#bengal politics

[worldinyourpalm]

पश्चिम बंगाल के राज्यपाल को दिल्ली तलब तृणमूल सरकार के साथ ताजा मेलजोल से भाजपा नाराज | The governor of West Bengal was called to Delhi, BJP displeased with most recent amity with Trinamool government;

भाजपा और टीएमसी के बीच एक राजनीतिक लड़ाई

बंगाली सीखने के लिए पश्चिम बंगाल के राज्यपाल के उत्साह ने भाजपा और टीएमसी के बीच एक राजनीतिक लड़ाई शुरू कर दी क्योंकि सत्तारूढ़ तृणमूल सरकार ने राजभवन के साथ अपने संबंध में संशोधन किया।

कोलकाता: मुख्यमंत्री ममता बनर्जी की मौजूदगी में मंच पर 'जॉय बांग्ला' (बंगाल की जीत) कहने के कुछ घंटे बाद पश्चिम बंगाल के राज्यपाल सी. वी. आनंद बोस गुरुवार देर रात नई दिल्ली पहुंचे. उनके राष्ट्रीय राजधानी में उपराष्ट्रपति और बंगाल के पूर्व राज्यपाल जगदीप धनखड़ और केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री अमित शाह से मिलने की संभावना है।

जहां तृणमूल कांग्रेस का दावा है कि यह एक निर्धारित बैठक है, वहीं भारतीय जनता पार्टी का कहना है कि पश्चिम बंगाल में सत्तारूढ़ तृणमूल सरकार के साथ ताजा मेलमिलाप के बीच समन आया है।

तृणमूल कांग्रेस और राजभवन (कोलकाता) में तलवारें चलीं

'राज्यपाल की संवैधानिक भूमिका होती है, टीएमसी के साथ उनकी निकटता राजभवन और टीएमसी कार्यालय के बीच की रेखाओं को लगभग धुंधला कर रही है। पूर्व राज्यसभा सदस्य स्वपन दासगुप्ता ने दिप्रिंट को बताया कि हमने अतीत में इसी तरह के आरोपों का सामना किया है और अब हम देख सकते हैं कि कैसे स्थितियां बदली हैं.

हाल ही में ममता बनर्जी की तृणमूल कांग्रेस और राजभवन (कोलकाता) में तलवारें चलीं। लेकिन आज, सी वी आनंद बोस के आगमन के साथ वह समीकरण पूरी तरह से बदल गया है। अपने पूर्ववर्ती जगदीप धनखड़ के विपरीत, बोस के ममता बनर्जी के साथ सौहार्दपूर्ण संबंध हैं, जिसने भाजपा को नाराज कर दिया है, जिस पर टीएमसी ने धनखड़ के शासन के दौरान राजभवन को पार्टी कार्यालय में बदलने का आरोप लगाया था।

शपथ ग्रहण समारोह के बाद धनखड़ के साथ मिलकर काम करने वाले वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों का राजभवन से तबादला कर दिया गया. इसमें सेना ��र भारतीय पुलिस सेवा दोनों के सहयोगी-डे-कैंप (एडीसी) शामिल थे। धाखर के साथ काम करने वाले अतिरिक्त मुख्य सचिव को उपराष्ट्रपति के कार्यालय में स्थानांतरित कर दिया गया, और कोलकाता में एक नए प्रमुख सचिव को तैनात किया गया। नए अधिकारियों के साथ, राजभवन (कोलकाता) ने एक नया अध्याय शुरू किया है, लेकिन बिना फेसऑफ़ के नहीं; केवल इस बार, यह भाजपा है जो साथ नहीं मिल पाई है.....

[scltbvrns]

homogenising something that has always been inherently diverse will kill us all one day.

[whippersnappersbookworm]

I know I usually discuss the Modi government, but now I think I should also start talking about Bengal. TMC winning here is not a great thing, as lot of people like to think; TMC is as bad as the BJP. TMC is literally ruining Bengal. It's not a win. The BJP and TMC can't be the only two options for Bengal. I am really scared and disappointed. TMC is very far from secular; their politics are different from those of the BJP, but not at all better. It's the same thing in a different font.

[deadoveater]

Who spread suicide claim? Kolkata doctor’s colleagues say story originated in ex-principal’s office

The article:

KOLKATA: Colleagues of the 31-year-old postgraduate resident doctor whose body was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Aug 9 alleged that the hospital authorities’ initial claim that she died by suicide originated in then principal Sandip Ghosh’s office.

They questioned why the hospital authorities misled them when the death was a clear case of rape and murder. Supreme Court also raised concerns Tuesday about the hospital’s suicide narrative.

Hospital insiders disclosed that the decision to initially classify the death as a suicide was made in the office of Ghosh, who was later removed from his position following widespread protests and accusations of a cover-up.

According to the victim’s parents, they received two calls on the morning of Aug 9.

The first call at 10.53am from the hospital’s assistant superintendent Dwaipayan Biswas informed them that their daughter had fallen ill. Shortly afterward, a second call informed them that she had died by suicide. This news came as a shock to the family and colleagues, as signs of abuse and murder were reportedly evident on the doctor’s body.

The colleagues expressed outrage over the handling of the case, particularly the misleading information given to her parents. “Tell-all signs of sexual abuse and murder were all over her body. Why were the parents misled?” asked one of her fellow postgraduate trainees. Assistant superintendent Biswas had not acted on his own, another colleague said, alleging that “there was a plan to pass this off as a suicide”.

Colleagues also questioned the two-hour delay between the discovery of the body around 9am and when the parents were informed.

Ghosh had reportedly convened a meeting in the same seminar hall where the body was found, with at least two outsiders and several senior hospital officials. This meeting took place before the inspector in-charge of RG Kar hospital outpost was informed around 10.10am.

While Calcutta HC directed Ghosh to go on long leave, other hospital officials, including then medical superintendent Sanjay Bashist and the respiratory medicine department head Arunabha Dutta Chowdhury, have been transferred. “We are for a neutral probe and we also want the truth to emerge,” Bashist had said before he was transferred to CNMC.

(Poster's note: This article was posted on Aug 21, 2024. There have been significant developments in this case since then which I will try to post about as soon as possible. But I thought this was an important piece of information about what has been going on and all signs point to a significant coverup that indian public has been speculating since some of the other testimonies from the victim's colleagues.)

[rodmantrinitysoccer]

STOP HYPOCRISY

I'm not a fan of Nick Bosa, but all this repudiation from some people on this site about his political choice is nothing more than complete hypocrisy! What world were you living in? It's been known since his draft pick (back in 2019) that he was a MAGA, he had several prejudiced and pro-Trump tweets that he had to delete so as not to tarnish his image, and now you come with this talk that you were surprised by his opinion, when at the beginning of this year he was all smiles with Trump in the UFC? Go find something useful in life to do instead of giving your opinion on other people's lives and making up fake news and putting on a show of hypocrisy. P.S: I'm sure there must be other players who are pro-Trump (including your favorites), but the difference is that Bosa had the courage to speak out, so why don't you attack these other players too?

[dougielombax]

Today is the Memorial Day for the victims of the Bangladesh genocide.

Where 3 million innocent Bengali people (both Muslims and Hindus (as well as Buddhists and Christians) alike!) were killed by Pakistani troops and mobs during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.

A genocide which Pakistan still DENIES to this day. Openly!

A genocide which was spearheaded by the killing of intellectuals and university students as well.

Just as the ottoman Turks did to the Armenians and Assyrians in 1915.

Feel free to reblog this.

I’m including the links here for more information.

[dumbandpoetics]

[iqmmir]

Helllo mimifans

[fatehbaz]

On May 28, 1914, the Institut für Schiffs-und Tropenkrankheiten (Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases, ISTK) in Hamburg began operations in a complex of new brick buildings on the bank of the Elb. The buildings were designed by Fritz Schumacher, who had become the Head of Hamburg’s building department (Leiter des Hochbauamtes) in 1909 after a “flood of architectural projects” accumulated following the industrialization of the harbor in the 1880s and the “new housing and working conditions” that followed. The ISTK was one of these projects, connected to the port by its [...] mission: to research and heal tropical illnesses; [...] to support the Hamburg Port [...]; and to support endeavors of the German Empire overseas.

First established in 1900 by Bernhard Nocht, chief of the Port Medical Service, the ISTK originally operated out of an existing building, but by 1909, when the Hamburg Colonial Institute became its parent organization (and Schumacher was hired by the Hamburg Senate), the operations of the ISTK had outgrown [...]. [I]ts commission by the city was an opportunity for Schumacher to show how he could contribute to guiding the city’s economic and architectural growth in tandem, and for Nocht, an opportunity to establish an unprecedented spatial paradigm for the field of Tropical Medicine that anchored the new frontier of science in the German Empire. [...]

[There was a] shared drive to contribute to the [...] wealth of Hamburg within the context of its expanding global network [...]. [E]ach discipline [...] architecture and medicine were participating in a shared [...] discursive operation. [...]

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The brick used on the ISTK façades was key to Schumacher’s larger Städtebau plan for Hamburg, which envisioned the city as a vehicle for a “harmonious” synthesis between aesthetics and economy. [...] For Schumacher, brick [was significantly preferable] [...]. Used by [...] Hamburg architects [over the past few decades], who acquired their penchant for neo-gothic brickwork at the Hanover school, brick had both a historical presence and aesthetic pedigree in Hamburg [...]. [T]his material had already been used in Die Speicherstadt, a warehouse district in Hamburg where unequal social conditions had only grown more exacerbated [...]. Die Speicherstadt was constructed in three phases [beginning] in 1883 [...]. By serving the port, the warehouses facilitated the expansion and security of Hamburg’s wealth. [...] Yet the collective profits accrued to the city by these buildings [...] did not increase economic prosperity and social equity for all. [...] [A] residential area for harbor workers was demolished to make way for the warehouses. After the contract for the port expansion was negotiated in 1881, over 20,000 people were pushed out of their homes and into adjacent areas of the city, which soon became overcrowded [...]. In turn, these [...] areas of the city [...] were the worst hit by the Hamburg cholera epidemic of 1892, the most devastating in Europe that year. The 1892 cholera epidemic [...] articulated the growing inability of the Hamburg Senate, comprising the city’s elite, to manage class relationships [...] [in such] a city that was explicitly run by and for the merchant class [...].

In Hamburg, the response to such an ugly disease of the masses was the enforcement of quarantine methods that pushed the working class into the suburbs, isolated immigrants on an island, and separated the sick according to racial identity.

In partnership with the German Empire, Hamburg established new hygiene institutions in the city, including the Port Medical Service (a progenitor of the ISTK). [...] [T]he discourse of [creating the school for tropical medicine] centered around city building and nation building, brick by brick, mark by mark.

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Just as the exterior condition of the building was, for Schumacher, part of a much larger plan for the city, the program of the building and its interior were part of the German Empire and Tropical Medicine’s much larger interest in controlling the health and wealth of its nation and colonies. [...]

Yet the establishment of the ISTK marked a critical shift in medical thinking [...]. And while the ISTK was not the only institution in Europe to form around the conception and perceived threat of tropical diseases, it was the first to build a facility specifically to support their “exploration and combat” in lockstep, as Nocht described it.

The field of Tropical Medicine had been established in Germany by the very same journal Nocht published his overview of the ISTK. The Archiv für Schiffs- und Tropen-Hygiene unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Pathologie und Therapie was first published in 1897, the same year that the German Empire claimed Kiaochow (northeast China) and about two years after it claimed Southwest Africa (Namibia), Cameroon, Togo, East Africa (Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda), New Guinea (today the northern part of Papua New Guinea), and the Marshall Islands; two years later, it would also claim the Caroline Islands, Palau, Mariana Islands (today Micronesia), and Samoa (today Western Samoa).

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The inaugural journal [...] marked a paradigm shift [...]. In his opening letter, the editor stated that the aim of Tropical Medicine is to “provide the white race with a home in the tropics.” [...]

As part of the institute’s agenda to support the expansion of the Empire through teaching and development [...], members of the ISTK contributed to the Deutsches Kolonial Lexikon, a three-volume series completed in 1914 (in the same year as the new ISTK buildings) and published in 1920. The three volumes contained maps of the colonies coded to show the areas that were considered “healthy” for Europeans, along with recommended building guidelines for hospitals in the tropics. [...] "Natives" were given separate facilities [...]. The hospital at the ISTK was similarly divided according to identity. An essentializing belief in “intrinsic factors” determined by skin color, constitutive to Tropical Medicine, materialized in the building’s circulation. Potential patients were assessed in the main building to determine their next destination in the hospital. A room labeled “Farbige” (colored) - visible in both Nocht and Schumacher’s publications - shows that the hospital segregated people of color from whites. [...]

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Despite belonging to two different disciplines [medicine and architecture], both Nocht and Schumacher’s publications articulate an understanding of health [...] that is linked to concepts of identity separating white upper-class German Europeans from others. [In] Hamburg [...] recent growth of the shipping industry and overt engagement of the German Empire in colonialism brought even more distant global connections to its port. For Schumacher, Hamburg’s presence in a global network meant it needed to strengthen its local identity and economy [by purposefully seeking to showcase "traditional" northern German neo-gothic brickwork while elevating local brick industry] lest it grow too far from its roots. In the case of Tropical Medicine at the ISTK, the “tropics” seemed to act as a foil for the European identity - a constructed category through which the European identity could redescribe itself by exclusion [...].

What it meant to be sick or healthy was taken up by both medicine and architecture - [...] neither in a vacuum.

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All text above by: Carrie Bly. "Mediums of Medicine: The Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases in Hamburg". Sick Architecture series published by e-flux Architecture. November 2020. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Text within brackets added by me for clarity. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[tchaikovskymacy]

[Kalimpong, North Bengal, India]

My little trip to this hill station was a time that was to be worth talking about later when I think back about it. The chilly weather and the scenic beauty were all I could take in then. Unlike the plains (where I live), the atmosphere is calm, less chaotic and quiet, almost as if it's a separate part away from the country. Although a place that most of us want to spend our lives at, it is romanticized a lot.

But people overlook the difficulties of living in a place like that, apart from being excessively hardworking to live in a place like this. A good support from the government is also needed. While going back to the railway station, the person who dropped us off expressed his grief and frustration on the government, when my parents asked about the poor conditions of the road on the mountains. The roads are not constructed properly, a huge river flows near the national highway and the houses near that river (Teesta river) are almost hanging on the edge by the riverside, one heavy rainfall and it's all gone. They are always uncertain about what will happen next if there is a flood yet one can always see them smiling. The government doesn't seem to bat an eye on this.

Despite this place and my home (which is in the plains) being in the same state. Kolkata (where I live) the main attraction for tourists and home to many ministers, is being decorated with atrocious colourful lights spending heaps of money on it, which is not needed. Streetlights are enough. And building ridiculous monuments in the city that don't hold any connectivity with our culture, is a waste of money. Instead of spending so much amount on these things, they can easily invest in places like Kalimpong, Darjeeling, and the NH to make it easier for people living there. It helps secure their livelihood and save them from danger.

The government shouldn't turn a blind eye to this. Despite this rant or any other protests raised by the people who need help, they chose to prioritize their reputation and comfort over their people's welfare, is this the democracy we all vote for?

The first pic is an incident of a landslide, but there are places like this in Kalimpong where the roads are from the side and just a wooden plank is laid over it, instead of actually mending the road.

the second pic is of the Teesta River, it is a river with a heavy current.

[deadoveater]

Death penalty, time-bound trial, publication curbs: All about West Bengal’s anti-rape ‘Aparajita’ Bill

The Bill was passed unanimously in the West Bengal Assembly, a rare moment of cross-party support in a politically-charged state.

Article updated: September 3, 2024

The article:

In a move aimed at enhancing the safety of women and children, the Mamata Banerjee-led government has passed the ‘Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024.’ This legislation was a direct response to the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, which has sparked nationwide protests and demands for stricter laws against sexual violence.

The Bill was passed unanimously in the West Bengal Assembly, a rare moment of cross-party support in a politically-charged state. However, the passage was not without contention. During the debate, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari proposed several amendments aimed at enhancing accountability among law enforcement officials. While some were accepted, others were rejected, leading to heated exchanges between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition. The Bill comes into effect on September 5, 2024.

Key Provisions

Death Penalty for Rape: The Bill proposes capital punishment for those convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim’s death or leave her in a vegetative state.

Time-Bound Investigations and Trials: One of the most notable changes is the stipulation that investigations into rape cases must be concluded within 21 days of the initial report. This is a substantial reduction from the previous two-month deadline. Extensions are allowed, but only with written justification by a senior police officer.

Fast-Track Courts: To ensure swift justice, the draft legislation mandates the establishment of special courts dedicated to handling cases of sexual violence.

Aparajita Task Force: The Bill calls for the creation of a specialised task force at the district level, headed by a deputy superintendent of police. This task force will focus on investigating cases of rape and other atrocities against women and children.

Stricter Penalties for Repeat Offenders: The legislation proposes life imprisonment for repeat offenders, with the possibility of the death penalty if the circumstances warrant it.

Protection of Victims’ Identities: The Bill includes provisions to protect the identities of victims, ensuring their privacy and dignity during the legal process.

Penalties for Delaying Justice: It introduces penalties for police and health officials who fail to act promptly or tamper with evidence. This aims to hold authorities accountable for any negligence in the judicial process.

Publication Restrictions: The Bill imposes strict penalties for unauthorised publication of court proceedings related to sexual offenses, with potential imprisonment of 3 to 5 years.

[kailash-se-birha]

Why doesn't BJP do more or anything to protect its cadre in West Bengal? Mamta Banerjee is what a dictator would actually look like. Her and her TMC goons go around fear mongering ordinary voters and killing opposition (BJP and CPIM) karyakartas. The Bengal police are basically Mamta Banerjee's lapdog at this point, no fucking accountability. All of this after 400 companies of CAPF have been deployed.

I wouldn't be opposed to this being implemented in Bengal (by the Bengal High Court).

All of this is happening as the left rejoices about Kangana Ranaut getting slapped. For anybody that wonders 'Democracy will be restored' if Indi Alliance had won, just show them the leftist apathy towards post poll violence in West Bengal because of the INC TMC kinship. They have no morals, standards, or principles. Now UP is no longer a cow belt and Bengal is the bastion of progressivism.

[meetdheeraj]

Marathas Did Not Care About Hindus, Mughals Did Not Care About Muslims - History Is More Nuanced Than These Stupid Binaries

It took the British around 100 years to fully conquer India. And by India, I mean British India consisting of Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and present-day India. And in this, they were helped and aided by all sorts of Indian kingdoms and people. Rajputs and Marathas were major forces that helped the British conquer the most difficult of kingdoms. For instance, Tipu Sultan who…

[buttercuparry]

See I don't know if I should support the ban of The Kerala Story or not. On one hand it acts like a catalyst that further tries to incite hate and divide on communal and religious lines. It absolutely is a propaganda in a atmosphere where islamophobia is rampant and where the nationalist hindutva freaks are constantly looking for anything and everything to justify their hate. But my question is won't this ban be politicized and used as "see! They want to hide something! That's why they are suppressing our voice and banning the film under the guise of secularism!" Etc etc. Besides what about a free media? But then again after what people have done with The Kashmir Files, where the violence that happened was exaggerated and the exaggeration then got used to instill a feeling of being at war with a religious community, it doesn't take much to conclude that the Kerala story too is a work of the same political genre. So I personally don't know what to say. Like in the US you have copaganda. Is it better to ban those shows? Or to let it run but form your own educated decisions.

Can it even be compared because in India it is a propaganda against a community and the resulting boiled over pots would be riots and targeted assaults on the people of the community