http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:41:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477&cpage=1#comment-16925 Dipankar Lahiri Sun, 16 Dec 2007 07:57:40 +0000 http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477#comment-16925 During 1960 I had the chance to work as a geologist under the Exploratory Tubewells Organization of Min. of Food and Agriculture, Government of India, in and around Singur. Long forty seven years ago there was much less of later more advance techniques, knowledge and fertilizers. Even then I remamber how the educated cultivators of the land frequently showed us their prize posession of lands during and in between our exploratory sessions for ground water. The gound water table was within a short reach, and of the best type suitable for all crops. Besides paddy there was regular cultivation of mustard seed, potato, diferent peas, ground nuts, and the local people used those with their primitive food processing methods to prepare good and tasty edibles. Some of those edibles were directly marketed in Calcutta also. In several families one of the members continued upto college level, may be even beyond. The old cultivator who took most of the initiative was a graduate from Presidncy College in 1927. I could never make out why this picture forty seven years ago, was substituted by a moncrop land to allure an industialist. I am curious to know who were the specialists behind selection of such a land. During 1960 I had the chance to work as a geologist under the Exploratory Tubewells Organization of Min. of Food and Agriculture, Government of India, in and around Singur. Long forty seven years ago there was much less of later more advance techniques, knowledge and fertilizers. Even then I remamber how the educated cultivators of the land frequently showed us their prize posession of lands during and in between our exploratory sessions for ground water. The gound water table was within a short reach, and of the best type suitable for all crops. Besides paddy there was regular cultivation of mustard seed, potato, diferent peas, ground nuts, and the local people used those with their primitive food processing methods to prepare good and tasty edibles. Some of those edibles were directly marketed in Calcutta also. In several families one of the members continued upto college level, may be even beyond. The old cultivator who took most of the initiative was a graduate from Presidncy College in 1927. I could never make out
why this picture forty seven years ago, was substituted by a moncrop land to allure an industialist. I am curious to know who were the specialists behind selection of such a land.

]]> http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477&cpage=1#comment-14551 Nandigram at Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:37:07 +0000 http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477#comment-14551 [...] But while many tears may be shed for Ehsaan Jafri (and rightfully too), there is little sympathy for Shankar Samanta. Why? As this report by a group of Left intellectuals (a few from JNU) say, Shankar Samanta had killed innocent villagers and hence “had it coming.”(or more precisely his supposed crimes put the murder in perspective) Of course, some questions may be raised as to why the word of the villagers (people who murdered Shankar Samanta) are considered to be fact while the CPM’s description of Shankar Samanta as “very harmless man” is put in inverted commas. I personally am not saying that Shankar Samanta was innocent or was harmless by any definition (not that it justifies his being brutalized by a mob) but this kind of rather uneven treatment of two versions of the story indicate that these self-professed Left winging intellectuals were pre-disposed to be critical of the CPM. [The Leftist fact-finders do not seem too interested in the fate of Sunita Mondol, a class ten girl, mutiliated and raped and hung on a tree at a time when Bhoomi Ucched people had barricaded the village and driven out all CPM men] While this bias against the Left by Leftist intellectuals may on the face of it seem paradoxical, I shall subsequently try to explain why the CPM under Buddha is the “true Left’s” biggest nightmare. [...] [...] But while many tears may be shed for Ehsaan Jafri (and rightfully too), there is little sympathy for Shankar Samanta. Why? As this report by a group of Left intellectuals (a few from JNU) say, Shankar Samanta had killed innocent villagers and hence “had it coming.”(or more precisely his supposed crimes put the murder in perspective) Of course, some questions may be raised as to why the word of the villagers (people who murdered Shankar Samanta) are considered to be fact while the CPM’s description of Shankar Samanta as “very harmless man” is put in inverted commas. I personally am not saying that Shankar Samanta was innocent or was harmless by any definition (not that it justifies his being brutalized by a mob) but this kind of rather uneven treatment of two versions of the story indicate that these self-professed Left winging intellectuals were pre-disposed to be critical of the CPM. [The Leftist fact-finders do not seem too interested in the fate of Sunita Mondol, a class ten girl, mutiliated and raped and hung on a tree at a time when Bhoomi Ucched people had barricaded the village and driven out all CPM men] While this bias against the Left by Leftist intellectuals may on the face of it seem paradoxical, I shall subsequently try to explain why the CPM under Buddha is the “true Left’s” biggest nightmare. [...]

]]> http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477&cpage=1#comment-1307 The Paranoia of a Totalitarian Mind at Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:11:47 +0000 http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=477#comment-1307 [...] So, one would imagine that others have really not said anything about Sankar Samanta. Here is an extract from an interim report of an investigation by a team consisting of Prof.Sumit Sarkar, historian; Colin Gonsalves, Senior Supreme Court Advocate; Sumit Chakravarty, senior journalist; Krishna Majumdar, Delhi University; Tanika Sarkar, historian, Jawaharlal Nehru University: “A police camp was set up on the border between Nandigram and Khejuri. On 6 January, at around 5 PM, villagers saw the police vacating that camp. That night, a launch drew up on Haldi river at the ferryghat there. According to villagers of Sonachura and adjoining villages, a very large number of strangers, fully armed, disembarked, and occupied the police camp. At around 3 AM, villagers woke to the sound of bombs and gunfire, coming from the house of Sankar Samanta, a CPM activist. As they rushed towards the spot, they found the dead bodies of two village youths, Bharat Mondol and Sheikh Selim. When the body of thirteen year old Biswajit Mondol was found, villagers, in their fury, turned upon the Samanta residence and torched it, killing Sankar Samanta.” (see report). [...] [...] So, one would imagine that others have really not said anything about Sankar Samanta. Here is an extract from an interim report of an investigation by a team consisting of Prof.Sumit Sarkar, historian; Colin Gonsalves, Senior Supreme Court Advocate; Sumit Chakravarty, senior journalist; Krishna Majumdar, Delhi University; Tanika Sarkar, historian, Jawaharlal Nehru University: “A police camp was set up on the border between Nandigram and Khejuri. On 6 January, at around 5 PM, villagers saw the police vacating that camp. That night, a launch drew up on Haldi river at the ferryghat there. According to villagers of Sonachura and adjoining villages, a very large number of strangers, fully armed, disembarked, and occupied the police camp. At around 3 AM, villagers woke to the sound of bombs and gunfire, coming from the house of Sankar Samanta, a CPM activist. As they rushed towards the spot, they found the dead bodies of two village youths, Bharat Mondol and Sheikh Selim. When the body of thirteen year old Biswajit Mondol was found, villagers, in their fury, turned upon the Samanta residence and torched it, killing Sankar Samanta.” (see report). [...]

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