OPINION | Bakrid in Bengal: No namaz on roads
Those who were making dire predictions about the BJP going to ban namaz in Bengal must have got their answers by now. The question is: Why Left Front and TMC governments in the past failed to stop Eid prayers that were being offered on roads?
For the first time in last 50 years, Eid prayers were not offered on roads across West Bengal. Bakrid was celebrated peacefully in Bengal, UP, MP, Delhi and other states and no 'qurbani' (animal slaughter) was allowed in the open.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government ensured that Eid prayers were held on the grounds and that road traffic was not blocked. The main Eid namaz was held in Kolkata’s Brigade Parade ground instead of Red Road.
Those who were making dire predictions about the BJP going to ban namaz in Bengal must have got their answers by now. The question is: Why Left Front and TMC governments in the past failed to stop Eid prayers that were being offered on roads?
A question arises, why did the Left Front government allow Eid prayers on Kolkata’s Red Road instead of Brigade Parade ground?
Why Mamata Banerjee's government failed to stop traffic obstruction on roads during Eid prayers for the last 15 years?
All of us know the answer.
It was outright appeasement of a community. But Narendra Modi was emphatic during his Bengal poll campaign. He had said, there will be no ‘tushtikaran’ (appeasement), BJP will work for ‘santushtikaran’ (satisfaction of all).
Leaders of Mamata Banerjee’s party like Sukhendu Sekhar Roy are openly praising Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for doing a good job.
Roy said, Bengal has got a hardworking and balanced chief minister after a long time and the people of the state are watching.
Mamata's TMC facing revolts
Sukhendu Sekhar Roy is a Rajya Sabha TMC member . In 2024, he supported the agitating doctors when the infamous R. G. Kar Hospital rape-murder incident took place. Roy says, had Mamata Banerjee taken strong action at that time, she would not have faced bad times now.
The TMC MP said, Mamata should concentrate on saving the party instead of hunting for excuses.
Trinamool leader Shantanu Sen has resigned as party spokesman saying he is not in a position to defend the party.
However, leaders close to Mamata like Saugata Roy say, those criticizing the former CM cannot even win a panchayat election. He said, such things happen in politics and Mamata is facing bad times.
Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about her fellow party MP Kalyan Banerjee.
Dastidar has alleged Kalyan Banerjee made "insulting and misogynistic" comments about women inside the House.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has resigned as Trinamool Mahila Congress chief and Barasat district unit chief.
Kalyan Banerjee said, this is the “after effect” of the assembly election results and leaders like Kakoli are trying to find a safe exit.
There is a popular saying, “even your shadow leaves you in darkness during bad times”. Revolt is brewing in Mamata’s party and already six TMC MLAs have met CM Suvendu Adhikari.
Six out of 16 TMC councillors in Diamond Harbour have left the party. Bhatpara municipal chairman and 30 councillors have resigned. TMC councillors in Halishahar, Contai, North Barrackpore and Garulia have resigned collectively.
These are not good indications for Mamata Banerjee.
In 2011, when Left Front lost the elections, CPI and CPI-M leaders deserted their parties to join TMC. But Sukhendu Sekhar Roy says, there is a big difference between what happened in 2011 and now.
Trinamool leaders and workers are not angry with Mamata Banerjee. Their grouse is against her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. They say, if Mamata fails to realize this, the party is doomed.
CBSE chaos: Who is responsible?
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has defended the use of OSM (on-screen marking) system in CBSE exam saying this process is being used the world over. For the first time, OSM was used to check answer sheets of CBSE Class 12 exam.
Pradhan admitted there were some shortcomings in the system which are being rectified.
He has instructed CBSE officials to resolve complaints of all students. He has asked them to send scanned answer sheets to all those candidates who have demanded a recheck.
When results were declared, thousands of students complained of getting poor marks which they had not expected.
CBSE data show, average marks for Class 12 last year were more than 88 pc, but this average slumped to 85 pc this time. There was a 16 per cent decline in numbers of students who scored more than 90 pc.
When CBSE opened its portal for re-evaluation of answer sheets, it crashed several times.
For the first time, nearly 25 pc candidates sought a recheck of their answer sheets.
More than 18 lakh students appeared for CBSE Class 12 exam this year, out of which more than four lakh sought recheck.
The allegation that is being made is that the CBSE governing body implemented OSM without any fool proof preparedness. Teachers complained that they were not properly trained for OSM marking.
The OSM contract was given to a Hyderabad company which had a questionable image in the past.
It has also been alleged that machines that were installed by CBSE for scanning answer sheets did not scan many of them.
Several pages were shown blank despite the fact that students had written on those pages. The result: several candidates got marks less than what they had expected.
When CBSE gave students the opportunity to apply for re-evaluation, the portal did not work properly.
Dharmendra Pradhan's intentions may be good. He tried to improvise the CBSE marking system, but his officers implemented OSM without full preparedness.
When students faced problems, CBSE, instead of removing the lacunae, tried to cover up. When glaring mistakes were pointed out, CBSE admitted there were lapses in the process.
While implementing a new system, one must expect in advance that if a large number of students apply for re-evaluation, can the portal take this load.
The question arises, why was this system implemented without carrying out a fool proof check at all levels?
Who will bear responsibility for the problems that the students are facing?
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