PRAGOTI

Sudipto Gupta, a 23 year old bright student, was a leading left student activist of SFI committed to change the society for a better one. He made his choice early in life - to work for the betterment of society. In one of the most horrific incidents in Kolkata, he was beaten to death in police custody after he had courted arrest. What was his fault? He was not demanding anything for himself. He and his comrades were agitating peacefully demanding student union elections in West Bengal, which is a fundamental right of any student. The fact that a student has been beaten to death for demanding student union election shows the abyss that West Bengal has reached with the so called ‘pariborton’ in the state.

The academic community in West Bengal is under severe attack under the Mamata regime. Earlier, college principals were beaten up by TMC activists within college premises. A professor was arrested for circulating cartoons. Another young scientist was arrested and put in jail by the TMC government for protesting against eviction of slum dwellers at Nonadanga in Kolkata. He is still languishing in jail for participating in a peaceful, democratic procession. We reproduce here the text of the letter by eminent scientists to the PM, protesting against the arrest of Dr. Partho Sarothi Roy, a young molecular biologist.

The diplomatic cable writers and the US State department staff say it quite clearly as to what they think is ideal for the US vis-a-vis West Bengal - greater engagement with the opposition in the state led by Mamata Banerjee and the overthrow of the longstanding Left Front government. The motives are not mentioned but there are no illusions. It is in the best interest of US imperialism that the Left loses in its citadel in the country. Here is pasted verbatim the Cable 230353: unclassified and commented upon thus by The Hindu newspaper - "U.S. government should ‘continue to cultivate' Mamata". It is left to the conscientous voter to decide if they should leave the fertile grounds of West Bengal - most of it owned by the ordinary people of the state because of land reforms - to be cultivated by proxy by the United States through the aegis of that lady. The cable, accessed by The Hindu through Wikileaks follows -