As a recent settler in Kolkata told me -- Jyoti Babu had competence but no vision, Buddha has vision but no competence, the future Chief Minister has neither -- that is the tragedy of Bengal!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Jyoti Basu -- a mixed legacy
Most newspapers and not just the Hindu have gone overboard in the coverage of Jyoti Basu's life and times, stressing mostly the positive features of his years as Chief Minister. Mr Basu's legacy is clearly mixed. After the initial years of land reforms and Panchayati Raj, the CPI(M) and Mr. Basu seemed to have lost their bearings allowing Bengal to fall into a morass, from which even today it finds it difficult to escape. Industry fled as trade unions became all powerful, infrastructure collapsed, the education system was not just politicised, it took a major hit with the decision to teach only Bengali (resulting in large numbers of students unable to function in a real and active world outside Bengal where Bengali would lead them nowhere). The poor work culture of Bengal today is another legacy of Mr. Basu's years as a Chief Minister. Three articles which try to present another side to his legacy, one very different from the hagiographical sketches that have appeared in the mainstream press:
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4 comments:
...the future Chief Minister has neither -- that is the tragedy of Bengal!
OLO: quoting such pessimism is not worthy of a seer like you. Pray tell us, what is your view and not that of a settler?
Mine? -- none at all since I have never lived there and cannot bring myself to lose sleep over it. I have other things to worry me -- like what happened now to that factor of 2...
The lady protests 2 much.
Rahul
Mr Basu was an unmitigated disaster for Bengal and by extension , the whole country. Bengal was years ahead of the other parts of the country in its outlook and development and sophistication. Marxism has annihilated this lead and left the state and the east of India in misery.
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