Intellectuals, Academicians, historians etc  jointly issued the following statement:
We are dismayed by the spiralling descent into irrationality of the administration in West Bengal state, in under a year since Mamata Banerjee took office as chief minister.
We believe the increasing illogic of the administration is inspired from the very top, by the impetuous and ill-considered statements and actions of the chief minister on every matter that falls within her gaze: crimes against women, the poor oversight of medical facilities, or the alarming  deterioration in the quality of civic services.
Early hopes and beliefs some may have harboured, that the descent would be halted once the new ruling order consolidated itself, have been belied.
The West Bengal state government order issued late in March, prescribing in minute detail the newspapers that public libraries could subscribe to, was an unwarranted intrusion into the right of the people to seek information from any source of their choosing. In what is clearly a retaliatory move against newspapers that have been critical of certain official decisions since the Mamata Banerjee government took office, the circular left out the two most widely circulated Bengali language dailies and all English newspapers. Curiously, three dailies whose owner-editors were recently elected to the Rajya Sabha on Trinamool Congress tickets, find mention in the list.
It soon became evident that this effort to rig the decks in favour of friendly newspapers was part of a wider intolerance of dissent. By any account, the arrest of Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra – after he had been roughed up by political cadre of the ruling party – for circulating over the internet a subtle joke about Mamata Banerjee’s leadership style, must rank among the gravest violations of the free speech right by an elected government in recent times.
We are also shocked at the continuing incarceration of Partho Sarothi Ray, an internationally renowned molecular biologist and professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, after he took part in a peaceful demonstration against the eviction of slum dwellers in the eastern part of the city. Though he was arrested in the course of the April 8 protests, he is being charged with involvement in an incident of April 4, when he was not even present.
We support the mounting  protest against such acts of brazen violation of basic democratic rights and call upon people all over the country to register their  protest.
The signatories are: Prof. J.V.Naik, Prof. Rajiv Gupta, Prof. Amar Farooqui , Prof. Kesavan Veluthat , Prof Mridula Mukherjee , Prof. Aditya Mukherjee , Prof. Irfan Habib, Prof. Prabhat Patnaik , Prof. Arjun Dev,  Prof. Indira Dev,  Prof. D. N. Jha, Prof. C. P. Chandrasekhar , Prof. Shireen Moosvi , Prof. Iqdar Alam Khan, Prof. Ramesh Rawat , Prof. Wasi Hyder , Prof. Saira I. Habib , Prof. Atluri Murli , Dr. Archana Prasad , Prof. Shakti Kak , Prof. Javeed Alam , Sashi Kumar , Madhu Prasad , Fr Cedric Prakash , Rekha Awasthi     Nasir Tyabji, Astad Deboo , Saeed Mirza , M. K. Raina , Madan Gopal Singh , Ram Rahman , Sohail Hashmi , Virendra Saini , Teesta Setalvad , Dr. P. K. Shukla , Prof. Anil Bhatti , Prof. J. M. Parakh , Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, Dr. Lata Singh, Prof. Utsa Patnaik , Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Asad Zaidi , Manmohan , Rajesh Joshi , Chanchal Chauhan , Moloyshree Hashmi  ,Sudhanva Deshpande , Indira Chandrasekhar, Saroj Ganpath , Zoya Hasan , Teesta Setalwad , B. N. Uniyal , Ruchira Gupta , Santosh Kumar Rai , Shaleen Jain Indira Mukherjee , Anil Nauria , Anil Sadgopal , Badri Raina , Aniket Alam Sukumar Murlidharan , Ritu K Singh , Jagdish Lal Dawar , Daanish Raj , Shabnam Hashmi , Rajendra Sharma , Samvartha Salil , Rahul Verma , N. K. Sharma, K. Ashok Rao, M.M.P. Singh , Vishnu Nagar and Maya Krishna Rao.

The Indian Railways were started 159 years back, on 16th April 1853, and the first train was introduced between Victoria Terminus (Bombay) and Thane.  (The Telegraphs were also introduced on the same day). During the last one and half century, it has grown as the fourth largest railways in the world after USA, Russia and China. It has got tracks of more than 11,500 kms with about 8000 stations.

The Indian Railways have become an important part of the lives of Indian people connecting them with their friends and relatives all over India. It is the cheapest mode of journey for the common people.

But the recent plans of the government for privatisation and PPP in Railways don’t augur good for the future. Instead, the government should try to construct fresh tracks, improve the services and provide more facilities in the railways. It is a national treasure and the biggest provider of jobs. Don’t  jeopardise its future as in the case of Air India and BSNL. The workers in the Railways has a pivotal role to play in strengthening and improving the railways.We have to save railways from the present crisis.

The Telegraphs played a crucial role for more than one and half century, but after the introduction of telephones its importance lost gradually and after introduction of latest technologies, it has almost lost relevance. It is continuing only as a nominal service at present. But the great contributions telegraphs have given to the people will ever be remembered.

A professor of Jadavpur University, Kolkata has been arrested and taken in to custody for circulating a harmless joke and picture in the e-mail on the change of Railway minister by Trinamol Supremeo Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of W.Bengal. The professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was severely beaten by Trinamool goondas, before he was arrested and charged.

Politicians and cultural leaders across the spectrum have strongly reacted to the arrest and charges. As the protests intensified, the victim was given bail.

This is an indication of the day-to-day affairs after the Mamata Government took charge. Such actions have to be condemned strongly.

India is a country of several states, cultures and traditions. But there are more similarities than differences and hence it is a nation. Tomorrow almost all parts of India is celebrating festivals, Vishu, Baisakhi, Bihu etc. etc. Names may be difference, but it is all part of the festival of this great nation.

On this opportunity my Best Wishes and Greetings to all our Comrades, Friends and Well Wishers!

The judgement  of the Supreme Court yesterday upholding the provisions of the Right to Education Act (REA) is to be highly appreciated. The private school management has appealed to the apex court stating that the provision of 25% free seats to poor students will infringe their fundamental rights assured in the Constitution. The Supreme Court rejected the petitions and stated that this provision is to be implemented.

This year also, the government has issued orders declaring 14th April, the Birthday of Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, as Public holiday in the last moment. Year after year, this practice is going on. We have several times demanded that the date may be permanently declared as holiday as in the case of holidays like Independence Day and Republic day.

Dr. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and an icon of the SC/ST and Backward classes deserves such an honour. Let the government discuss and take a decision without delay.

The government today, 12th April 2012,  decided to include some communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tripura. In Kerala, Pulluvan and Thachar communities will be included in the list of Scheduled Caste, an official release said here. The carpenters in the Thachar community will not be included in the SC list. The Dahiya community of Madhya Pradesh and Amata, Amath, Bajia, Jaggili, Jagli and Buna Pano communities of Odisha will also be included in the SC list. In Tripura, Chamar Rohidas, Chamar Ravidas, Dhobi and Jhalo-Malo communities will be included in the list. The Majhi (Nepali) community in Sikkim will be excluded from the SC list, the release said. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the proposal to introduce a Bill in Parliament in this regard, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said. After the Bill becomes an Act, members of the communities included in the SC list will be able to derive benefits meant for Scheduled Castes under the existing schemes. Some schemes of this kind include Post-Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, concessional loans from national Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, hostels for SC boys and girls.