Convert word into action: Mitra on Bengal's development

Bengal is in dire need of action, not lectures, BJP MP Chandan Mitra said on Sunday. Speaking at a seminar organised by Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS), Mitra said, “The people of Bengal want to liberate themselves from the situation today.“And for that to happen there is a need for the high sounding speeches should be converted to words by those who made them. Often we hear tall words and analysis on development but seldom does anyone come forward to convert those words into action. This is high time we did something about this or else the State will continue to move into darkness,” Mitra said dwelling on his topic “leadership factor in crisis management”.

Wondering why the tallest of leaders from Bengal had hardly raised their voices together in Parliament about the State’s development, the BJP leader offered to do “whatever I can for the closed industries by way of bringing Central assistance”.There is a need to form a forum without any political colours so that people from every spectrum could join this group with a view to develop Bengal, he maintained.

Divergent views on various issues — including “emerging trend in governance and politics vis-a-vis the Indian Constitution,” “Industry and Economics: The way forward,” “Value education to promotenationalism” and “Demography: Dividend or detriment” — tended to emerge during the four-hour-long session.

Speaking on his subject, FINS secretary general Shesadri Chari said that the whole country is in a mess because it had stopped thinking. “The country has stopped thinking because Bengal has stopped thinking.” Invoking Gokhale’s famous remark: “What Bengal thinks today India thinks tomorrow” and insisting that there was a tremendous need to start thinking once again, the BJP leader said, “India has stopped thinking today because Bengal had stopped thinking yesterday.”

He said that despite its uniqueness “the Indian noble ideas envisaged in the Indian Constitution cannot succeed if the people implementing them are not good.” Carrying the idea forward he spoke of economic federalism. India had a unique and highly successful federal structure but what lacked was economic federalism, he maintained regretting how still States’ economies were largely dependent on the Centre.

Speaking on the occasion retired Supreme Court Justice Ashok Ganguli regretted the bad governance. “Today the governance is devoid of constitutional norms,” he said, adding “we are in for days when we have to fight for our constitutional rights which were earned after many sacrifices.”

Among others who spoke were economist Dipankar Dasgupta — who placed an excellent data on the real term growth of Bengal over the past a few years when the State for all practical purposes had seen little industrialisation but only construction boom — educationist Dr Achintya Biswas, advocate Abhijit Bhattacharya et al.