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Assam, one of India’s most beautiful and bounteous states, is today troubled and in turmoil. The reason for this is deep-rooted anxiety among the indigenous Assamese of being swamped by ‘outsiders’, mainly Bengali Muslims — often automatically branded Bangladeshis. The problem is, however, more complex.

এমন অনেকে রয়েছেন, মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের কথায় যাঁরা গুরুত্ব দিতে চান না, কিন্তু যখন বিজেপির বাঙালি ও বাংলা ভাষাকে সমূলে বিনাশ করার চক্রান্তের বিরুদ্ধে তিনি প্রকাশ্য যুদ্ধ ঘোষণা করলেন, তখন কিন্তু তাঁর কথায় আমল না-দিয়ে তাঁদের আর উপায় রইল না। একমাথা বর্ষায়, ২১ জুলাই, কলকাতার কেন্দ্রস্থলে হাজার-হাজার অনুরাগী সমর্থক তথা বিক্ষোভকারীদের নেতৃত্ব দিয়ে তিনি চ্যালেঞ্জ গ্রহণ করলেন। এরপর রবি ঠাকুরের বোলপুর থেকে হিন্দি ভাষার সাম্রাজ্যবাদী বিস্তারের বিরুদ্ধে শুরু করলেন 'দ্বিতীয়' ভাষা আন্দোলন।

Now that the G7 summit is done and dusted, we may try to assess whether it has helped India break its disastrous isolation that Operation Sindoor revealed....PM Modi did get a last-minute invitation to join the G7, but not as a participant— only as an observer. There was jubilation among his lesser-informed fans, fanned also by his multi-million rupee IT cells and the enthralled majority in Indian media. The narrative was that he is too important not to be invited and that India is not isolated, or never was. It is, was and continues to remain the Vishwa-guru.

One may or not take what Mamata Banerjee says very seriously all the time (provided one can unscramble her choice of words), but when she declares open war on the BJP for trying to finish off the Bengali people, it is time to take note. She takes up the challenge by leading countless thousands of protesters, oblivious of monsoon showers, along the main thoroughfares of Kolkata. It would be quite contemptuously Jinnahesque to dismiss them (as he did in East Pakistan) as excited Bengali-speaking rabble.

Award-winning film director Mira Nair’s son, 33-year-old progressive Zohran Mamdani, is shaking up Trump’s America as few could. He swept the Democratic Party’s primary nomination process, defeating the redoubtable Andrew Cuomo and is contesting the New York city mayoral elections. This is historic, as he keeps shattering at least three of Donald Trump’s most aggressive planks.

আজকের বিপত্তারিণী পূজা আমাদের দেশে যে শত শত বিচিত্র উৎসব পালন করা হয় — তারই মধ্যে একটি। রথ যাত্রা আর উল্টো রথের মাঝের মঙ্গল ও শনিবার এই দেবীর পূজা কড়া হয় — সকল বিপদ থেকে রক্ষা করার জন্যে। পশ্চিম ও উত্তর ভারতে যেমন বিপদ থেকে উদ্ধার পাওয়ার জন্য গণেশ কে পূজা করে, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ও ওড়িশা রাজ্যের অনেক অঞ্চলে বিপত্তারিণীর পূজা হয়। তিনি দেবী সঙ্কটনাশিনী এবং দেবী দুর্গা(পার্বতী)-এর ১০৮ অবতারের অন্যতম। দেবী দুর্গার ১০৮ টি রূপের মধ্যে অন্যতম হলেন দেবী সংকটনাশিনী আর বিপত্তারিণী তাঁরই এক স্বরূপ।

Now that Ambubachi— India’s greatest festival that celebrates the inherent fertility of women— has begun, let us run over certain similarities in women-centric rituals of this period. These are celebrated almost all over India — from up north and the east to the upper Deccan —just before or at the start of the monsoons. First comes Vat (banyan) Savitri that is faithfully observed by women for the welfare of their husbands and family in the month of Jyestha (Jaistha) mainly on the Purnima day (25th May in 2025) though a large section observes it on Jyestha Amavasya (new moon or the dark day) that was on 10th June in 2025.

জানি না আপনারা লক্ষ করেছেন কিনা, আজকাল বাংলার যুব সম্প্রদায় নির্বিকারে প্রায় সকলকেই 'তুমি' বলে সম্বোধন করে। এ প্রবণতা যেন দিনে দিনে বেড়েই চলেছে। এখন আর অবাক লাগে না যখন কোনও এক অচেনা তরুণ এসে আমায় বলে, “কাকু (বা জেঠু, বা দাদু)— তুমি একটু সরে বোসো না।”

As elections have already been announced in Bangladesh, India needs to be extra careful. We need to consider that, as of now, except Bhutan, India has no real friend in the neighbourhood, and everyone is playing the China card.

But how India infuriated its last friend, Bangladesh, is a case study in insensitive handling. It is an open secret that India was completely outwitted by the US, supposedly an ally against China, after the regime change in Bangladesh last August. We now need to review our age-old approach to Bangladesh politics.

It is pretty clear now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will probably not join the elite G7 meeting in Alberta, Canada, scheduled from June 15 to 17.. Alberta is not among the cities he seems to have seen so far in his 152 foreign visits to 72 countries in the last 11 years. So, it’s a bit of a miss on both sides. What he may miss more is not being able to hug the new Canadian PM Mark Carney (what a relief, after that hostile Trudeau!), the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his known leaders, like PM Starmer of the UK, President Macron (after that dreadful family incident) and PM Ishiba of Japan.

April is the cruellest month...", TS Eliot had once declared. April this year has indeed been unusually cruel.

On the third day of the month, the Central government rammed the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill through an incensed Lok Sabha — obviously more to needle the Muslims than grab their endowments. The next day, it harangued and bickered and bullied the Rajya Sabha, until it cleared the amendment at 2 o’clock in the morning. Muslims seethed with rage, while the Opposition licked its wounds.

It is often believed that the whole business of setting off riots-at-will began after the arrival of a single individual, who is well versed in such matters. But then, to be fair to him and to history, we can trace this phenomenon back by a decade before, to the fateful day when the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground.

ভারতের সর্বোচ্চ আদালতের রায়ে বাংলায় প্রায় ২৬০০০ শিক্ষকের চাকরি বাতিল হচ্ছে। এই রকম আঘাতের পর, বোঝাই যাচ্ছে, বাংলা আবার উত্তাল হতে চলেছে, আবার এক বা একাধিক আন্দোলন শুরু হব হব করছে। মুখ্যমন্ত্রী এটা আঁচ করে, মরিয়া হয়ে এক হাত খেললেন। নেতাজি ইনডোর স্টেডিয়ামে শিক্ষকদের ডাকলেন আর চেষ্টা করলেন গরম হাওয়াটা তাঁর পালের দিকে টানতে। কিন্তু তিনি কোনও স্পষ্ট আশ্বাস তো দিতে পারেনইনি, বরং জল আরও ঘোলা করে দিলেন। উনি শিক্ষকদের স্বেচ্ছায় স্কুলে পড়াতে যাওয়ার কথা বলেছেন।

2025 । ২০২৫

Now that we are hell bent on becoming a Hindu Pakistan, how can we do without a Sunni-Shia divide, that has led to innumerable killings among Muslims in the real Pakistan? When hate becomes the cornerstone of the one-religion-one-country demand, then the ghost of Jinnah is bound to roam all over, to ensure that this hate just does not stop at one community.

There are admirable traits in all religions that I salute. Very recently, the world's largest congregation of humanity took their sacred dip at the maha-prayag of Mahakumbh. Yogi's team claims 66 crores bathed, while mature estimates place this at 25 crores — which is still a world record of faith drawing so many. We admire the tremendous social service that Sikhs render across the globe, like offering free food to all irrespective of religion or origin, in every Gurudwara.

This refers to Vinay Sahasrabuddhe’s article, ‘In with the new, and the old‘ (IE December 24, 2024). He writes that Indic ideas can contribute to good governance. We are keen to know which Indic ideas he refers to. From the potpourri of statements made by him as a spokesperson of the current regime, we shall restrict ourselves only to his “old Indic” inspiration for good governance, and not contest his many political and contemporary claims.

Few world leaders have caused such universal consternation, even before they formally accepted their office, as President Donald Trump has. Much of this apprehension arises out of his past record of extreme aggression whenever he perceives that American interests are hurt, leading to a lot of sabre-rattling and chest thumping. The more worrisome part lies in his weaponising of tariff protect the American market against importers, until they zip open their markets to him or toe his political line.

The terrible rape and murder of a junior doctor, pseudonymously called Abhaya, at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on 9th August 2024 suddenly shattered the normally placid acceptance of several chronic problems of health sector in West Bengal and elsewhere. It led to immediate strikes in hospitals and medical institutions all over India and triggered the longest-ever agitation by enraged citizens and junior doctors of Bengal. There is no doubt that this protest is surely a historic landmark in many, many respects.

It is a matter of concern that, till now, we have no comprehensive study or publication in English on Bamapada Bandyopadhyay (Banerjee) of Calcutta, whereas we have countess books, studies, videos and even a movie on his senior, Raja Ravi Varma of Travancore, Baroda, Bombay and Mysore.

রবি ও সোমবার সরস্বতী পুজোর পর অনেক বাঙালির বাড়িতে, বিশেষ করে ঘটি পরিবারদের মধ্যে, গোটা সেদ্ধ খাওয়া হয়ে থাকে। আসুন জেনে নিই কেন এই গোটা সেদ্ধর প্রথা মানা হয়। পঞ্চমীর দিন সরস্বতী পুজোর পরেরদিনই সকালে ষষ্ঠী তিথিতে হয় ষষ্ঠী পুজো আর গোটা সেদ্ধ পর্ব।

For someone from Kolkata who had boarded the ‘Deluxe’ train from an overwhelmingly large and frighteningly busy Howrah station, the railway station of New Delhi appeared to be very small and so quite provincial. This was during the biting winter of 1967. I had been told by panicky relatives back home to wrap my muffler tightly around my neck and over my ears. I had complied with this instruction until our taxi stopped before a group of smartly turned out in bright school blazers greeted us with unstoppable giggles.

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