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জহরের প্রশ্ন, "এত টাকা আইনজীবীদের উপরে খরচ না করে, যে সব বিষয় নিয়ে যুদ্ধং দেহি মনোভাবে দেখাচ্ছেন রাজ্য সরকারের নেতৃত্ব সেগুলিকে কি একটু মমতার সঙ্গে দেখা যায় না? ঘুষ না দিয়ে যে শিক্ষকেরা চাকরি পেয়েছেন, তাঁদের এত ভোগান্তি কেন? আরজি কর-এ নির্যাতিতার মানলায় কি সত্যই বিচার অসম্ভব? হাসপাতালে যারা চুরি করে দাপটে রাজত্ব চালাচ্ছিল তাদের কি কোনও শাস্তি হবে না?"

Retired bureaucrat and former Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar, who has known Banerjee from the time he was a magistrate and she a youth leader, says, “Kejriwal too was prone to such dramatics but he didn’t rise from the grassroots. He was gifted to the nation by Anna Hazare. Remember the Delhi riots? He never went out onto the streets for the people, not even for a day. Banerjee is not like that.”

Modi's latest order forcing all Indians to sing the entire Vande Mataram (not just the first 2 beautiful Hail Motherland part) is illegal, cynically divisive, and distacts a turbulent parliament and nation from real burning issues.
It bullies Muslims, Christians, Neo Buddhists, Liberal Secular Hindus to recite the later stanzas of Vande Mataram to pray to Durga and Lakshmi. Would Hindus like it if they are forced to pray to Allah (God) or to Jesus?

Speaking at the Mathrubhumi Festival of Letters 2026, former bureaucrat and author Jawhar Sircar warned that a fresh redistribution of Lok Sabha seats could significantly weaken the political voice of southern states, despite their success in education, healthcare and population control.

“Delimitation is not a technical exercise,” Sircar said. “It is about power — who speaks for the country and who gets spoken over.”

Sircar reminded the audience that India’s current parliamentary structure was shaped by a deliberate political choice. In 1971, then prime minister Indira Gandhi froze the redistribution of Lok Sabha seats based on population — a decision later extended through constitutional amendments.

At the time, southern states had aggressively implemented family planning programmes, while several northern states continued to see high population growth. Basing representation purely on numbers, Sircar argued, would have penalised states that governed well.

“The freeze was an act of political wisdom,” he said. “It protected India as a federal union, not a headcount democracy.”

Link to the interview published on Nagorik.net and discussed in this context
https://nagorik.net/politics/national-politics/evm-reliability-and-tampering/

Jawhar Sircar, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2021 on the Trinamool ticket but has since parted ways with the party, pointed out that “Pratik was Prashant’s right hand”. “The ED’s charge is that they have found PoC [Proceeds of Crime] going to I-PAC. They claim that they are not interested in what I-PAC is doing, they are interested only in the source of funding,” he told Frontline.

প্রাক্তন আমলা তথা প্রেসিডেন্সির প্রাক্তনী জহর সরকারের বক্তব্য, ‘নানা ভাবে প্রতিষ্ঠানের মানের অবনমন হয়েছে। এ বার কার্যত গোল্লায় পাঠানোর পরিকল্পনা হচ্ছে। উচ্চ মাধ্যমিকে বেশি বা কম নম্বর পাওয়াই শেষ কথা নয়। মেধা যাচাইয়ের আরও একটি সুযোগ হলো প্রবেশিকা। সেটাই প্রেসিডেন্সিকে ব্যতিক্রমী করে।’

Speaking to Outlook, Former MP and retired IAS officer Jawhar Sircar spoke of how the SIR has alienated BJP further in the state and helped Mamata up the ante. “SIR, quite obviously has targeted what the BJP calls ghuspetiyas in state, Muslims. SIR has not been able to locate any significant number (of Muslim infiltrators) anywhere in the state, not even in the traditional target of the BJP, i.e, the border districts of the state. Instead it has harassed the entire population and struck terror among the crore plus of Matuas many of whom are illegal immigrants. Advantage's gone to Mamata,” he said.

পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ও কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের বিভিন্ন দপ্তরে দীর্ঘদিন ধরে কাজ করা অবসরপ্রাপ্ত আইএএস অফিসার ও সাবেক সাংসদ জওহর সরকার ডিডাব্লিউকে বলেছেন, ''পশ্চিমবঙ্গের নির্বাচন যখন আসছে, তখন ইডি-র এই তল্লাশির পিছনে একটা রাজনৈতিক কারণ আছে। আইনের চাদর দিয়ে যা ঢেকে রাখা হয়েছে। দরকার হলে তারা অভিযুক্তদের সমন করতে পারত, নথিপত্র নিয়ে দেখা করতে বলতে পারত। কিন্তু এটা এখন নিয়মে দাঁড়িয়ে গেছে যে, তারা যখন ইচ্ছে ডাকবে, অভিযুক্তদের তুলে নেবে। তাদের কাজের পিছনে একটা রাজনৈতিক প্রতিহিংসা কাজ করে।''

তবে জওহর সরকার মনে করেন, ''ইডি এই কাজটা করতে পেরেছে তৃণমূল নেত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের জন্যই। আইপ্যাক এমন একটা বেসরকারি সংস্থা, যা রাজনৈতিক দলের অঙ্গও নয়, আবার তার বাইরেও নয়। দলের নেতাদের নিয়ে রিপোর্টও আইপ্যাক দেয়। মমতা যদি আইপ্যাককে দলের অঙ্গ ঘোষণা করতেন বা দলীয় অফিসে তাদের কাজ করতে দিতেন, তাহলে এই ফাঁকটা থাকত না। এই ফাঁকের ফায়দা ইডি নিয়েছে এবং গোল করে দিয়েছে।''

Former IAS officer and ex-Chief Election Officer (CEO) of West Bengal Jawhar Sircar raised fundamental objections to the process.

“As I have insisted, there is no legal sanctity for ‘Special’ Intensive Revision as the law (Registration of Electors Rules 1960) authorises only ‘Intensive Revision’,” Sircar told eNewsroom.

Explaining further, he said: “So many of the instructions being issued by ECI under SIR are beyond its remit and highly questionable. Rule 8 of the 1960 Rules says, ‘Information to be supplied by occupants of dwelling-houses.—The registration officer may, for the purpose of preparing the roll, send letters of request in Form 4…’”

“No citizen has been issued Form 4, and instead they have been compelled to fill in an Enumeration Form, which finds no mention in the Rules. Based on the ECI’s data and discrepancies thereof, citizens are being summoned like offenders before AEROs, just because the ECI so desires. Dr Sen is one such victim of ECI’s arbitrariness.”

Former Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar told Frontline: “Rather than make the nights safe for women, the Chief Minister’s words raise the question as to who has the right to move in the night. After the R.G. Kar case, the whole of Bengal came out to seize the night; but now, almost as a retort after a year, Mamata seems to be saying that the night belongs to the prowler, so don’t step out.”

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Jawhar Sircar pointed out that Mamata’s “overreaction” in times of crisis has always been “worrisome”.

“Where women are concerned, Mamata Banerjee seems to have a self-contradictory attitude. On the one hand, she extends her full support for a woman in her personal life, but if she feels feminine issues are being used against her, her attitude becomes archaic and patriarchal. This is something we have been seeing from the Park Street rape case in 2012. She is very liberal as long as it does not hurt her,” said Sircar.

Former bureaucrat and former Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar cuts the ribbon to open the puja at CC Block in New Town as actor-physician Kinjal Nanda (in black) and CC Block secretary Biman Samaddar look on, along with others.