Hockey player Keshav Chandra Dutt | Photo Credit: Rajeev Bhatt
He was part India’s historic feat at the 1948 Olympics where they beat home team Britain 4-0 at the Wembley Stadium in London to win the first gold post Independence.
Two-time Olympics gold medallist Keshav Chandra Datt, the last surviving member of the Indian hockey team in the historic 1948 London Games, passed away here early on Wednesday, according to a Hockey Bengal (HB) statement. He was 95.
An HB official said Datt’s last rites would be performed after the arrival of his daughter Anjali from abroad in a few days’ time.
A product of the famous Government College, Lahore — which also produced Olympians like Syed Jaffar, Commander Nandy Singh and Munir Dar — Datt, born in Lahore on December 29, 1925, participated in the 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki Games respectively.
Some claim that he could not take part in his third Olympics, in Melbourne in 1956, due to “professional commitments with Brooke Bond”.
Datt — who migrated to India after the partition and played in Bombay and then in Bengal — was part of the Dhyan Chand-led Indian squad that toured East Africa in 1947. As a half-back, he played in 22 matches and scored two goals.
In 1949, Datt had the honour of playing against hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, who led the Rest of India squad, in two exhibition matches here.
First, Datt was part of the 1948 Olympics squad and in the second he was a member of the Bengal team.
In his autobiography Goal, Dhyan Chand rated Datt as one of the finest half-backs of that time.
Best moments
Defeating host Great Britain 4-0 in the final at the Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, to win Independent India’s first gold in 1948 on the British soil and then thrashing the Netherlands 6-1 four years later in Helsinki to bag the second consecutive Olympic Games title were the finest moments of Datt’s career.
By the age of 26, he had the prized possession of two Olympic gold medals.
He was among the last ones to witness India’s monopoly in the Olympics as it faced some challenge in the 1956 Games where it experienced tight matches — including 1-0 wins over Germany and Pakistan in the semifinals and final respectively.
Datt shone in his club career as well.
“While playing for Calcutta Port Commissioners, he impressed famous actor and Mohun Bagan Hockey secretary of that time, Jahar Ganguly. He joined Mohun Bagan in 1951 to respect the wishes of Ganguly and played till 1960.
“In 1952, Mohun Bagan achieved the first double in hockey when it lifted the Beighton Cup for the first time along with the Calcutta Hockey League (CHL),” the Bagan website said.
Datt won CHL six times and the Beighton Cup three times in his 10-year Bagan career. He was the first non-football sportsperson to be conferred the Mohun Bagan Ratna, in 2019.
Datt represented Punjab (in undivided India), Bombay and Bengal in the National championship.
Badminton player
He was also an accomplished badminton player and was Bengal No.1 of his times.
Datt’s passing away snaps the only living link with Independent India’s first sporting glory.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Hockey / by Y.B. Sarangi / Kolkata – July 07th, 2021
Javadekar made this announcement at a programme organised by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in Kolkata.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday announced a national level film award after legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.
Mr. Javadekar made this announcement at a programme organised by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in Kolkata, according to an actor who was present at the event.
At the programme in which the media was not allowed, the Union minister interacted with leading actors and directors of West Bengal where the Assembly election is due in April-May.
No detail is available on the ‘Satyajit Ray Award’.
Senior actor and BJP leader Roopa Ganguly, who was present at the function, said that it is great that an award is being instituted after Ray.
“It has been under planning stage for quite some time,” she told a news channel.
Director Arindam Sil said that discussions were held with the Union minister on how to develop the Bengali film industry.
Actors Paoli Dam, Abir Chattopadhyay, Ritupana Sengupta, director Gautam Ghosh, classical singer Rashid Khan, singer-turned-Union minister Babul Supriyo and others were present at the programme.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Other States / by PTI / Kolkata – February 23rd, 2021
Yesterday marked 72 years since a man fired by bigotry and hate assassinated the Mahatma. We bring you excerpts from a little known but painstaking work on his trysts with the city.
The Mahatma visits Subhas Chandra Bose’s bedroom at Netaji Bhavan in 1945. File Picture
South Africa calling
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi reached Calcutta by the S.S. Pangola on July 4, 1896, after leaving Durban on May 6. He did not stay in Calcutta… After visiting Rajkot, Bombay and Madras, he returned to Calcutta via Nagpur on October 31. He stayed at the Great Eastern Hotel from October 31 to November 14… Gandhi had no friends in Calcutta. He wanted to meet Sir Surendranath Banerjee to get him interested in South African affairs. He met Banerjee at the Indian Association Hall, and he told Gandhi, “I am afraid people will not take interest in your work. As you know, our difficulties here are by no means few. But you must try…” The editors of Amrita Bazar Patrika and Bangabasi — leading Bengali newspapers — whom Gandhi met did not take interest in the South African problems. But the Calcutta-based English dailies, The Statesman and The Englishman, showed interest and published his interviews.
A Growing Acquaintance (1901-1921)
Gandhi did not want to miss the 17th session of the Indian National Congress held in Calcutta in December 1901. He reached Calcutta on December 24 and stayed at the India Club (6 Bankshall Street) at Dalhousie Square. The session, under the presidency of Dinshaw Edulji Wacha of Bombay, was held at Beadon Square.
Gandhi visited Calcutta in August 1920 to attend the Congress session presided over by Lala Lajpat Rai. His wife Kasturba and son Devadas accompanied him. All of them stayed with Gandhi’s eldest son, Harilal, at 4 Pollock Street.
Gandhiji at a meeting in Calcutta / File Picture
He was in Calcutta four times in 1921… Foreign cloth was burnt at five venues: Harish Park, Mirzapur Park, Halliday Park (or Mohammed Ali Park), Beadon Square and Kidderpore. Gandhi was in Calcutta on September 9 and 10, when he held discussions with the Marwari Association and the Chambers of Commerce about the burning of foreign cloth and picketing of shops selling them.
Subhas Bose
On April 28, 1939, Gandhi had prolonged discussions with Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru. Sarat Chandra Bose called on Gandhi after his prayer time. Gandhi visited Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s house at 19A Ballygunge Circular Road, accompanied by Kasturba and Nehru for discussions with Congress leaders. On April 29, he held discussions with Bose who was the Congress president. On April 30, Bose resigned making room for Dr Rajendra Prasad.
Gandhi visited Subhas Chandra Bose’s house at Elgin Road (on December 17, 1945) and saw the bedroom from where he escaped. Haridas Mitra took Gandhi to different rooms of the house. Sarat Chandra Bose and other members of the family were present.
1947
Gandhi stopped at Calcutta while returning from Noakhali on March 4, 1947, on his way to Patna. He returned to Calcutta on May 9 and went to Sodepur… Central Calcutta Congress leaders led by Kalipada Mukherjee and Debendra Chandra Dey discussed the effects of Partition of Bengal with him. Sitaram Seksaria, member, AICC, called on Gandhi. On May 11, S.H. Suhrawardy, premier of Bengal, accompanied by Mohammed Ali Bogra (minister of undivided Bengal) and Abul Hashim (general secretary, Bengal Provincial Muslim League), called on Gandhi and discussed the idea of United Sovereign Bengal… After listening to Suhrawardy and his companions, Gandhi said a new Bengal could not be born in utter disregard of the past. When the past was so full of wrongs, how could people believe in the sincerity of the new proposal unless past wrongs were set right? Suhrawardy broke into an eloquent defence of his government… Gandhi was of the opinion that this was not different from the argument of British imperialists.
May 14.
A massive report was presented to Gandhi by a number of journalists containing a detailed description of the riots that were continuing in Calcutta and of the failure of the police and the administration in this connection. Gandhi expressed a desire to visit the affected parts of Calcutta. Necessary arrangements were immediately made and he was driven to all the affected quarters along with the acting chief minister, Mohammed Ali, and also important persons such as Debendranath Mukherjee, who was the secretary of the Bengal Provincial Hindu Mahasabha. The journey was over 50 miles and when Gandhi returned home he expressed the opinion that there was exaggeration in the description of damage in the report. August 9. Gandhi returned to Calcutta from Patna… Riots had once more broken out in Calcutta. This time, apparently, the initiative had come from the Hindus. The latter felt that the power of the League Ministry was now broken and the police could therefore no longer encourage the Muslim goondas. Under the new regime of the Congress, the time had therefore come for the Hindus to strike back. This was perhaps the reason why, on the present occasion, the targets of attack were certain slums in Miabagan or Paikpara that had been known to harbour gangs of Muslim goondas in the previous phase of the riots… Gandhi called on Governor Burrows at 3.30pm at Government House. Burrows requested Gandhi to stay over in Calcutta and help quell the riot-like situation.
Gandhiji with Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy and others at the Beliaghata Camp in 1947 / File Picture
Syed Mohammad Usman, a former mayor of Calcutta, called on Gandhi at Sodepur and requested him to postpone his trip to Noakhali and save Calcutta… It is interesting to note that at a later stage, at one of Gandhi’s prayer meetings, in reply to a question Suhrawardy practically confessed that he was responsible for the great Calcutta Killings of 1946… Gandhi refused requests by the Information Department of the Governor of India and BBC to broadcast a message on August 15… On August 11, Gandhi conducted a tour of the riot-affected areas of Calcutta from 2.30 to 4.15pm accompanied by Dr P.C. Ghosh, chief minister designate, and Mohammad Usman. Suhrawardy, the outgoing Prime Minister of Bengal, met Gandhi at 9pm and stayed till 11pm.
The next day Suhrawardy agreed to Gandhi’s condition that they should stay together and quell the riots in Calcutta. Mahatma Gandhi left Sodepur in the afternoon of August 13 and took up residence in a house owned by a Muslim family in the disturbed area of Beliaghata in northeast Calcutta. Gandhi fasted all day on August 14. On August 15, all day long unending streams of people proceeded to Beliaghata to see Gandhi. Gandhi broke his fast after his afternoon prayers in observance of Independence Day. His face beamed with joy when the West Bengal premier, Dr Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, told him about the unique demonstrations of Hindu-Muslim unity seen in connection with Independence Day celebrations.
Gandhi made a tour of Calcutta at night and witnessed how the city was observing Independence Day and how the communities were fraternising… At a press conference at his Beliaghata residence on August 20, Gandhi met the representatives of Calcutta Press. In his advice to them he said: “Let the past be buried. Do not rake it up. Think of the future. Analyse. Do not exaggerate. The country has often suffered from exaggeration.”
AUTHOR’S INFO:
Parameswaran Thankappan Nair is known as Calcutta’s barefoot historian. He has written A Tercentenary History of Calcutta: A History of Calcutta’s Streets and among his other books are Calcutta in the 19th Century: Company’s Days and Calcutta: Origin of the Name. This piece has been excerpted from his 63rd book, Gandhiji in Calcutta, published by Punthi Pustak in 2019
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> Culture> Books> Big Story / by P.T. Nair / January 31st, 2021
With his deep knowledge in stones and affable nature, he soon earned a nationwide reputation as an estate jeweller
The Thakorlal Hiralal showroom in Dalhousie / file picture / Sambit Saha / Calcutta
A trader dealing in precious stones saw a business opportunity soon after India’s Independence. The princely states were being merged into the republic of India and the zamindari system was being abolished.
Suddenly many of them were in market to sell a part of family jewels, for ostensible reasons. Simultaneously, a new class of rich was on the rise — businessmen mostly belonging to the Marwari community.
Jayantibhai Thakorlal Mehta was at the right time and at the right place in history. With his deep knowledge in stones and affable nature, he soon earned a nationwide reputation as an estate jeweller, buying from princely states and zamindars and selling it to the new moneyed class.
Mehta, who passed away in Calcutta earlier this week at the age of 103, moved to this city at an early age when his father Thakorlal settled down here. Jayantibhai’s uncle then ran a small diamond trading shop at Chorbagan. Being close to Rangoon also made sense as a part of the extended Mehta family was exporting rubies and emeralds from Burma to India.
When a part of that same extended family moved to Antwerp, the diamond capital of the world, Mehta’s trade and business received a further fillip as it straddled India, Burma and Belgium.
Hailing from Palanpur in Gujarat — the ancestral home to many of India’s top diamantaires — Mehta and his two brothers also saw an opportunity to up the game. There were not many jewellers dealing in diamonds apart from Hamilton & Co in Calcutta. Mehta saw a void which can be filled in the years after Independence.
The showroom at Stephen House in Dalhousie, set up in 1930, grew to become one of the top names in diamond post-Independence.
“I would say the way he handled the client, at a deeply personal level, and the trust he earned were behind the success of Thakorlal Hiralal,” Pranay Mehta, grandson of Jayantibhai and the force behind the TH brand today, said from Mumbai.
Jayantibhai Thakorlal Mehta / File picture
Jayantibhai, who used to love classical music and playing cards, stayed back in the city even after the business moved to Mumbai. After operating for 50 years, the Dalhousie showroom closed down in 1980 in the aftermath of a massive tax raid. The business was confined to a workshop and office on Elgin Road-SP Mukherjee Road crossing.
The office was shut down in 2010 when his son Satishbhai died and grandson Pranay decided to focus on Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, which is also close to Surat, the diamond cutting capital of the world.
“Even though he spent at least six months with us in Mumbai, after one or two months he would miss Calcutta and want to go back,” Pranay said from the Horniman Circle showroom at Fort, South Mumbai.
Pankaj Parekh, former vice-chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, recalled the splendour of the showroom at Stephen House. “In those times, trust was the biggest currency when one buys diamonds as there was no standardisation like today. When you bought diamond — and diamonds were usually bought by the HNIs and the ultra rich in those days — they had implicit trust in Jayantibhai and TH,” Parkeh, 76, said.
The rise of TH also in a way mirrored the rise of India as the destination for cutting and polishing diamonds. The Jews, who controlled the diamond trade, were not interested in dealing in small-sized stones as they thought it was not worth the effort, price wise. Indians, especially Palanpuri Gujaratis, saw an opportunity in cutting and polishing those stones, which were otherwise destined to be crushed and used to lay airport runway tarmac.
Several top industry families were loyal clients of TH and many of them continue to be today. Travelling abroad was not as frequent as it used to be today. “A wealthy patron may be often walking into Cartier, Tiffany or Harry Winston now but it was not that frequent in the 50s or 60s. For them, it used to be TH,” Raja Shah, whose father Viharilal Shah, was a friend of Jayantibhai, said.
“TH was a well known brand out of Calcutta. Jayantibhai was a respected figure in the business. We, at Satramdas Dhalamal, used to compete with them but also did business together at times,” recalled couture jeweller Raj Mahtani.
Although a diamantiere by passion, Jayantibhai worked closely with Laxmi Niwas Jhunjhunwala of Bhilwara Group and set up HEG Ltd and Rajasthan Spinning & Weaving Mills.
“My grandfather never left the city which gave him everything. Calcutta was very much a part of him,” Pranay signed off.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> West Bengal> Calcutta / by Sambit Saha / Calcutta – October 23rd, 2020
The East India Company wanted the law of forfeiture to apply in the colonies, which would have allowed a suicide victim’s property to pass to the Crown.
The Court House, Calcutta, where the case would first have been heard. A hand-coloured print from the Fiebig Collection: Views of Calcutta and Surrounding Districts, by Frederick Fiebig in 1851 | British Library Online Gallery
In a delicate case from 1864, the Privy Council considered whether the English practice of forfeiture following a suicide should apply to a subject of the British Raj.
Following the death of Rajah Christenauth Roy Bayadoor in Calcutta on October 31, 1844, a second will was discovered, written by him that morning, which left a portion of his estate to the East India Company. Since his death was by his own hand, Bayadoor’s widow, Ranee Surnomoyee, disputed the validity of this will on the grounds that it was not written in sound mind. The court found in favour of Ranee Surnomoyee, declaring the second will to be invalid.
An appeal was then made to the Privy Council against this verdict on behalf of East India Company, citing the law of forfeiture in cases of suicide. A digitised copy of the response of the Council is available to view on the website of the British and Irish Legal Information Institute.
Known as felo-de-se within English common law, meaning “crime of his-, or herself”, suicide in England was associated with restless souls. Confirmed victims were historically buried at crossroads with a stake through their heart, possibly in an effort to stop the soul from wandering. The law was only changed to allow burials within churchyards following the tragic death of Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh in 1822.
Even then, restrictions still applied. In her book on Victorian attitudes to suicide, Barbara Gates states that churchyard burials were allowed without Christian rites and restricted to “at night, between the hours of nine and midnight, and his/her goods and chattels must still be turned over to the Crown”.
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, took his own life in 1822, probably due to stress and depression caused by the strain of his political career and public unpopularity. The suicide of such a public figure inspired the re-examination of related English laws. Image from Jonah Barrington, Historic Memoirs of Ireland (London, 1833) Photo credit: British Library flickr
Intended as a deterrent to criminals, the law of forfeiture passed the deceased’s property to the Crown and away from inheritors. It also applied to suicides, which were considered a crime against the individual, God and the Crown. Abolished by the Forfeiture Act 1870, the practice was applied infrequently, even at the time of our case.
In the appeal, the representative of the East India Company did not further contest the second will. Instead, he argued that English law, including forfeiture, applied in the colonies. The privy councillors, therefore, had to consider the application of these laws in India.
They examined cultural differences between Britons and Indians to find examples of where British law did not fit with Indian traditions. The main examples given by the Council were polygamy and child marriage. Although shocking to Victorian sensibilities, these were part of the culture and beliefs of Indians at the time and so the East India Company had allowed them to continue. Therefore, by adapting English law to suit Indian culture, the East India Company had set a precedent.
In conclusion, the Privy Councillors expressed their surprise at an effort to enforce forfeiture following a suicide as late as 1844 and their confusion at its application to an Indian Hindu. They found in favour of the descendants of Rajah Christenauth Roy Bayadoor and allowed them to retain possession of his property.
The author is a Cataloguer of Modern Archives & Manuscripts.
This article first appeared on the British Library’s Untold Lives Blog.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> History Revisited / by Matthew Waters / October 12th, 2020
Herbert George, who headed the Behala school since 1988, was known as a ‘strict disciplinarian’
Herbert George / File picture / Our Special Correspondent / Calcutta
The principal of MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School, Herbert George, died in the city on Monday following a short illness. He was 75.
George had been principal of the Behala school from 1988 and was known as a “strict disciplinarian”. He gave importance to both academic and co-curricular activities. Before joining MP Birla Foundation, he was associated with Don Bosco Liluah and St Augustine’s Day School, Calcutta.
He is survived by his son and daughter.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> West Bengal> Calcutta / by Special Correspondent / October 20th, 2020
Veteran atomic scientist and former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr. Sekhar Basu succumbed to COVID-19 early on Thursday at a private hospital here, a health department official said. He was 68.
“Dr. Basu was suffering from COVID-19 and other kidney ailments. He died at 4.50 a.m.,” the official told PTI.
A mechanical engineer, Dr. Basu is revered for his contributions to the country’s atomic energy programme. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2014.
He had also pioneered the highly complex reactor for India’s first nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by PTI / Kolkata – September 24th, 2020
In Breaking Through Ahluwalia writes an account of her extraordinary life, career and fight against an implacable disease
n this together: A file photo of Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Isher Judge Ahluwalia at the Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. (Photo: PTI)
At almost the end of her long innings, wracked by grade IV glioblastoma, among the toughest of all cancers, Isher Judge Ahluwalia — grace, charm and subtlety personified, and, with widespread connections — took it upon herself to write this book. Courageous as she is, Isher did so in the most trying circumstances, while she was losing the ability to read and write on her own, relying extensively on help from the family to put down her thoughts.
Yet, thank God that she has written this book, for it is a story of grit, love, care and commitment. Grit, because who would have bet that a daughter of simple, traditional Sikh parents — one of 11 siblings — living in a small, rented flat near Purna Cinema, not far from Calcutta’s Kalighat, would reach where she did, entirely on the strength of her efforts and her intense determination to succeed?
Or, that she would in 1962, finish her West Bengal Higher Secondary Board examination from the highly-regarded Shri Shikshayatan Vidyalaya, coming eighth in the state? She writes, “My father had never shown any interest in our education but when I did well in the exams, he would often tell his friends with some pride that I had got the third rank among girls. While I approved of his new interest in education, I objected to the gender differentiation; I would correct him, saying I was eighth, not third.”
Breaking Through: A Memoir by Isher Judge Ahluwalia
Isher then went to Presidency College, Calcutta, to study economics with a scholarship of Rs 35 per month, which paid for her college fees and the tram ride from home and back. After the Presidency, she joined the Delhi School of Economics for her Master’s degree. “My family would never have let me go to Delhi to live in a hostel. At this point, I had a lucky break. In 1964, my brother decided to move to the capital with his family to start a business and my parents agreed to my going to live with them, attending DSE as a day student.”
As was the case with many of us, DSE was Isher’s road to Damascus — a point of revelation when she was determined to study further and apply for a PhD. Armed with a high first division in a year when seven of the eight ‘first-divers’ were women, Isher applied to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was accepted with a fellowship. Thus began her journey in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a passage that took a bit longer than necessary because of an interlude in Washington, DC.
In the summer of 1970, Isher applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a summer internship. Instead of the usual three months, she got a special six-month break from MIT. With that came to love. Soon after moving to DC, she had a date with a super-bright young man, the clever, erudite English-speaking debater from St Stephen’s and winner of a congratulatory first in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford, one Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who had joined the World Bank as a part of its Young Professionals Program.
Montek impressed Isher sufficiently enough — lunch in the Bank’s Executive Dining Room, films, dinners, walks and drives. “It was during one of those drives, while we were picnicking off some bread and cheese and a glass of wine, that I decided that Montek was the man for me.” Soon, Isher secured a full-time job at the IMF; and, in 1971, she and Montek married in Washington.
Four years passed in setting up home in Georgetown, going with IMF delegations for Article IV consultations in the Caribbean, and working long hours at the Fund. Suddenly, it dawned upon her that she had left her PhD programme behind. So Isher applied for a fellowship at Brookings and completed her MIT thesis from there in 1976 — which was published in 1979 by Macmillan, titled Behaviour of Prices and Outputs in India: A Macro-Econometric Approach.
Then came care. Of parenting two boys — first Pavan, who was born in November 1977; and, then, Aman in October 1979, after the three of them had returned to India for good. Of taking charge of what was an immaculate home and hearth; of looking after a growing family that eventually extended to daughters-in-law and grandchildren; of being a partner to Montek, who would return late at night with stacks of government files.
Then, there was a commitment to her profession. “Being a mother is a full-time job. Being a working mother is two full-time jobs.” Even so, Isher completed two major books: Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation Since the Mid-Sixties (1989, Oxford University Press) and Productivity and Growth in Indian Manufacturing (1991, OUP).
She worked at the Centre for Policy Research, then took over as the head of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), an institution which she strengthened by attracting excellent full-time fellows and garnering some very serious grants from abroad and the Indian corporate world, that made ICRIER financially comfortable. If these were not enough, Isher got into urbanisation and published two books on the subject.
Breaking Through is a beautiful read because it is so honestly written, so touching in content — a wonderful mélange of the personal and the public. It is, in effect, a signing off. Of a great life. Of struggles. Of success. Of love and caring. Of building families, values and institutions. And, of Montek.
Thank you, Isher.
The author is the founder and chairperson of CERG Advisory Private Limited
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Books and Literature / by Omkar Goswami / August 30th, 2020
Pranab Babu spoke English with a Bengali accent yet made it to the top. Here’s why
Pranab Mukherjee / Twitter/@INCIndia
Pranab Mukherjee was an unusual politician and his success was unusual given that the odds were stacked against him. He was not a grassroots politician and he lost most of the elections he contested. He was not an intellectual in the Bengali sense of the word and he didn’t come from an English-speaking background (all his life he spoke the Queen’s language with a heavy Bengali accent). He was also singularly lacking in charisma. He thus broke all the rules that had governed Bengal’s politics harking back to C.R. Das and Subhas Chandra Bose to Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Jyoti Basu.
But he had other strengths. Most notable was the fact that he was born into politics. From their home in Mirati village, his father Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee controlled, and had an iron grip on, Birbhum district politics. Along with his alphabet, his son learnt the first rules of public life: influence-peddling and networking. He was a zealous student and never forgot the lessons.
Mukherjee’s first big opportunity came soon after he had moved to Calcutta in the 1960s and dived into the thick of state politics. The Syndicate that ruled the Congress Party in Bengal, as elsewhere, threw a dissident leader out of the party. Mukherjee sensed that politics in India was changing and he chose to side with the dissident leader and was also expelled.
He had timed it perfectly. Feelings against the Congress party were rising and in the assembly elections the dissidents scraped together enough seats to be the deciding factor. The Left successfully wooed the breakaway Congress by agreeing to make the Congress dissident leader the chief minister. Even Jyoti Basu agreed to serve as the deputy chief minister.
Mukherjee knew though that no good could come out of an association with the Communist party. By then, the Congress Party had split into two parties – the Indira Gandhi Congress and the old Congress. Mukherjee skilfully negotiated a way for his group to ally with Indira Gandhi and even managed to win himself a junior minister portfolio in Delhi. His senior in the ministry was Kamlapati Tripathi, a UP Brahmin who preferred temple-hopping to ploughing through ministerial files.
That task was left to the young Mukherjee who learnt the other important lesson, one his father had not taught him, namely that if you want to run India, you must know your files. He was not house tamed by the babus — he became one.
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Abhijit Mukherjee@ABHIJIT_LS
With a Heavy Heart , this is to inform you that my father Shri #PranabMukherjee has just passed away inspite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers , duas & prarthanas from people throughout India ! I thank all of You
5:46 PM . Aug 31, 2020
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Mukherjee was not quite the ultimate old-school politician. True, he had friends in every political nook and cranny and beyond, and he knew when to cash in on his friendships. True, he held almost all the great offices of state, shuttling between finance, defence and external affairs with equal ease. But he had one redeeming feature which the rest lacked. He could read, and he read, every file that came his way. Jagjivan Ram, the most outstanding of all Indira Gandhi’s ministers, was once asked who was the best minister he had seen. “Pranab Mukherjee,” Ram replied. Why? “He reads the files” was Ram’s response. Others had different views. Arun Jaitley who regarded Mukherjee highly thought there was always a danger of losing the tree for the wood. Pranab had a fondness for Jaitley but thought that without spending time on files, one could never have a grip on the Ministry. Understandably, Mukherjee’s role model as Finance Minister was C.D. Deshmukh, a civil servant who went on to become the governor of the Reserve Bank and then the Finance Minister.
Mukherjee harboured ambitions of being prime minister but being elevated to the presidency was an impressive consolation prize.
In the political world, he was famed for his elephantine memory that made him the go-to man during any political discussion. Whether it was Bengal or any other part of the country, he could rattle off events and even the dates on which they occurred. “He was a ‘human computer’ like Shakuntala Devi. In most states, he could also give you the macro picture. He was relied on for spot information,” said a former bureaucrat. In addition, he was a meticulous diary-writer and brought out two books based on his memories and the contents of his diaries.
Mukherjee held a law degree as well as an MA in history and political science. He often made jokes about his diminutive stature. Many in the political world turned up at his doorstep for advice when they were in difficulties. Once he shifted into a counselling role, many say, he would switch off his political side.
He was also an administrator who could keep his cool when all others around him were losing theirs. Towards the end of his political career, bureaucrats reported he got irritable more quickly but even that was only an occasional flare-up, such as on TV when he ticked off interviewer Rajdeep Sardesai and told him to mind his tone when speaking to a former president of India.
Above all, he was a man who cared about politics and political processes. One visitor to Rashtrapati Bhavan found him intently watching the parliamentary proceedings on Lok Sabha TV and muttering irately at the screen: “He should not have said that.”
Early in his career, he caught Sanjay Gandhi’s eye and was catapulted to high office even before he was 40. It is said he won his attention with the help of Kamal Nath, who was, at the time, a Calcutta businessman but making his mark in politics.
Mukherjee proved his worth as a junior minister in the finance ministry. Noida, on Delhi’s outskirts, was Sanjay Gandhi’s pet project but even he could not get the State Bank of India to open a branch in Noida. At Mukherjee’s suggestion, the Finance Ministry was split into two independent entities — Revenue and Finance — both reporting independently to the prime minister. As the revenue minister, Mukherjee instructed the State Bank of India to open the branch.
The problem was resolved and a legend, that of the go-to man, was born.
By 1980, when Indira Gandhi returned to power after the brief Janata Party interregnum, Mukherjee received a huge promotion and was made Commerce Minister at the age of only 47 — still very youthful by Indian political standards.
In 1982, two years later, his dreams came true. He became the Finance Minister of India. Mukherjee fought theelection against Indira Gandhi’s wishes and lost. Indira Gandhi was reluctant to include a defeated candidate. It was Sanjay Gandhi who persuaded his mother to change her mind. It also set the curious precedence for finance ministers (or wannabe finance ministers) who lost the election to be inducted into the Cabinet through the back door. Arun Jaitley and Jaswant Singh took advantage of this unfortunate example. Manmohan Singh did one better. He became the Prime Minister.
Pranab Mukherjee was essentially a Sanjay Gandhi protégé but he was aware of the negative consequence of this association. He downplayed this relationship and instead pulled out all the stops to portray himself as an Indira Gandhi man.
But his relationship with Sanjay was to haunt him later in his career. Rajiv didn’t trust the Sanjay men and Mukherjee’s clumsy effort to become an interim prime minister when Indira Gandhi was assassinated was seen as an additional and very glaring black mark. Pranab was not included in the Rajiv Cabinet in 1984 and later at the first opportunity, Rajiv Gandhi expelled him from the Congress Party. It took him a great deal of effort (and a failed attempt to launch a party) to be allowed back. Mukherjee admitted that being dropped from the cabinet left him “shell shocked and flabbergasted”. The Rajiv years were for Mukherjee the years of wilderness and the political aridity spilled over to the Rao era. He could regain a cabinet berth only in 1995 after 12 long years in the no-man’s land.
Earlier, it was during his time in the Commerce Ministry that he grew close to Dhirubhai Ambani and the Reliance Group. At the Commerce Ministry, he learnt the intricacies of how, especially in the heyday of the licence raj, duties could make or break products and, indeed, companies.
By the time Mukherjee was back in favour, the Rajiv Gandhi government had lost its energy amidst the artillery fire surrounding the Bofors gun deal, and also the Shah Bano imbroglio. Later, he was pipped to the post to be finance minister in P. V. Narasimha Rao’s government. Mukherjee had misread Rao as he earlier had misread Rajiv Gandhi. He had also misread the change in ideological climate. Globalisation was beginning and was being endorsed even by communist countries. Deng’s China and Gorbachev’s Russia had all mended their ways. Mukherjee, a diehard statist, was the wrong man at the wrong time.
Not merely did Rao have a new finance minister, he also had a radically new economic policy. The nation had made a 180-degree turn. Mukherjee was history’s baggage. Still he got another innings when Chidambaram was replaced by Mukherjee in the UPA era. But he was clearly at odds with the new India. Worse, he was largely blamed for the economic downturn of the UPA2 that paved the way for a Modi triumph. His last act as the Finance Minister was to introduce the infamous Retrospective Taxation which amended a 50-year-old regulation and gave the government power to change laws with retrospective effect. This was Mukherjee’s last hurrah and a valiant last-ditch effort to bring back the rules-regulation Raj. From all accounts, he succeeded. The new law is said to be the single important factor in reducing foreign investments in India. His departure in 2012 for the Rashtrapati Bhavan saved him some embarrassment.
Mukherjee himself always insisted he couldn’t become prime minister because he didn’t speak fluent Hindi. Others joked that, with his strong Bengali accent, he didn’t speak English either. Even after decades in Delhi and criss-crossing the world, his accent didn’t change the slightest. Some put this down to his innate belief in Bengali superiority. “Bengalis know there is only one language on earth and English is just a dialect of Bangla,” said another bureaucrat who knew him well. Mukherjee was unfazed whether he was meeting the Queen of Great Britain or any other world leader. “He would speak to the Queen in Buckingham Palace and he stuck to his village college-teacher English. He didn’t care about his background or his height,” the bureaucrat said. Mukherjee’s first job had been as a lecturer in a local college before he shifted to Calcutta.
It was common knowledge that Mukherjee, and many others, blamed former West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray – with whom he didn’t get along — for the Emergency. But Mukherjee, himself, was a prime beneficiary of the Emergency and a charter member of the Sanjay Gandhi faction. He was also at odds with former minister A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhary, another Congress Party mass leader in Bengal.
In other ways, he was the quintessential Congressman and he took a stern line on communalism. Once when a communal incident broke out and others were caught off-balance, he delivered a strong lecture, quoting, as he was wont, earlier instances when the Congress had fought communalism – even throwing in the exact dates when the incidents had happened.
Later in life, however, he took a milder line towards an organisation like the RSS. He adopted the view, as one observer explained, that “if you keep them in the doghouse, they will do many things in an effort to shock you”. Mukherjee argued that the RSS should be mainstreamed and that would force them to “soften down,” the observer said. That outlook may have been the reason for his trip to Nagpur in 2018 where he addressed RSS swayamsevaks and even praised the institution’s founder, though he did also emphasize the importance of tolerance.
It was an open secret that Mukherjee wasn’t Sonia Gandhi’s first choice for the presidency. But he built up support at different levels and is said to have forced her hand and easily won the largely ceremonial post. He had recognised he was growing older and the one job he wanted wasn’t coming to him. Later, when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, he knew that nothing would induce the BJP to give him a second term, but he did sound out Modi gently about his re-election. “You are a Congress nominee,” said Modi almost mischievously. “If the Congress Party proposes your name, we shall consider it,” Modi added. Mukherjee knew the game was lost. He bowed out quietly and gracefully, citing “health complications relating to old age”.
Modi was otherwise kind to Mukherjee. He may not have given him a second term but he did honour him with the Bharat Ratna. That was more a put down to Advani (who certainly contributed much more to the nation from the Hindutva point of view) and also to Manmohan Singh (whose contributions surpass Mukherjee’s by the long shot).
It marked a low-key close to a long and illustrious political career. While it wasn’t perhaps the triumphant finale that he might have chosen for himself, it was very far from an ignominious ending.
Mukherjee was predeceased by his wife, Suvra Mukherjee, who died in 2015. The couple had two sons and a daughter. Sharmistha Mukherjee is an accomplished Kathak dancer and choreographer who contested the 2015 Delhi Assembly election as a Congress candidate but failed to win. Abhijit Mukherjee served as a Congress MP from Bengal from 2012 to 2019.
In 2012, Sharmistha wrote about her father for India Today, recalling he had to walk nearly 10km every day to school and there was a stream on the way that during the monsoon became a gushing torrent. “Whenever I close my eyes trying to visualise my father, I see this little boy standing by the roaring stream thinking about how to cross it. He has crossed that and many other barricades in his life and walked a long way since then,” she said.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> India / by Paran Balakrishnan / New Delhi – August 31st, 2020
Along with the rest of the world, the Queen of the Hills commemorated the 110th birth anniversary of St Teresa of Calcutta popular as Mother Teresa. Darjeeling occupied a special place and was a turning point in the life of the Saint.
“We had Mass (prayer service) in the Houses in Darjeeling, Tukdah, Tindharia, Kalimpong, Siliguri and Sikkim on Wednesday to commemorate her birth anniversary” stated Sister Marjelle of the Missionaries of Charity.
Agnes, who later became Saint Teresa of Calcutta had arrived in India in 1929. She had then joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling.
She took her first religious vows as a Nun on May 24, 1931 in Darjeeling and made her final profession as a Loreto nun on 24 May 1937 in Kolkata, and hereafter was called Mother Teresa. While in Darjeeling she used to teach at St Teresa’s school under the Loreto Convent.
The school was founded in 1921.
On 10 September 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling during annual retreat in between Siliguri and Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the “call within a call,” which prompted her to start the Missionaries of Charity. Thus she had stepped out of the Loreto Convent in Darjeeling into the slums of Kolkata. She was canonized on September 4, 2016 as St Teresa of Calcutta.
The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception located at the Loreto Convent in Darjeeling also houses an Oratory (a place of worship) in her name. On December 3, 2016, Darjeeling had named a road after St Teresa of Calcutta. The road connecting Gandhi Road to Dr. Zakir Hussain Road (TV Tower) has been named the “Saint (Mother) Teresa Road.” The Missionaries of Charity House of Darjeeling is located on this street.
“People of her stature cannot be confined to any religion, color, caste or creed. She was a world citizen. She inspired people to become better human beings, to love and serve others. Let us strive hard to continue her legacy” stated Reverend Stephen Lepcha, Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling.
source: http://www.millenniumpost.in / Millennium Post / Home> Kolkata / by Amitava Banerjee / August 27th, 2020
