Latest news with #Bengalis
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Scripted drama with weak plot': BJP slams presser
1 2 Kolkata: Bengal BJP on Wednesday termed the press conference at Trinamool Bhavan, where a Malda woman alleged torture by Delhi Police , as "scripted drama" based on a "weak plot". Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said, "It is clearly a scripted drama with a weak plot, and needs a better direction. The woman came out alone and returned home alone. Delhi Police has the CCTV footage. They also have the call records with her husband. The landlord of the house also gave a statement. The state govt should focus on making arrangements for the return of 40 lakh migrant workers if they feel they are being harassed in other states." Bhattacharya added, "Around 14.5 lakh Bengali youths are working in Bengaluru. Bengali is the second-largest spoken language in that city. If Bengalis are being harassed... they should be given jobs here." You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata BJP's Bengal minder Amit Malviya termed the press conference "concocted" while leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "The state govt is trying to create such dramas because they want to save the illegal immigrants."
Mint
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
An exhibition spotlights Nemai Ghosh, Satyajit Ray's ‘photo-biographer'
The study in the Bishop Lefroy Road apartment grew in proportion over the years with the stature of its occupant. For generations of Bengalis, Satyajit Ray's study at his residence in Kolkata was a compelling idea, for here sat the director, in a low chair, thinking, reading, talking, scripting, drawing storyboards, costumes or sets, composing music: visualising the films that would transform Indian cinema. Ray in his study—and outside it, filming—was photographed ceaselessly for 25 years by Nemai Ghosh, called Ray's 'photo-biographer" by Henri Cartier-Bresson. A selection of 150 of these photographs are now on display at the Alipore Museum, Kolkata. The exhibition, titled Light and Shadow: Satyajit Ray Through Nemai Ghosh's Lens, organised by DAG, opened on July 18 and will run till September 13. DAG has the largest collection of Ghosh's photographs. 'This must be one of the largest such collections of a single photographer in India," says Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director, DAG. Ghosh, shadowing Ray always, captures him outdoors with the same intensity: focused on the camera, or cupping his hands close to his eyes as frames, an image of concentration. This looks like meditation, as does Ray's stillness in his study. Thought is also action, and action, the continuation of thought. Ghosh's lens captures this internal process and gives it a form, as it does to the outward process of filming. The photographs of Ray are portraits of an artist at work. And what a figure he is: tall, with arresting features and a towering personality, a 'giant of cinema" according to Cartier-Bresson —set against the chaos of life, yet always distinct, in command. A telling image has Ray asking the crowd at a Varanasi ghat to clear the space during the shooting of Joi Baba Felunath. His stretched left arm seems to have silenced the crowd. But portraying a 'giant" such as Ray can be a tricky business, as is curating an exhibition from a vast body of work shot on film. 'Nemaida used film for his shoots and abstained from the use of flash. This made the task even more difficult because there were variations of each frame that differed in both sharpness and mood," says Anand. Ray's stature presented another problem. 'He was a towering personality but we didn't want that to overpower the image selection…(we needed to show) the filmmaker in a way that would be a homage without being hagiographic," Anand adds. The line between the two can be thin. Ghosh's own words on his subject are revealing. He was a Ray devotee. Ray himself had called Ghosh his 'Boswell", after the celebrated biographer of the English writer Samuel Johnson. But Ghosh out-Boswells Boswell in self-effacement and humility. Ray, the 'master", Ghosh would say, was everything for him. 'As the moon is illuminated by the light of the sun, very many people have come into the light because of Ray. It was my good luck that one day my stars shone on me too. Whatever inspiration and education I have received in my life are like pebbles I have collected from the shores of the sea called Satyajit Ray," writes Ghosh in the preface to Satyajit Ray: A Vision of Cinema, a book with his photographs of Ray. Unadulterated adulation from an audience is one thing, but for an artist, a photographer, the clouding of vision is dangerous. Fortunately, Ghosh seems to look at words and images differently. He was a master of photography, which chose him as much as he chose it. In the 1960s, when Ghosh was a stage actor working in Utpal Dutt's group in Kolkata, he was gifted a camera left behind in a taxi, 'a fixed-lens QL 17 Canonet". With this camera, but without any knowledge of photography, in 1968, Ghosh visited the shooting location of Ray's film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne at Rampurhat in West Bengal, about 200km from Kolkata. Seeing Ray rehearse, Ghosh began to click away. 'I just used my intuition. I didn't know much about the camera, about the aperture or other features," he says in an interview. When Ray saw the photographs, he told Ghosh: 'Sir, you stole my angles!" Appointed the still photographer on Ray's sets, Ghosh took photographs of Ray and his work from Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne to Ray's last film, Agantuk. Ghosh was a natural. For him the moment, the light and the drama had to come together. Not for nothing was he from theatre. He shot only with an analogue camera, with a Nikon. 'My father took candid shots," says photographer Satyaki Ghosh, Nemai's son. Ghosh's subjects are hardly ever looking at the camera. Later, Ghosh learnt about the use of light from the stalwart lighting designer Tapas Sen. Most of Ghosh's photographs are in black and white—and they are his best work. They have a depth, a lyrical quality and a humanity that resonate with Ray's films. Ghosh did not shy away from colour, either, and there are a few gems in those too, such as Amjad Khan as Walid Ali Shah in Shatranj Ke Khiladi looking through the loops of the hookah coils with a lit cigarette in his hand. 'Out of 150 works in this show, around 65 coloured works are being showcased for the first time and the rest are black and white, which we have shown earlier," says Anand. Satyaki is upset that newer images from the mammoth collection are not being shown. Besides, he says, Nemai worked with several other subjects, from stalwarts of Bengali theatre like Sombhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt to artists such as Ramkinkar Baij, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Paritosh Sen, M.F. Hussain, K.G. Subramanyan, Anjolie Ela Menon and Jogen Chowdhury. After Ray's death in 1992, Ghosh began to photograph tribal communities, visiting remote corners of Kutch in Gujarat, Dantewada, now in Chhattisgarh, Koraput in Odisha and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh. Perhaps one day we will see these in an exhibition. Meanwhile, at the Alipore Museum, we have remarkable portraits in colour of Smita Patil and Amjad Khan. A delightful black and white image shows Sharmila Tagore at a Kolkata beauty parlour, her hair in curlers, her face bright and amused. She is reflected in a mirror that also shows Ghosh taking the picture—a rare glimpse of the photographer. Chandrima S. Bhattacharya is journalist based in Kolkata.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
KMC makes Bengali mandatory in monthly meetings amid row over language in BJP-ruled states
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken to the streets protesting against the alleged harassment of Bengalis in BJP-ruled states for speaking Bengali. Now, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has made it mandatory for its councillors to speak in Bengali during monthly meetings. A recent directive from KMC chairperson Mala Roy asked all mayoral council members and councillors to use Bengali during the question hour in future sessions. This comes after the House's monthly session last week, where a TMC councillor from Ward 49 posed her question in English. After the question was placed, Roy instructed Mayor Firhad Hakim to reply in Bengali. Roy then announced that henceforth, all KMC proceedings would be conducted in Bengali. According to KMC officials, Roy has also ordered her office to conduct all official business — including monthly meetings — in Bengali. Speaking to the media, Roy said, 'From now on, the monthly meetings will be held in Bengali. Now, even in Parliament, we will speak in Bengali. Earlier, that was not the case. The state has already taken steps so that the signboards are written mainly in Bengali, and now in monthly meetings the questions and answers will be conducted in Bengali. We will be informing all in this regard.' According to KMC sources, steps would be taken to ensure that councillors submit their queries in Bengali going forward. However, many pointed out that there had been no language restriction earlier. Sajal Ghosh, the BJP councillor from Ward 50, said, 'Why restrict Bengali to just the monthly meetings? Why not make all KMC signages fully Bengali, removing Urdu? Why does official KMC stationery still carry Urdu script?' After a recent 'Talk to Mayor' session, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said that signboards and hoardings of all commercial establishments, including shops and restaurants, must be written in Bengali, along with other languages. Last year, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation mandated the use of Bengali language on all commercial signboards, including hoardings, alongside other languages. A deadline of February 21, 2025, was set for implementation of the rule. 'The KMC authority has decided that henceforth it is mandatory to write Bengali language on top of all the signboards/signages/hoardings alongside any other languages. For this purpose, we also need to check and implement the same in all establishments of KMC (including KMC HQ, Borough Offices, KMC Health Centers, KMCP Schools),' the order had stated. A similar initiative was announced by the KMC in 2007 under then-Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, requiring shop owners to include Bengali on signboards. However, it was not successfully implemented.
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
INDIA bloc continues protest against Bihar's SIR, Congress leaders join in
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday joined the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc MPs in protesting against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar, and also the "arrest of labourers in BJP-ruled states" while being outside Parliament at Makar Dwar. Sonia Gandhi joined the protest, holding the large banner 'SIR-attack on Democracy,' and stood beside her daughter and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi. Other leaders like Pramod Tiwari and Manickam Tagore were also present. The INDIA bloc protest was also joined by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs protesting against the "arrest of labourers in BJP-ruled states." The party has been separately protesting for a few days against the alleged mistreatment of Bengalis in other states, however today, they joined the larger protest while the other MPs held caricature posters criticising the Election Commission (EC). The SIR cartoon portrayed a man labelled "EC" dressed in uniform and shackled, holding what resembles an EVM (Electronic Voting Machine), with a speech bubble saying "YES SIR." The tweet was captioned with a single, sharp hashtag: #SIR, a clear reference to the recent allegations by opposition parties that the ECI is functioning under pressure from the central government, especially in light of developments in Bihar. MPs of the INDIA bloc have been protesting against the voter roll revision on since the commencement of the monsoon session on July 21 both in and outside of Parliament. Earlier on July 29, multiple leaders, including Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Manickam Tagore, Hibi Eden, DMK MP Kanimozhi, JMM MP Mahua Maji, RJD MP Manoj Jha protested in the ongoing rain ahead of the commencement of today's session in Parliament, holding up posters and demanding a halt to the exercise. Congress MP Manickam Tagore posted a cartoon on X, mocking the Election Commission of India (ECI) in connection with the recent controversy over the SIR. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha List of Business for Wednesday states that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move a resolution to extend President's rule in the ethnic violence-hit state of Manipur for six months. The President's rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13, days after N Biren Singh resigned from the Chief Minister's position. Under the motion, the President's rule will be extended till February 13, 2026, after the Parliament's concession. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
BJP MP seeks FIR against Mamata over ‘torture' video post: ‘Bid to malign Delhi Police, incite public discontent'
A day after Delhi Police rejected the claims that a migrant woman from West Bengal and her one-and-a-half-year-old child were 'assaulted and tortured' by policemen in East Delhi, BJP MP from Kanthi has demanded that an FIR be registered against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had posted the video on her X handle. BJP MP Soumendu Adhikari, in a complaint to the Cyber Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, alleged that West Bengal chief minister deliberately disseminated a 'false, fabricated, and communally charged video' with the intent to malign the image of the Delhi Police and incite public discontent. Soumendu Adhikari is the brother of the Leader Of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. On July 27, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee posted a video on her X handle and alleged that a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were brutally assaulted by personnel of the Delhi Police in the name of Aadhaar verification. 'Atrocious!! Terrible!!. See how Delhi police brutally beat up a kid and his mother, members of a migrant family from Malda's Chanchal. See how even a child is not spared from the cruelty of violence in the regime of linguistic terror unleashed by the BJP in the country against the Bengalis,' Mamata had posted. A day later, DCP East Delhi, Abhishek Dhania, told mediapersons that the woman in the video had retracted her claims when questioned by police. Referring to Dhania's press conference and the claims made by the police, the BJP MP wrote that 'the intention behind making the video was to create a false narrative and circulate it on social media for political and defamatory purposes.' 'The actions of Mamata Banerjee, in knowingly or recklessly disseminating unverified, provocative and false content, constitute grave offences,' the MP said, demanding a detailed investigation to identify a 'wider conspiracy', and appropriate penal action against the chief minister. The family of the woman, said to be in the video, has, however, stuck with their allegations against the Delhi Police. According to the woman's father-in-law, the family has been staying in Delhi for the past six years and hails from Malda. Meanwhile, relatives of the family in Chanchal, in West Bengal's Malda district, lodged a complaint with the local police on Sunday night. 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
