This story first appeared in News18

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This story first appeared in Vibes Of India

By Himanshu Chavada and Hanif Sindhi

Kanti Bhatt was a trailblazing Gujarati journalist and author whose legacy will live on through a unique initiative. Veteran journalist and editor Sheela Bhatt, wife of the late Kanti Bhatt, and noted Gujarati writer Madhu Rye, dedicated to the public a unique memorial and reading room that stores all the works of Kanti Bhatt. The event was held in Ahmedabad earlier this week.

The memorial is hosted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Harilal Bhagwati Institute of Communication and Management (HBICM) in Khanpur area. It stores Kantibhai’s personal collection of over 1,600 books and more than 16,000 of his published articles, along with some of his personal belongings.

Kantibhai’s writing career spans over nearly five decades. He started writing in 1970 and continued it without a break until 2019, when he passed away. He has written mainly as Kanti Bhatt but also extensively under multiple pen names. His columns and articles were a staple for Gujarati readers across the globe for decades for accurate information and sharp perspectives on local, national, and global affairs. He also wrote on varied topics such as sports, entertainment, and travel.

He and his wife Sheela Bhatt jointly launched one of the most popular Gujarati magazines, Abhiyaan. Kantibhai has penned over 50 books. Known for his honesty and integrity and for writing very sharp and hard-hitting articles, Kanti Bhatt reached a legendary stature in his lifetime.

Describing a memorial as a fitting tribute to a journalist of Kanti Bhatt’s stature, Sheela Bhatt appreciated Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s initiative. She urged those in the audience and society at large to replicate this model and create living memorials of legendary journalists and writers. “Books were so close to him. I am sure during his last moments he must have thought about what would happen to his books and his writings. Now his soul can rest in peace,” said Sheela Bhatt in her address to the audience.

Renowned Gujarati author and playwright Madhu Rye dedicated the Kanti Bhatt memorial to the public. He touched upon the massive popularity and success that Kanti Bhatt enjoyed, which was rare even for many accomplished writers.

Veteran journalist and editor Shyam Parekh, who is the memorial curator and director of Bhavan’s Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication and Management (RPICM), said, “It was indeed a great initiative of Sheelaben to entrust the entire legacy of Kantibhai to this public institute and making it accessible to all.” He added that currently the published articles of Kantibhai are getting digitised and will be eventually accessible online.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of Bhavans’ Ahmedabad Kendra, Mukesh Patel, and the secretary, Prakash Bhagwati, welcomed Sheelaben’s support to the Bhavans for setting up this memorial. Treasurer of Bhavans, Gaurav Shah, expressed that this is the right tribute to a journalist of Kanti Bhatt’s calibre.

Kantibhai’s sister Indiraben Vyas recollected her memories of young Kantibhai, who was deeply attached to books and reading. The memorial houses about 1,600 books from the personal collection of Kantibhai. This memorial will also function as a lecture hall and classroom for students of journalism and other disciplines. Around 16,000 articles penned by Kanti Bhatt are being digitised and preserved here.

The memorial will be free to access and remain open from Mondays to Fridays between 12 noon and 6 pm. Those wanting to access the collection of books and articles can contact Keyur Dhandeo on +91 –7435012121.

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This story first appeared in The Daily Star

By Anu Muhammad

The Language Movement is intimately related to the language, thoughts, and society’s anti-discriminatory politics, culture, and ideals.

In the month of February, there’s a lot of discourse around the Bengali language and literature. We see people from across the country – from Dhaka to rural areas – paying their respects to the martyrs of the Language Movement in numerous Shaheed Minars. There’s a renaissance of memories, and on February 21, we get to discuss our sense of consideration, our thoughts, the ins and outs of our fight in a new light. Ekushey means not bowing our heads – that is the prevailing motto of February 21.

In the intellectual world, asking questions is the norm. The Language Movement is intimately related to the language, thoughts, and society’s anti-discriminatory politics, culture, and ideals. The fight was against the persecution of a nation, and the slogan was, “We want the state language to be Bengali.” Over time, the spirit was cultivated, the fight against discrimination and for freedom was fought, and that culminated to the Mass Uprising. Since then, 50 years have passed, and now we must ask the question: what happened to Bengali becoming the state language?

According to the constitution, Bengali is the state language of Bangladesh. But looking at what the state has been doing – Bangladesh’s five-year plan, the state fuel policy, its 100-year delta plan, its health policy, and policies related to water resources or communication – none of it is in Bangla. All of it is in English. All the research that is being conducted about Bangladesh’s people and rivers, about the state of women in this country or the eradication of poverty, are in English. Decisions are being made and contracts are being signed on Bangladesh’s resources with multinational companies and foreign countries – to take on foreign debt, for example – in English.

Even those who know English find it difficult to obtain these contracts and agreements, and they have to work really hard to understand these documents. These documents not being available in Bangla means that they are detached from the people of Bangladesh. And this leads to the people of Bangladesh not knowing what is being done with their lives, with their resources, or how their future is being decided. They don’t know what the government is saying about them at international forums, what promises are being made, and what sort of contracts are being signed that affect their lives and resources.

It is being said that the state language is Bengali, but there is no usage of Bengali by the state, and it is being pushed to the periphery. When it comes to the languages of indigenous peoples, the situation is even worse – they are being pushed even further to the periphery. What the state should have done right after independence was undertaking efforts to maintain communication with the knowledge creation and creative processes around the world. This communication can’t be limited to those with the privilege, resources and international connections to do so; its access needs to be on a national scale, given to everyone.

To ensure these things, there should have been a massive push towards translating everything to the prominent language in the country: Bengali. Textbooks needed to be printed in Bengali on a massive scale. An institutional mechanism needed to be put in place where any practice of knowledge across the world is translated to Bengali as soon as it’s created. Universal education should have been ensured in Bengali.

But at the same time, it has to be ensured that everyone knows and understands English because of its global acceptance. Other languages should also be taught and learnt. But one of the main objectives after the Liberation War should have been to ensure the institutional processes were such that the practice of knowledge for all was available in their mother tongue, Bengali for Bengalis, and the same for people of indigenous communities. This was not done.

When February 21 became International Mother Language Day, the prominent mother tongue of this region, Bengali, was in a state of extreme neglect. Bengali had no place in seminars, symposiums, education, healthcare, courthouses or government policy. There was no place for Bengali in the training of administration officers. The Bangla Academy needed to be a strong institution to lobby the state to do what was required. But their contribution and responsibilities have shrunk to such an extent that they have strayed far away from taking on these tasks. The directors of this institution are now engaged in a competition of servility, or wanting to please the government. This sort of competition has led to the Bangla Academy taking permission from police about displaying books at the book fair that may contain criticism of the government or may be provocative in some way.

So, in the month of February, we have to take a closer look at things. We have Shaheed Minars in this country; they are there so we can gather the strength to review things closely. Our young generation will see what their lives and futures are amounting to. They can examine what sort of state they have in front of them. A state that has detached everyone from its promise of a state language. There is such a gap in the levels of knowledge that like wealth, it too is being hoarded by a select few. There is an ongoing process to make sure knowledge is not spread, that it is controlled by a small number of people so that they can exert influence.

All the scholars that this country has ever seen, starting from Rabindranath Tagore to Dr Md Shahidullah, or even world-famous scientists such as Satyendra Nath Bose or Dr Qudrat-i-Khuda, have said that if the mother tongue is not the basis for a person, their breadth of knowledge cannot expand to its fullest. This is what is happening to our nation.

There is so much excitement about Bengali to be seen on television and at the Shaheed Minars in February, but other than poetry, literature, stories and novels, there is little to be said about philosophy, sociology or science being published in Bengali. The commercialisation and privatisation of education and culture and the neglect of Bengali – almost pushing it into a state where it has no space in our lives – are happening in tandem.

So, what needs to be done now is to pose these questions at the Shaheed Minars and other programmes that are being held in February.

The Bangla Academy is currently in a woeful state. That must change. The obstacles in the way of people’s ownership of this country must be eradicated. When we are reminiscing the memories of 1952, we should look to the future and talk about the determination, the promise, and the plans to change this situation.

Transcribed and translated by Azmin Azran.

Anu Muhammad is a professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University.

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This story first appeared in News18

From Golden Retrievers, Dobermans to Labradors, all of Kolkata Police’s dog squad are now beating the heat in style.

Kolkata is reeling under the scorching summer, with temperatures shooting up to 40 degrees. Kolkata Police dogs are, hence, taking special precautions to beat the heat. What have they been doing, you ask? They usually start exercising from 6 to 8:30 in the morning, but now, they just go for walks inside the Agelity Ground of PTS. Around 8:30 am, they take a swim in their special swimming pool. Kolkata Police came up with the special pool last year. This pool is a level apart: it has a special vacuum system to remove the dogs’ fur and equipped with special lights.

The officer who looks after the dogs told News18, “We make them play with balls and water polo. After 12 pm, all of the 47 dogs are accommodated in three air-conditioned rooms till 3 pm.” They eat beef for lunch but from May, they will be given chicken, as prescribed by doctors. After lunch, they are given 100 gm “ghol”, which is a drink made out of curd. Doctors have mandatorily advised it for the dogs. The Kolkata Police has applied for ACs in 55 kennels.

When the dogs are out on duty, they go in two dog carriers which are also air conditioned. More air-conditioned carriers could be on the way. They also have ice coats and drink Glucon D regularly while out. From Golden Retrievers, Dobermans to Labradors, all of Kolkata Police’s dog squad are now beating the heat in style.

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