Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year. With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...
Apart from his regular articles Dey wrote two researched books on the underworld and recently he was writing a series on diesel adulteration in a particular locality near Mumbai for which he received threatening calls of late. An investigative journalist goes down to mafia bullets for writing his views.
Only last January an additional district collector of the Government of Maharashtra, Yashwant Sonawane was burnt alive in broad daylight for inspecting suspicious activities of petrol and diesel adulteration.
It's very disturbing. Both acts showed bold defiance of the perpetrators raising the inevitable question of a politico-mafia nexus. Mumbai has been the hotbed of gangster and underworld shootouts, but the grime never affected the creatively opinionated and artistic professionals. So, the trend is horrifying.
We condemn this brutal act and join with all in the fourth estate fraternity. The government must deliver and protect all righteous professionals from the vested interests. But we must also introspect. We should have zero tolerance against violence and terrorism, but not against opinions and creative expressions. Legendary Painter M F Hussain
died in exile on June 9, 2011. Who were responsible for throwing out such a worthy artiste of our country? If he offended many with his paintings, he should've been attacked with words only and not intolerance.Intolerance breeds violence and violence is the mantra of all criminals and of course, the Mafia. While demanding protection and security we must help each other too.
Comments
Post a Comment
Hi! Welcome! Please comment what you feel! 😊