There is blood on the streets today.21st November,2007.I would have quite easily discarded this date-brushed it off as an inconsequential day.Fate,however,was to have other plans in store for me.
When the violence took place,I was comfortably sleeping in bed...undisturbed by the goings-on outside.I live in an area which is not very far from Park Circus,which has been the chosen target for these idiots.
By saying "these idiots"(which they are,without a shadow of doubt),I run the risk of sounding rather glib,so let me first give you a gist of what happened today,or at least my understanding of it.A minority group decided to attack Taslima Nasreen,A Bangladeshi Writer who has been banned from entering her own country and has been living for several months in kolkata on an Indian Visa.Her famous Works include 'Amar Meyebela'or 'My Girlhood'and 'Dwikhondito'which literally translates as split into two parts.Bangladesh is a theocratic country and follows Islam as their state religion.Being in Bangladesh means that you cannot say negative things about the Islamic Religion.
In India,however,that is not the case...we are a "Sovereign,Socialist,Secular,Democratic Republic"(at least on paper).This means that we are allowed to speak our minds on any religion and we are allowed to have are differences and at the same time live in peace and harmony.As Indians,or even as Citizens of the World,we have the right to Co-exist.
Taslima Nasreen,however,faced the ire of Bangladeshis in general, with her critique of the Islamic Religion.While I am by no means criticising Bangladesh for their decision to expel Taslima Nasreen(it is not in my place to do so),when I heard that Taslima had been granted an Indian Visa,I respected the governments decision not because I personally propagate Taslima's view of Islam(because I don't. I personally feel it is rather attention seeking and brutal to the point of being offensive)But what I admired was the fact that our government defended the right of an individual to speak her mind.
And then....today...something astounding happened.A riot broke out in kolkata.(I personally believe that the riot was communal or at least had the propensity to become a communal riot.)
But today,at around nine,people burnt paper effigies on the streets and displayed placards saying "go back taslima"and the violence took on a communal colour and reached monumental proportions.
This is what the BBC had to say:
Police using tear gas and baton charges were unable to control crowds calling for Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen to leave India
Rioters blocked roads and set cars alight. At least 27 people were hurt. More than 100 arrests have been made.
Crowds were also protesting at recent attacks on Muslims in the Nandigram area in the east of West Bengal state.
A number of people have been killed and thousands left homeless in Nandigram after violence over now-abandoned state plans to industrialise farm land in the area.
Wednesday's trouble in the state capital began after the predominantly Muslim All-India Minority Forum called for blockades on major roads in the city.
The group said Ms Nasreen had "seriously hurt Muslim sentiments". Many Muslims say her writing ridicules Islam.
Police arrived in strength to disperse the demonstrators.
Violence then broke out in Ripon Street in the north of the city and spread to Park Circus, Moulali and many other areas of central Calcutta.
The BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta says he saw two army columns, one in Park Circus and one in Moulali.
For most of the day, parts of the city centre were a no-go area, with main roads closed to traffic and commuters stranded.
Children spent hours in buses before they could be returned to the safety of their schools.
My sister and my brother were both at school and I feared for their safety.My mother told me that schools like Pratt Memorial,St James's School,Don Bosco Park Circus and even Modern High School For Girls(my school)were in the danger area.
Modern High School For Girls is now hosting their annual Fest Maitree and St James is one school that is taking part. My sister tells me that most participants couldn't turn up.The five boys that were already in modern high school sportingly took part in all the events.
It's very strange how normal life gets disrupted following gruesome political factionalism.After the Nandigram Attacks,people felt that the way in which the ruling party in West Bengal(CPIM) did not hesitate to use the state machinery to meet its own narrow political needs was condemnable.Many petitions were signed and on the 14nth of November,A silent rally comprising almost 60,000 people began marching from College Square Onwards.
Some people think that the police are to blame and that they have "failed the people continually".Others think that thegovernment is to blame and should be dispatched of.Yet others feel,that an intellectual(from the film fraternity,perhaps?)should be made Chief Minister.
In Kolkata,Anarchy Rages....and the colour of violence and hatred spews out distasteful venom...
I don't know whether another test match will ever be played in Kolkata...or whether another film festival will take place(they boycotted that as well this year)
This is not the city I know,or recognise.
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Some people in the world just don't make sense.They are dogmatic in their approach,and yet they expect other people to be kind to them.They hate being called stupid,but they feel pity "for the elders of the persons family"and claim that they are not being abusive.They harp on "Freedom of Expression"and it when it comes to another's Freedom of Expression,they expect it to be laid down by them and built on their own value systems and beliefs,which they declare as the "truth".The .And yet,even if they don't make sense,I guess I'll have to live with it.
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