J&K parties mark Article 370 anniversary as 'Black Day', BJP holds celebrations in Lal Chowk
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Political parties across the spectrum in Kashmir, except the BJP, observed the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of special status of J&K as a "black day" and a day of mourning when the identity and rights of the people were snatched.The authorities didn't allow the political parties to organise protest marches in the city centre, Lal Chowk, while the BJP was allowed to organise a celebratory function at the historic clock tower in Lal Chowk of Srinagar. The BJP activists also organised a bike rally to commemorate the decisions of August 5, 2019.Several politicians and their supporters were restricted inside their respective party premises while many others were not allowed to leave their homes. The ruling NC legislator from Srinagar, Salman Sagar, who led a protest gathering inside the party office said the authorities can lock the offices and confine the leaders but they cannot imprison an idea. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said August 5 marks a black day not just for J&K, but for entire nation.
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Indian Express
21 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Why Sylheti is not a ‘Bangladeshi language'
Amid a roiling controversy triggered by a Delhi Police letter seemingly referring to Bengali as the 'Bangladeshi national language,' a social media post by BJP leader Amit Malviya has sparked an outcry in Assam's Barak Valley. In his defence of the letter, Malviya claimed it was referring to 'a set of dialects, syntax, and speech patterns that are distinctly different from the Bangla spoken in India', and gave the example of 'Sylhelti' as being 'nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis'. What is Sylheti? What is the history of its speakers? And why have Malviya's comments touched a raw nerve in Assam? Dialect or language? Sylheti is spoken on both sides of the border, in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh as well as the Barak Valley Division of southern Assam. There is also a sizable presence of Sylheti-speakers in neighbouring Meghalaya and Tripura. 'Every language has dialects and Bengali has several of them,' said Joydeep Biswas, who teaches economics in Cachar College. The primary argument for referring to Sylheti as a dialect of Bengali — and not a language in its own right — is mutual intelligibility, that is, speakers of both tongues understand each other. However, there is significant scholarly disagreement on the matter. 'The claim of mutual intelligibility by some speakers of both Sylheti and Bengali may be more an effect of the speakers' exposure to both languages,' linguists Candide Simard, Sarah M Dopierala, and E Marie Thaut wrote in 'Introducing the Sylheti language and its speakers' (2020). 'Sylheti-speaking areas of Bangladesh and India are characterised by diglossia, where standard Bengali is the language of education and literacy and Sylheti is the vernacular variety used in everyday interactions,' the linguists wrote. Speakers on both sides of the border nonetheless have a strong affinity to the Bengali language, and often identify as Bengali themselves. 'Families such as mine also speak Sylheti. But I identify my linguistic identity as Bengali because Sylheti is a dialect. Even if non-Sylhetis do not understand Sylheti, that doesn't take away the [Bengali] linguistic identity of the Sylheti people,' Biswas said. Tapodhir Bhattacharjee, a former vice-chancellor of Assam University Silchar and a Bengali literary theorist, said that the primary difference between the Sylheti dialect and standardised Bengali is phonetical, while the two are almost identical in morphology and syntax. While Bhattacharjee recognises that there was once a Sylhet-Nagri script — the existence of a unique system of writing is often seen as a marker of a language — he refers to it as an 'esoteric script'. 'It was never a common script used by all. It came into existence in the late medieval ages in Muslim society due to Persian influence. It was mostly used by Sufi fakirs in texts to express their mystic approach towards the Almighty,' he said. Sylhet, Partition & migration Historian Ashfaque Hossain refers to Sylhet as historically being 'a frontier of Bengal'. The present-day Sylhet Division in Bangladesh, comprising the districts of Habibganj, Sunamganj, Sylhet, and Moulvibazar, was made a part of Assam soon after it was split from Bengal in 1874. 'Although vast in area, this new province [Assam], with its population of 2.4 million, had a low revenue potential… To make it financially viable… [the British] decided in September 1874 to annex the Bengali-speaking and populous district of Sylhet. With its population of 1.7 million, Sylhet had been historically an integral part of Bengal,' Hossain wrote in 'The Making and Unmaking of Assam-Bengal Borders and the Sylhet Referendum' (2013). Geographically contiguous with Cachar in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley, between 1874 and 1947, Sylhet witnessed a sustained churn over the question of whether it should be a part of Assam or Bengal. 'On one side, this was a matter of Bengali versus Assamese, and on the other, Hindu versus Muslim,' Hossain wrote. Historian Anindita Dasgupta wrote in 'Remembering Sylhet: A Forgotten Story of India's 1947 Partition', '… the Hindus of Sylhet demanded for a return to the more 'advanced' Bengal, whereas the Muslims by and large preferred to remain in Assam where its leaders, along with the Assamese Muslims, found a more powerful political voice…' But come 1947, this situation reversed. Now the Hindus of Sylhet demanded to remain in Assam, and hence India, while the Muslims sought to join East Pakistan. This culminated in a controversial referendum on July 6 and 7, 1947 which sealed the fate of the region: 2,39,619 of the valid votes were for joining East Pakistan and 1,84,041 were for remaining in India. When the official border was finally revealed in August, a part of Sylhet, comprising present-day Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj) district in the Barak Valley, remained in Indian Assam. In the initial years after Partition, a wave of Hindu Sylheti refugees settled in this region. The story of Sylheti migration to parts of present-day Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, however, is even older. Dasgupta wrote about 'Sylheti Hindu bhodrolok' who were 'economic migrants' across the region. 'Sylheti middle-class economic migrants to the Brahmaputra Valley and Cachar areas were a population in motion in colonial Assam, moving back and forth, many with simultaneous homes in both Sylhet and the Brahmaputra Valley districts and Cachar since the late nineteenth century,' she wrote in 'Denial and resistance: Sylheti Partition 'refugees' in Assam' (2001). The Census of 1901 noted that 'Sylhetis who are good clerks and are enterprising traders are found, in small numbers, in most of the districts of the province [Assam]'. There was thus a significant population of Sylhetis in what is now India well before East Pakistan, let alone Bangladesh, was even imagined. Outrage in Barak Valley The Hindu Bengalis of the Barak Valley are one of the strongest support bases for the BJP in Assam. Malviya's claim of the dialect being 'a shorthand for the linguistic markers used to profile illegal immigrants from Bangladesh' has thus drawn strong reactions not only from the BJP's political opponents in the Barak Valley but from within the party. 'Even today, at least three MPs and several state legislators across Assam and Tripura speak Sylheti natively… Over 7 million people in Northeast India — across Barak Valley, parts of Meghalaya and Tripura — speak Sylheti. They are proud Indian and Bengalis. To dismiss their language as something foreign, or 'non-Bengali,' is to rub salt in the wounds of a people already scarred by Partition,' prominent BJP leader and former Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy posted on X.
Indian Express
21 minutes ago
- Indian Express
West Bengal: Tension in Barasat after clashes break out during Suvendu Adhikari's rally
Tensions flared in Barasat, in the North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday during the BJP's 'Kanya Suraksha Yatra' rally, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, as Trinamool Congress supporters allegedly clashed with BJP participants, during the event aimed at highlighting crimes against women in the state. According to reports, a confrontation erupted when the BJP procession reached the Champadali More, in Barasat, where a TMC party office is located. The BJP has alleged that TMC workers made provocative remarks toward Adhikari, sparking a scuffle, and leading to stone-pelting and vandalism. A BJP supporter was reportedly injured in the incident. In response, the TMC supporters, reportedly, not only accused the BJP of instigating the violence, but also claimed that BJP participants shouted slogans to harass them and physically assaulted them, retaliating with sticks and water bottles, while they were standing near their party office. A banner featuring TMC leader Mamata Banerjee was also reportedly targeted. Police personnel, including those from Rapid Action Battalion, were deployed to bring the situation under control, officials said. Several motorcycles were also reportedly vandalised in the chaos. The senior BJP leader later claimed he was attacked in Barasat, but managed to escape, drawing a parallel to the Cooch Behar incident. Following the incident, Adhikari posted on X that the 'Kanya Suraksha Yatra' was a demand for the safety of women in the state, citing a rise in violence against women under the TMC government. Adhikari further said that atrocities against women were on the rise in Bengal due to a 'complete collapse of law and order.' There was no immediate response from the TMC regarding the allegations. The incident comes a day after Adhikari's convoy was allegedly attacked by some people in Cooch Behar district on Tuesday afternoon. Security and police vehicles were vandalized, and Adhikari's bulletproof car was reportedly hit with sticks, stones. Police have also arrested several individuals. — With PTI Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics. With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences. Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Fadnavis, Shinde name a GM each for BEST in latest tussle
MUMBAI: A post usually shunned by IAs officers – the general manager of the distressed BEST undertaking – ended up with two officers at the helm, leaving the Mahayuti government with egg on its face and the target of jibes from the opposition. Thane, India, November ,27, 2014: Joshi new collector Thane -In a history of Thane Collectorate second time ladies IAS officer joined- ,India, November,27, 2014 (Photo By Praful Gangurde) The post of general manager of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST), an undertaking of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which falls under the jurisdiction of the state urban development department (UDD), fell vacant on July 31, when SVR Srinivas retired. On August 5, the UDD issued an order asking additional municipal commissioner Dr Ashwini Joshi to hold additional charge of the undertaking, which runs Mumbai's public bus service and supplies power to the island city. Joshi was to head the BEST until the state general administration department (GAD) issued a regular order on a new appointee. However, that same day, the GAD appointed GST commissioner Asheesh Sharma to take over the beleaguered BEST undertaking. As a result, the BEST had two officers at the helm, at the same time, even if only for a day. After the faux pas was discovered, the UDD issued a statement late on Wednesday, denying it had issued the order assigning charge to Joshi. The gaffe has put the BJP-led Mahayuti government in an awkward spot. The opposition claims it has once again exposed the tug-of-war between deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the former heading the UDD and the latter the GAD. According to protocol, the GAD issues orders on government appointments and transfers, not the UDD or any other department. State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal posted on social media, saying: '1 post, 2 orders, 2 leaders, is this a double gang war of the double engine government?' A 'gang war' is ongoing between Fadnavis and Shinde over the transfer of officials, he claimed, adding that in view of this struggle to appoint people in 'lucrative positions', the public is left wondering whether it is a government or a turf war. NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar also took potshots at the BJP-led government. 'As soon as the post of General Manager in BEST became vacant, it seems a race has begun between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to place 'their' person in this position,' he wrote on social media. The BEST has been in financial distress for several years. Political pressure and aggressive staff unions have made managing the undertaking especially difficult. Following an accident where a BEST bus ploughed through pedestrians on a crowded street in Kurla, killing eight and leaving 40 injured, the state transferred its general manager, Anil Diggikar in December last year. Harshdeep Kamble was to succeed Diggikar but he never took charge, and the state asked Ashwini Joshi to fill the post. In February 2025, SVR Srinivas was given additional charge of the BEST, before he retired on July 31. When BEST employees threatened a protest at Azad Maidan on Wednesday, the BEST administration needed an officer at the top, and hence the UDD issued an order assigning additional charge to Ashwini Joshi on Tuesday. The GAD too issued an order appointing Asheesh Sharma, that very same day. Commenting on the mix-up, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Adityaa Thackeray posted on social media, saying: 'So the BEST is being killed by the state government on purpose, but what is worse is the coordination between CM and Gaddaarnath Mindhe (he meant Eknath Shinde) is already dead. CM's GAD has issued orders to one name as administrator, while the Gaddaarnath's UD department has issued orders to another name. Shouldn't the DCM have first discussed this with CM? Shouldn't the GAD be issuing these orders? Why should our State suffer in this ego war? Imagine, if this basic coordination is SO dead, these are the people who are supposed to be leading our State! The most corrupt and incompetent government that Maharashtra has seen.'
