Reading editorial piece in last week’s AV, I fondly remember Bengal as it was, heart and soul of Bharat. Before partition, Bengal was jewel in India’s crown. It was a cultured State and gave the country patriotic freedom fighters like Subhas Chandra Bose, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Chitranjan Das and the youngest freedom fighter Khudiram Bose who was martyred at the tender age of 18.
At one time, Bengali people were best educated, morally incorruptible, dominating most sectors, with prestigious writers, scientists, musicians with famous names like Rabindranath Tagore who wrote India’s national anthem, won Noble prize for literature. India’s national anthem was recently declared as the best by UN. Bengalis used dominate film industry with actors, singers, directors and musicians like Hemant Kumar, Mohamed Rafi, Alka Yagnik, Guru Dutt, Sharmila Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Suchetra Sen and highly talented trio, brothers Ashok, Kishore and Anoop Kumar. The list is endless.
Bengal’s descent into anarchy, construed indifference, political corrosion after independence is puzzling. It started when Maoist Communist Party came to power who were more loyal to China than India. It has continued unabated under present leader Mamta Banerjee who wants to remain in power at any cost, using corruption, vote bank politics and mass immigration from Bangladesh as her tool. Surely Bengalis deserve better leaders. Let us hope they will wake up before it is too late.
Bhupendra M. Gandhi
By email
