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Mainstream, VOL XLIX, No 24, June 4, 2011

An Open Letter to Ms Mamata Banerjee

Thursday 9 June 2011

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by SAMUDRA GUPTA

Dear Ms Mamata Banerjee,

At the outset, congratulations. Your relentless struggle and determination with about half-a-dozen of committed followers have derailed the juggernaut of the Left. But, you may not have time for unsolicited advice from a non-entity like yours truly. Nevertheless here are a few:

1. You are at the moment surrounded by rank opportunists, many of them will leave you the day they find a bandwagon more spacious and prospective. Ex-Congressmen (you being one yourself) are prone to continuously looking for greener pastures.

2. Ask the present Railways Minister to re-design the proposed railway line from Dumdum to Barasat. If made to run along the Jessore Road (beyond gate number-1), it will sound the death-knell for the Kolkata airport.

3. There are two unauthorised constructions at the airport. One is a temple that was at the beginning a stone only. But, over the years it has grown both horizontally and vertically. The other one is a mosque which is a hindrance for further extension of the other runway and hazardous for landings and departures. I read that Shri Narendra Modi of Gujarat was unconcerned about the sanctity of a structure (including temples and mosques) and ordered demolition if it came in the way of development. Help the concerned authority to remove both. Religion treated with kid-gloves can turn into sheer hooliganism: the Babri mosque demolition is still fresh in many minds.

4. In spite of your repeated appeal for peace and order, sporadic incidents of violence on supporters of the losing side are taking place. I come across them inside the newspapers that I read. Once those begin to appear in the front page, at any rate I would think that the change of guard is just the other side of a counterfeit coin.

5. Retain the geographical integrity of West Bengal. China simply refuses to accept that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India. There is no reason not to believe that the forces working overtime to balkanise India are not supporting the agitation for Gorkhaland.

6. Ms Taslima Nasreen is a victim of religious persecution. Of the noted writers of India, I only remember to have read late liberal humanist and author Sibnarayan Ray to have written in her support. These are the times that test a man’s soul (to quote Thomas Paine). Can you fulfil her dream of a home in Kolkata? Muslims will get greatly agitated at the very mention of her name. But she is, in the eyes of the law, no enemy of India. Technicalities of granting of citizenship can be easily taken care of, what is called for is the Voltairesque spirit of appreciating the voice of dissent. And the legendary liberal lived so many years ago.

Samudra Gupta

C-204 Mall Enclave, 13 K.B. Sarani, Dumdum, Kolkata-700080

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