DEAR FRIENDS,
All of you must be fully aware by now as to what is happening in India's West Bengal over the Nandigram issue. After months of struggle by the people of Nandigram to save their land, they are today living a miserable life in relief camps without proper food, water and clothing. Just nobody, seems to care, and more unfortunately people in far away Kolkata, the capital are busy venting to their anger on the streets by disrupting normal life. Today, Kolkata, the City of Joy was witness to hooliganism by some forces who pretend to be defending rights of the a certain class of people. The real story is that nobody is interested in saving or protecting the lives of the minorities, poor and the marginalised and instead are trying to extract political mileage for the sake of wresting power in one form or the other at a certain time, maybe now or even in the distant future. While the real issue of land rights and people's basic human rights have been forgotten, some politically motivated vested interest groups are out to give the whole issue a communal colour, preferably on religious lines, or so it appears. That should not be allowed under any circumstances and rather good sense must prevail and humanity must be protected at all cost. We cannot let some vested interests to hijack the rights of the people and use it to their benefit alone. We must stand up as a society and condemn any action that is detrimental towards the uplift of democracy and human rights and also that tries to bring about violence rather than peace. We must also ask the Government to ensure that rights of every individual, immaterial of which caste or religious groups he belongs to, be protected without any bias. Further the police and the military must also not be allowed to go on an over-drive as it will only act fanning peoples' passion. Let us for the sake of humanity not indulge in selfish tirades against each other, but join hands to make the society a free and fair place for everyone to live and practice their traditions and customs and religion, as would the basic tenet of democracy.
Please join me in sending appeals through this site to the people of Bengal and to the Government to bring back normalcy and also instill confidence in the hearts and mind of the people, especially, the poor and marginalised who are the most vulnerable and oppressed. You can contribute by writing a feedback or a letter and post it on this blog.
You can see the happenings in Kolkata in this News Channel website