola re dola re dola re dola

I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--FEMALE 2--

Ae dola re dola re dola re dola

Hey, I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--MALE--

Hey eh eh hey eh, hey eh eh eh eh eh

Hey hey eh eh eh eh, hey hey eh hey

--FEMALE 2--

Tumne mujhko duniya de di

You have given me the world

Mujhko apni haan khushiyaan de di

You have given me my happiness, yes

--FEMALE 1—

Tumse kabhi na hona door

May I never be far from you

Haan maang mein bhar le na sindoor

Yes, fill the parting of my hair with red powder

--FEMALE 2--

Unki baahon ka tum ho phool

You are the flower of his arms

Main hoon kadmon ki bas dhool

I am just the dust of his footsteps

Baandhke main ghunghroo

Strapping on jingles

--FEMALE 1--

Pahenke main paayal

Wearing anklets

--FEMALE 2--

Haan, baandhke main ghunghroo

Yes, strapping on jingles

--FEMALE 1--

Pahenke main paayal

Wearing anklets

--FEMALE 1 + 2--

O jhoomke naachoongi ghoomke naachoongi

Oh, shaking I will dance, spinning I will dance

Dola re dola re dola re dola

I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

Ae dola re dola re dola re dola re dola re dola

Oh I swayed, I swayed, I swayed

Haai dola dil dola mann dola re dola

Oh, my heart swayed, my spirit swayed

--MALE--

Ae dola re

Oh I swayed

Choose the song from here to listen the remix of the song.

In south Asia, and especially in India, this programme of land reforms with land redistribution in favour of the landless, became an attractive strategy for the Communist parties, and a strong component of their official polemical battles were aligned along the degree and nature of this "land reforms". The CPI(M)'s strongest support base after its electoral success (which probably started as a city based electoral revolution with the powerful influential sections of Indian society's opinion mobilizers deciding to switchover from the Congress which had helped decimate this class's younger next generation in the "Naxal" annihilation campaigns) was from the grateful rural poor benefiting from the CPI(M) led Left Front's land reforms and local self government (Panchayat) activation strategies.

This overwhelming reliance on agrarian reforms in the short while ushered in economic growth. But the long term fallouts of their policies, as usual, were not thought out by the communists (probably also inevitable, with the annihilation or export of a generation of brains in the Naxal movement, and as discussed before in this blog, the peculiar organization structure of the Communist parties itself a gradual "thinner" of vision and intellect). Burdened, just like the Old Labour in UK, with an intransigent and semi-independent militant labour union movement which behaved as if it operated already in an imagined dictatorship of the proletariat (in reality all known successful Communist dictatorships ruthlessly liquidated all rebellious labour movements) and therefore need not understand anything about capitalist economics, the CPI(M) long neglected industrialization. The Centre at Delhi carried out its old policy of extracting maximum capital transfer from Bengal to benefit its own upper Indian support base (nothing new, it had been going on from Delhi Sultanate times and quite well recorded in Mughal times), as well as penalizing the Bengalis for supporting a "Communist" regime. To the Communists the "Tatas and Birlas" were replacements of the old devils in religions, since their adherence to prescribed theories from their European, Russian and Chinese "Gurus" had to be forced on to Indian reality. So no private capital, no state capital, no foreign direct investment which meant "licking Imperialist boots".

Sooner or later, this would have inevitably alienated the urban populations, as unemployment would grow. Many of them had some supplementary income from lands held in the countryside, but now even these had been taken over by the "party" in the localities. [ During a visit to observe the "agrarian reforms process" this author had seen how a Local Committee secretary had absorbed 18 bighas of land to create a private orchard, and established an "unprotected" stone chipping machine which sent stone dust all over adjoining paddy fields and gradually destroyed them for agriculture. The lands were then "bought" by the Secretary at a pittance. Similar acquisitions of property were quite common in many areas this author visited. Many of these Communist leaders were second or third generations of erstwhile "class enemies" and many of the genuine Communist cadre had been gradually eased out of the Party hierarchy].

Now as land and economics gets concentrated again in the hands of a dominant rural elite using and being supported by the party, increasing population pressure [West Bengal has a miraculous population growth rate compared to the rest of the country, which cannot be analyzed as it may anger Muslims and especially Bangladeshi Muslims], means increasing migration to the cities and towns in search of livelihood. This huge unemployed urban poor or marginal populations can swing the votes against CPI(M) just as it did in Congress times against the Congress. This finally forced the state party to wake up and try a volte-face - pretend to "industrialize".

Reality implies collaborating with the hated enemies - the private capital from "big bourgeoisie", the state capital from an alliance with the Congress at the Centre, and FDI from "capitalist imperialists". But here it comes into conflict with the rural economy it has created and its abominably short sighted experiments with education and higher education which did not promote or encourage excellence, originality, awareness of technology driven modern industrialization and the economy. Whoever in the rural economy has survived on a share of the land redistribution, would now hold on to it for dear life. Combining this with a very likely inherently arrogant and dictatorial as well as ruthless "local party hierarchy", things can very easily reach boiling point. This is what has happened in Nandigram. All forces opposed to the CPI(M) have now concentrated their efforts into this "bridgehead", and it will be nearly impossible for the CPI(M) to turn this around - the people involved have tasted "blood" in the recent local government elections by winning against the "party".

Mamata Bannerjee and her friends are probably trying to send a message to the TATAs, that the latter should negotiate directly with them. It is doubtful that the TATAs will listen - even with a small loss, it will be better for them in the long run to move their facilities elsewhere in more "reliable" areas, such as in Uttarakhand. On the other hand simple economic short term calculation may make them appear to give in a bit to Mamata Bannerjee. Some of the CPI(M) leaders have asked the unemployed youth of Bengal to think about what action they need to take about those who are opposing industrialization. But these unemployed youth have no clear direct manifestation before them as to how exactly they will benefit in terms of employment from these few capital intensive modern industries employing few and the skilled. Moreover, there will be the nagging suspicion that only "catches" and references from influential "Party" leadership can see them through to actual employment in the few positions available. There will not be much direct and obvious "mass action" against the opposition at Nandigram.

It is the credibility of the Party as a whole which is at stake. It is hard to see what the Party can do in the short term to really reinvent itself as trustworthy by the urban majority and sections of rural middle. The Left may not immediately lose majority in the Assembly but its lead can get substantially diminished. And over the nexet decade, it may lose its grip .

The best season to visit Kalimpong is considered to be the period between the months of March and mid-June and then between the months of Sept. and December.

Kalimpong can be reached through air, rail or road: Bagdogra is the nearest airport to Kalimpong, Siliguri Junction and New Jalpaiguri railway station are the nearest railway stations and buses, jeeps and private taxis connect Kalimpong to Siliguri, Darjeeling and Gangtok by road.

English, Gorkha, Bengali and Hindi.

[caption id="attachment_41" align="alignleft" width="201" caption="The Namesake - A poster"][/caption]

Meticulously etched into the fabric of relationships, Mira Nair’s The Namesake (based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s book) portrays no complex a thread, one may fail to relate to.

Established in “Two worlds” are the lives of Ashoke, Ashima, Gogol and Sonia Ganguli characterized by an unspoken and needless-to-mention freedom to choose for themselves whatever they think shall best be in their own respective interests as frames shift back and forth, weaving life in Calcutta and New York City into an emotional, overwhelming story to portray one, how subtle and evanescent, at times, relationships can be. Second, it takes a heart to save one, that which is seen withering.

Earliest of the scenes are about the making of the man himself – Ashoke Ganguli. His marriage to Ashima and their consequent migration to a new world. There is but an indispensable peculiarity in the newly-wed-migrated couple’s adjustment to a new air set at the very outset juxtaposed with the emotional adjustment children are expected and not asked of at face, during the later parts of the movie. One finds evidently that the parents, no matter how fast the pace of life at the United States of America, have fulfilled their loyalty to their Indian traditions and culture and done far more than what responsibility as parents calls for, for the children born and brought up far from their homeland. Conspicuously contrary to how parents have dreamt and done justice to their lives and lives of their children, the former fail to identify with the traditional Indian-bengali values their parents desire them to imbibe. Gogol’s name is embarrassing as a name to him. A name that has meant the world for a father like Ashoke reminds him of the night he made the journey with the professor who iterated what it was to see the world; and of  The Collected Tales by Nicholai Gogol and “everything that followed” is almost an embarkment on a journey of a lifetime exhibited by the unsettling levels of difference in the faculties of a retiring-in-age father and growing son until it is time to sell off the house in New York City and Gogol rummages through the memory of his lost father and what spelt meaning in his life, to only find the book by Nicholai the Russian writer in that house, gifted to him by his father on his graduation.

It is when he sees his marriage failing that Gogol realizes the pertinence of what his father had always wanted to tell him and negligibly instructed of. The loss of a relationship is felt yet again when for the second time an emotional bond has remained un-done in his life due to his wife’s (Maushmi) affair with Pierre, a friend of hers.

True to say, he certainly has lost his love and everything it may have meant for him, but these numerable experiences in such a span of his young years have undoubtedly taught him why “everyday” had, for his father ever since his birth and name “been a gift”.

Clad in a typical Bengali ambience the frames further and one may look at the Ganguli couple and say Irrfan Khan and Tabu have indeed portrayed beautifully the essence of an Indian-bengali family.

Irrfan’s character in the movie like any Indian husband, is ever careful of the little uniterated details in the eyes of the family members to provide with whatever shape he can to the littlest of their visions. Ashoke, a self made man is, of what he has seen in his years, learnt and done. He knows well of the personal space his children require and bequests them with the same in abundance. His concern, with passing time, inclines more toward his wife for he has a premonition that she needs to learn adaptability to living alone, if at all she is. Hence a pretext to move alone to Cleveland for his work and lectureship.

Tabu fits just as beautifully into the stereotypical mould of an Indian wife-mother.

Sacrificing along her loyal, dutiful husband, fulfilling in all her ways every relationship, justifying a balance between the simultaneously-featuring roles of a mother first and a wife, she feels a constant, reverberating and resurgent need to find the complex answers to the innate simple questions she has regarding her family and her childrens’ ways (primarily Gogol’s). There is ample struggle in her to settle her stirred mind with the never-satisfying answers she manages to procure for herself and her responsibility as the head of the family while Ashoke is away. Tabu as Ashima is a character lost in umpteen worries and selfless love. That she wants to take a wing in the sky after watching her children settled in life, is but emphatically suggestive from “I want to be free now.”

Mira Nair’s vision really has emerged an aesthetic and touching work with actors-so-suited to the role that one has a hair-raising reason to watch the film. And if at all this is one reason, it has in it a powerful construct of imaginable realities that can redefine relationships so much so “you will never regret it.”

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Rai-Dhap, Mirik

Rai-Dhap, Mirik, another place of interest in Mirik, is an ideal choice to enjoy picnic.

Deosi Dara, Mirik

Deosi Dara, Mirik, another observatory point, is offering wonderful view.

Kawlay Dara, Mirik

Kawlay Dara, Mirik, offers a beautiful view of the plains and the mountains. It also offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy magnificent view of sunrise and sunset.

Tea Estates, Mirik

Tea Estates, Mirik, are among the favourite tourist attractions in Mirik. This area has a total of eight tea gardens.

Devi-Stan, Mirik

Devi-Stan, Mirik, located on the western bank of the lake, is the famous temple of Singha Devi. This temple is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mirik.

Orange orchards, Mirik

Orange orchards, Mirik, are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mirik.

One of the many aspects of the land reform programme was security for tenants. Those land owners who would not cultivate the land themselves, would lease out the same to the tenants. This is called tenancy cultivation – or “barga” cultivation in Bengal. Those who would lease in the land on barga cultivation would be called “bargadars”.

There used to be several kinds of contracts between the land owner and the bargadar. What was absent was the certainty that the bargadar would get the land each year on barga. We have already noted the issue of certainty of tenancy. Had she wished so, the land owner would change the bargadar every other year. Land and harvest suffered as a result. Since the bargadar did not know if she would be able to lease in the land the following year, she did not take initiatives to improve fertility of land.

Non-improvement of land fertility in turn implies poor harvest. Keeping this in mind, land reform programme stipulated that those who have been leasing in should be given tenancy in future as well, they cannot be thrown out. Name of the bargadars would be registered with the government. The government termed the programme as “Operation Barga”. The bargadars obtained the certainty of tenancy and they therefore concentrated on the improvement of farming. Neither was there much scope for fights with the landlord over the share of harvest – these issues started to get settled by the government rules. It was subsequently often claimed that tenancy security was behind the agrarian development in West Bengal. However it was also claimed that the ownership of land would be eventually transferred to the bargadar which never came to pass. The government simply did not execute it.

One month ago there was a news item published in news papers on this. It goes like this,

One, the Government of West Bengal wishes to abolish bargadari system and hand over the land to the bargadars. To accomplish this, amendments to the present land reform act would be passed.

Two, land owners have complained that bargadars were not paying their due share. The land owners are unable to sell off the land as well. The current laws mandate that they can sell the land only to the bargadars, whereas most of the bargadars are unable [financially] to purchase the land.

Three, The Government of West Bengal would create an organization called Bhumi Company Limited. This company would raise money from the market and would purchase land from the land owners. The Company would then ask the bargadars to buy the land from it. The bargadars would be given loans to buy land and they would have to pay interest on the loan. If the bargadar is unable to buy, she would be given ownership of one-fourth amount of the land, the rest three-fourth would go the government. It does not mean that the government would once again lease out this three-fourth land to a bargadar. It is not specified what the government would do with the land.

This is tenant eviction in a round about way. No thought has gone into if the bargadar would be able to sustain with the one-fourth of land. It has been reported that the land revenue minister, the chief minister and the finance minister held discussions over this issue. Let us try to figure out the further significance of the news reports.

Amended Land Reform Act, 1981 specifies the provisions if the bargadar does not pay her due to the land owner. The proposals mentioned above have avoided them completely. The present act says, if the owner wants to sell off the land in some dire circumstances (the act contains a list of them) she can do so only to the bargadar. There are plenty of provisions in the act enabling the tenant to purchase the land. State Land Organisation would be formed which would provide assistance. Cooperatives would be formed which would come to the rescue by advancing loans. The proposal we have here however talks of formation of a land company limited (which may not be a fully governmental organisation) which would raise funds from the share market. Not only land, finance of land is also being turned into something whose fate would be sealed by the market.

The present act says, if the bargadar is unable to buy, any farmer who can buy it under the provision of “patta” would be given the land. The land must be kept under the plough and the same bargadar should be retained. Under the land reform act the bargadar cannot be evicted or removed. Ownership might change, not the tenant. Right of the bargadar is hereditary, and non-transferable. Under the proposed new system the land would be purchased by the Land Company Limited from the owner – this violates the existing rules. After making the purchase the Company would ask the bargadar to purchase the land; the bargadar [possibly] would not be able to buy. If she takes a loan she would be unable to pay the interest. The Company thereafter would not ask some other farmer to purchase the land – a provision which is the there under the current act. The bargadar would own one-fourth and the Company would be the owner of the three-fourth of the land. This would subsequently be sold to some industrialist or a real estate company. The land under cultivation is thus getting reduced, chunks of it are becoming available for non-agricultural purposes without much hassle. It is perhaps the motive to act as land broker which is behind the government’s new proposal.

The land which would thus be acquired might probably be located not in some remote village. They would possibly be in urban outskirts, beside the highways – the most sought-after location for industrialists and real estate companies. Moreover, what has been proposed applies to the registered bargadars. About the unregistered, there is not a single word. The onus of remaining unregistered does not however rest with the bargadars. The government showed little initiatives on this count.

Need for agricultural development was behind the Floud Commission recommendation in British India to turn bargadars into “raiyats”. A further motivation for this was to bring about political stability in rural areas. Land reforms acts of independent India were a reflection of this. Bargadars have the responsibility to improve land fertility, which is crucial for food security. There existed political necessity of land reform as well, which remains to this day.

But we are veering away from this idea in the capitalist economy of the present day. Land is no longer a critical input for food and cultivation, it simply is a tradable commodity. Those who have the money and the willingness would be handed over land. It is absurd to ask if that land is to be used for farming, or for industries, or for building houses. The agency which should have asked, namely the government, is keeping quiet. Possibly we, who want food, and peasants, bargadars, who produce it, would have to ask these questions. For the world is in a deep food crisis at present and would remain so in the foreseeable future.

This article originally appeared in Sanbad Pratibad.