IN A MESS West bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
On March 19, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Janata Curfew to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, West Bengal seemed preoccupied with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and its attendant politics. Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not object to Modi’s decision, many shops remained open on March 22, the day of the curfew. The same day, Banerjee declared a lockdown in West Bengal till March 27, signalling that the state would decide on all pandemic-related measures.
At the time, both Banerjee and the state BJP were chalking out plans for next year’s assembly elections. While many BJP leaders were slated to visit the state, Banerjee was preparing to head to north Bengal, where her party was routed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She was banking on the anti-CAA sentiment in the state, and her new strategist, Prashant Kishor, was keenly monitoring the situation.
Elsewhere, a storm was brewing. As Covid-19 cases started increasing in March, many factories across the country began releasing workers and shutting down. Amid the panic and chaos, a large number of Bengalis had to return home. “There was no way I could stay there (Kerala),” said Tofajjal Sheikh, a young man from Lalgola in Murshidabad. “I was working in an agro-farm near Kasargod. My employer asked me to go back home as many other employees were also running a fever. I came to Lalgola on March 12.”
Denne historien er fra May 24, 2020-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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Denne historien er fra May 24, 2020-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
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RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
