Left debacle in West Bengal
Congratulations to Mamata
It was not unexpected and the extent of the drubbing taken by the world's longest serving democratically-elected communist government in West Bengal may not have been a surprise either. The early signs of a growing disenchantment with the Left Front were manifest in the sizeable defeat in Panchayet polls followed by a rather poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections.
Thirty-four year long rule had lulled party leaders and activists in a complacency mode topped off by arrogance and a growing indifference to the popular mood and pent-up grievances. The party's meddling in the affairs of administration blurred the line between Front and the government. Once a leader became a member of the state party committee he was destined not to be replaced. So, hardly any infusion of new blood would have been possible.
Economically, the state was lagging behind Bihar and Assam with an employment crunch taking hold due to falling investment. Besides, to be employed, party label would be considered a pre-requisite.
Ironically, Left Front, a platform that traditionally enjoyed support among the farmers and the Muslim voters lost touch with them. The land acquisition drive in Singuar for Tata's Nano car industry, which though aborted, was to become a high-voltage political issue. At the same time, death of 14 farmers in Nandigram again, in the face of a forced land acquisition campaign, for a chemical factory gave Mamata Banerjee ammunition to launch a rights-based popular movement against the incumbent.
Here comes the second paradox in that the humanist-leftist characteristics of Left Front were co-opted by Trinamool Congress. Its alliance with the Congress also strengthened the electoral equations with a vote getting fibre.
In the overwhelming defeat of Left Front, some of its early good work got submerged. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has lost his seat, a stunning verdict for a chief minister since Prafulla Sen's personal debacle years ago. Bhattacharya has promptly conceded defeat and resigned as chief minister. People have spoken and democracy triumphed.
Our hearty felicitations to Mamata Banerjee on her electoral victory as we look forward to continuation and enrichment of our neighbourly relations with the Indian state of West Bengal.
Factory within prisons
Plan should be followed through
The plan to set up some kind of garment manufacturing unit in country's congested jails is really thinking out of the box. If seen through, it will help the convicts in a number of ways including their rehabilitation back in society. We welcome the idea being mooted by the prison authorities.
At this stage setting up of factories is envisaged in major prisons before expanding to all of Bangladesh's 68 jails. Bangladesh now has a prison population of 60,000 including nearly 1000 on death row. So a huge potential remains untapped for a creative utilization of the human resource.
The aim is to impart life skill training to the prisoners as the garment manufacturing work will keep them busy and safe from straying into morbidity. The money that they would earn at the end of the day would come in handy when they are released from jail.
We cannot think of any better use of the large number of young and middle aged inmates serving different terms in the prison than such a gainful involvement. As it is, they are used in some kind of productive work, so that they can be easily motivated and trained up to undertake the new project with a great possibility.
Moreover, this type of productive engagement will help reform wayward convicts to start a new life with positive outlook and commitment to a dignified existence after their release from jail.
Now we urge the prison authorities to work out the details of how the project can be turned into economically viable undertaking. Together with the government, the corporate sectors including the banks, could come forward to play out their CSR role.
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