03-13-2004, 02:06 AM
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<b>The closure of West Bengal</b>
Balbir K Punj
Whenever any religion succeeds, it must have economic value.
Thousands of similar sects will be struggling for power, but only
those who meet the real economic problem will have it.
Swami Vivekananda (Lecture on Gita-I, San Francisco, May 26, 1900)
It took a "Hindu" Alfred Ford just one "disappointment" from West
Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya to act a Semitic. He
decided to give West Bengal with its lack lustre response a miss and
promptly decided to put his Rs 600 crore where it was received with
the enthusiasm it deserved. His Vedic planetarium proposed for West
Bengal will now come up in Orissa, bringing together the best of
both worlds.
Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya, an uprooted Hindu from former East
Pakistan, is so apologetic of his Hindu connection in Alfred Ford's
Vedic project that he declined him an appointment. Marxists
generally keep away from a project with religious overtones unless
they are madarsas, where they could be generous to the extent of
giving Rs 120 crore in grants. Alfred Ford took it too seriously to
be pacified by a substitute meeting with State's Finance Minister
Asim Dasgupta. In the vicinity of West Bengal, he found Orissa Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik with no such hang-ups whatsoever, evincing a
deep interest in the project.
Mr Patnaik, educated in France, speaks better French than Oriya, but
neither he nor his State are apologetic for their Hindu identity.
Ford then decided to shift his project from Mayapur to Puri. On
completion, the project would lead to enormous spin off benefits for
the local economy such as improvement in healthcare and education
facilities. The planetarium would come with five-star hotel
facilities in addition to health spa and meditation and cultural
centre. The annual earnings from the project, once functional, are
pegged at Rs 300 crore. The State Government is to get 90 per cent
of this for welfare projects. West Bengal's loss in Orissa's gain!
Alfred Ford, the great grandson of automobile legend Henry Ford, and
senior trustee of Ford Motor Company is an Iskcon-affiliate and
Vedic aficionado. Ford joined Iskcon in 1975 and travelled to India
with founder of the order, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Ford was
instrumental in the establishment of the first Hindu temple in
Hawaii. He also helped establish the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Centre,
a highly rated tourist destination in Detroit, Michigan. In 1978,
Alfred founded Ramayan Arts, Inc., an east Indian arts gallery, and
has been named one of the top collectors in America by Arts and
Antiques magazine. Ford has actively contributed to a number of
charitable enterprises both in US and India. He visits India
frequently. His wife Sharmila Ford hails from Jaipur.
He ruffled the feathers of Russian orthodox church last October by
announcing a $10 million plan to build a huge Hare Krishna temple
and vedic cultural centre in Moscow, which could accommodate up to
8,000 people at a time. It was seen as fulfiling the aspiration of
90,000 Russian Hindus.
He was in Kolkata last February in connection to his pilgrimage to
Mayapur in Nadia district. He had also been contemplating on an
exceptional project in Mayapur, which could lead to the development
of religious tourism in the region. West Bengal stood to benefit
immensely from its realisation, a la Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. His
ambitious project sought to develop Bhagirathi's transport
infrastructure to link Mayapur as the northern head with Gangasagar
in Sunderbans delta as the southern head. It would have an interface
with Sunderbans tourism project currently being developed by the
Sahara group.
Despite Mr Bhattacharya's assurances to resuscitate industry in West
Bengal and running from Mumbai to Milan in hot pursuit of
investment, strikes and lock outs are a common phenomenon in the
State. A few days ago, the famed Gondalpara jute mills in
Chandernagore shut down and joined the league of other such mills
which have been closed since 1970s, in the prized Hooghly river
basin. After losing out to its smaller neighbour Orissa in the field
of software exports, the Marxist Government assigned top priority to
its information technology sector. Orissa's IT industry
paradoxically has an enormous presence of Bengali professionals
migrating out of West Bengal. At least in theory, the West Bengal
Government has kept IT industry strictly outside the periphery of
bandhs that paralyse the life and economy of Kolkata virtually every
other day.
According to a survey by Hewitt Association, the city ranks second
only to Delhi in quality of IT talent. Kolkata's IT industry stood
to vastly benefit from Ford's association. Ford is the co-founder of
RapportNET, LLC (Dearbone, Michigan), an internet-based technology
company which provides communication solutions to high net worth
families, corporate boards, and affinity groups. Though,
Ford's "spiritual Disneyland" is gone for a toss in West Bengal,
Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta has found his association "worth IT"
in software. Ford admitted that "the government has said it would
provide me all the facilities, including land, if I wanted to set up
such a venture." He has in fact been looking for joint ventures with
several industrial houses.
Marxism, a child of 19th century Europe, has been paranoid of
religion as it represented the institutionalised force of Catholic
church in Europe. In India, on comparison, Hinduism has never been
an institutionalised religion. It has never impeded the secular
functioning of State. The functioning of State and religion have
been on two different levels. It is a pity that the Marxist
Government of West Bengal follows double standards. While it pampers
mushrooming madarsas on Indo-Bangla border, at the same time, it
finds Saraswati Vandana in cultural functions obnoxious and shoots
down Ford's plan on religious grounds. The world comes to India to
savour its spiritual heritage. Spiritual tourism, properly tapped,
can be a significant source of resources.
Could it be a mere coincidence that (West) Bengal lost its position
and prestige in proportion to the extent it negated its Hindu
identity? A resurgent Bengal commanded its paramount image in 19th
century when Gopal Krishna Gokhale observed: "What Bengal thinks
today, India thinks tomorrow!" That was the Bengal of Raja Rammohun
Roy, Bankim Chandra, Vivekananda, Surendra Nath Banerjea, Bipin
Chandra Pal and Aurobindo among others. This Bengal was the cradle
of Hindu nationalism. The rising tide of communism slowly eroded
this image since the 1930s. Marxists who feel shy of associating
with Ford did not feel shy of supporting Jinnah's "Pakistan
Resolution" or "Direct Action". It is an irony that bulk of top-
brass communists in the State are refugees fleeing (East) Pakistan
either as Hindus or communists. In any case, the Pakistani
authorities equated the two when they said that communism was
basically a Hindu movement aimed at breaking up Pakistan.
Even under long spell of Congress rule after independence, Bengal
continued to be the industrial hub of India. After the communist
took over in 1977, factories began to close one by one, education
was politicised, healthcare suffered, film industry became
emaciated, surface transport came to a ramshackle state, while only
bandhs and agitations flourished. Gujarat, in contrast, is deeply
imbued in Hindutva sentiments and a commercial powerhouse. Many
Gujarati entrepreneurs are Calcutta-based for last 100 years. And
many workers left jobless in are absorbed in Gujarat, where labour
unrest is little heard about. Arabs claim a divine relation
between "Oil and Islam". Could there be a feel good relation between
Hindutva and prosperity both at the State and national levels?
<b>The closure of West Bengal</b>
Balbir K Punj
Whenever any religion succeeds, it must have economic value.
Thousands of similar sects will be struggling for power, but only
those who meet the real economic problem will have it.
Swami Vivekananda (Lecture on Gita-I, San Francisco, May 26, 1900)
It took a "Hindu" Alfred Ford just one "disappointment" from West
Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya to act a Semitic. He
decided to give West Bengal with its lack lustre response a miss and
promptly decided to put his Rs 600 crore where it was received with
the enthusiasm it deserved. His Vedic planetarium proposed for West
Bengal will now come up in Orissa, bringing together the best of
both worlds.
Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya, an uprooted Hindu from former East
Pakistan, is so apologetic of his Hindu connection in Alfred Ford's
Vedic project that he declined him an appointment. Marxists
generally keep away from a project with religious overtones unless
they are madarsas, where they could be generous to the extent of
giving Rs 120 crore in grants. Alfred Ford took it too seriously to
be pacified by a substitute meeting with State's Finance Minister
Asim Dasgupta. In the vicinity of West Bengal, he found Orissa Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik with no such hang-ups whatsoever, evincing a
deep interest in the project.
Mr Patnaik, educated in France, speaks better French than Oriya, but
neither he nor his State are apologetic for their Hindu identity.
Ford then decided to shift his project from Mayapur to Puri. On
completion, the project would lead to enormous spin off benefits for
the local economy such as improvement in healthcare and education
facilities. The planetarium would come with five-star hotel
facilities in addition to health spa and meditation and cultural
centre. The annual earnings from the project, once functional, are
pegged at Rs 300 crore. The State Government is to get 90 per cent
of this for welfare projects. West Bengal's loss in Orissa's gain!
Alfred Ford, the great grandson of automobile legend Henry Ford, and
senior trustee of Ford Motor Company is an Iskcon-affiliate and
Vedic aficionado. Ford joined Iskcon in 1975 and travelled to India
with founder of the order, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Ford was
instrumental in the establishment of the first Hindu temple in
Hawaii. He also helped establish the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Centre,
a highly rated tourist destination in Detroit, Michigan. In 1978,
Alfred founded Ramayan Arts, Inc., an east Indian arts gallery, and
has been named one of the top collectors in America by Arts and
Antiques magazine. Ford has actively contributed to a number of
charitable enterprises both in US and India. He visits India
frequently. His wife Sharmila Ford hails from Jaipur.
He ruffled the feathers of Russian orthodox church last October by
announcing a $10 million plan to build a huge Hare Krishna temple
and vedic cultural centre in Moscow, which could accommodate up to
8,000 people at a time. It was seen as fulfiling the aspiration of
90,000 Russian Hindus.
He was in Kolkata last February in connection to his pilgrimage to
Mayapur in Nadia district. He had also been contemplating on an
exceptional project in Mayapur, which could lead to the development
of religious tourism in the region. West Bengal stood to benefit
immensely from its realisation, a la Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. His
ambitious project sought to develop Bhagirathi's transport
infrastructure to link Mayapur as the northern head with Gangasagar
in Sunderbans delta as the southern head. It would have an interface
with Sunderbans tourism project currently being developed by the
Sahara group.
Despite Mr Bhattacharya's assurances to resuscitate industry in West
Bengal and running from Mumbai to Milan in hot pursuit of
investment, strikes and lock outs are a common phenomenon in the
State. A few days ago, the famed Gondalpara jute mills in
Chandernagore shut down and joined the league of other such mills
which have been closed since 1970s, in the prized Hooghly river
basin. After losing out to its smaller neighbour Orissa in the field
of software exports, the Marxist Government assigned top priority to
its information technology sector. Orissa's IT industry
paradoxically has an enormous presence of Bengali professionals
migrating out of West Bengal. At least in theory, the West Bengal
Government has kept IT industry strictly outside the periphery of
bandhs that paralyse the life and economy of Kolkata virtually every
other day.
According to a survey by Hewitt Association, the city ranks second
only to Delhi in quality of IT talent. Kolkata's IT industry stood
to vastly benefit from Ford's association. Ford is the co-founder of
RapportNET, LLC (Dearbone, Michigan), an internet-based technology
company which provides communication solutions to high net worth
families, corporate boards, and affinity groups. Though,
Ford's "spiritual Disneyland" is gone for a toss in West Bengal,
Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta has found his association "worth IT"
in software. Ford admitted that "the government has said it would
provide me all the facilities, including land, if I wanted to set up
such a venture." He has in fact been looking for joint ventures with
several industrial houses.
Marxism, a child of 19th century Europe, has been paranoid of
religion as it represented the institutionalised force of Catholic
church in Europe. In India, on comparison, Hinduism has never been
an institutionalised religion. It has never impeded the secular
functioning of State. The functioning of State and religion have
been on two different levels. It is a pity that the Marxist
Government of West Bengal follows double standards. While it pampers
mushrooming madarsas on Indo-Bangla border, at the same time, it
finds Saraswati Vandana in cultural functions obnoxious and shoots
down Ford's plan on religious grounds. The world comes to India to
savour its spiritual heritage. Spiritual tourism, properly tapped,
can be a significant source of resources.
Could it be a mere coincidence that (West) Bengal lost its position
and prestige in proportion to the extent it negated its Hindu
identity? A resurgent Bengal commanded its paramount image in 19th
century when Gopal Krishna Gokhale observed: "What Bengal thinks
today, India thinks tomorrow!" That was the Bengal of Raja Rammohun
Roy, Bankim Chandra, Vivekananda, Surendra Nath Banerjea, Bipin
Chandra Pal and Aurobindo among others. This Bengal was the cradle
of Hindu nationalism. The rising tide of communism slowly eroded
this image since the 1930s. Marxists who feel shy of associating
with Ford did not feel shy of supporting Jinnah's "Pakistan
Resolution" or "Direct Action". It is an irony that bulk of top-
brass communists in the State are refugees fleeing (East) Pakistan
either as Hindus or communists. In any case, the Pakistani
authorities equated the two when they said that communism was
basically a Hindu movement aimed at breaking up Pakistan.
Even under long spell of Congress rule after independence, Bengal
continued to be the industrial hub of India. After the communist
took over in 1977, factories began to close one by one, education
was politicised, healthcare suffered, film industry became
emaciated, surface transport came to a ramshackle state, while only
bandhs and agitations flourished. Gujarat, in contrast, is deeply
imbued in Hindutva sentiments and a commercial powerhouse. Many
Gujarati entrepreneurs are Calcutta-based for last 100 years. And
many workers left jobless in are absorbed in Gujarat, where labour
unrest is little heard about. Arabs claim a divine relation
between "Oil and Islam". Could there be a feel good relation between
Hindutva and prosperity both at the State and national levels?