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...
Now it is Newton, Connecticut. Another tranquil and wealthy locality just 96 km north east of New York City, believed to be the safest place in United States of America. There is an educational institution named Sandy Hook Elementary School in the south west of Connecticut there. Young children aged between five to ten came there on Friday morning too as there was nothing special about that day.
As made clear later a masked gunman carrying a rifle and two handguns entered the school and started firing like a madman. At least 27 people including 18-20 little innocent children and the school principal were killed before the state and federal authorities moved in and took the wounded to hospitals. The killer identified as 20 year old Adam Lanza was earlier mistaken for his elder brother Ryan Lanza. He was believed to have killed first his mother who was a teacher in the elementary school, drove his mother’s car into the school premises, fired blindly at least 100 rounds and then killed self within the school.
One of the worst shootings in educational institutions of America since the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 happened again mindlessly and heartlessly. The pain felt by every parent there, in USA and elsewhere in the world has to be indescribable and heavy and numbing. President Barack Obama broke down addressing the media and ordered the flags in White House to be flown at half mast. The parent in him was anguished and he assured that effective action would be taken. Action in preventing such mayhem rather than in the aftermath must be planned and chalked out.
Along with all sensible Americans we condemn such attacks against humanity with all our heart and soul. We appeal for the US authorities to find reasons and motives so as to prevent such attacks in future.
We had discussed the issue of hate crimes, mindless firings and shootings in educational institutions in USA earlier in these pages here when just in July and August this year two heinous firings had taken place—first in a movie premiere and the other in a tranquil religious place of worship. Everyone on planet earth must be severely disturbed and anguished by the ominous regularity of such crimes in USA since the last few years, particularly in 2012. What is wrong with the American society? Is the demographic pattern changing or creating conflicts within? Are the recessionary trends and unemployment causing disturbances in the society? Is the economic disparity or high level corruption or snobbery responsible? Is their value system or the erosion therein responsible? Americans must introspect hard and must find the answers before it is too late. Obama on his second term must too spell out his effective action sooner than later.
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