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KOLKATA: Rajakaar is a pejorative term. This is used to describe pro-Pakistani collaborators during the war of independence of Bangladesh. Enraged by student protests, which at an advanced stage were joined by people from different walks of life, against the quota system reserving 56 per cent of government jobs for various groups, including highly controversially 30 per cent for descendants of the 1971 freedom fighters, Sheikh Hasina made the blatant blunder of calling the protesters rajakaars. This further inflamed the already angry students, except for the ones aligned with Bangladesh Chhatra League, an Awami League wing and in order to tame the protests, the government of the day used brute force leading to the death of close to 300 people.

Leading playwright and actor of Bengal, Manoj Mitra dominated the Bengali theatre scene for more than five decades making his distinctive mark as a writer, actor, teacher and director. He passed away at the age of 86 in Kolkata on November 10 morning following a brief illness. His demise was mourned by both the educated cultural community as also the common people of cities and villages since some of his plays like ‘Sajano Bagan’ and ‘Narak Gulzar’ were appreciated throughout the state covering all sections of the population.

When two individuals – a woman and a man – take the vow, they understandably do so in the hope of sharing common interests apart from remaining faithful to each other till death do them part. The global experience is that contrary to their original pledge to remain partners in all pursuits, as time passes by more and more couples in developed and developing countries are drifting apart leading to divorce. Mercifully, far more people get married every year than divorced. Who is not aware of the saying, which continues to gain in currency that half of all marriages in the US end in annulment. A bit of exaggeration there since only 43 per cent of first marriages will fail leading to dissolution. But when it comes to second and third marriages, dissolution rates are horrifyingly large at 60 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively.

The current geopolitical landscape is marked by a multifaceted web of conflicts and alliances, with US imperialism acting as a destabilizing force. The United States' interventionist foreign policy—characterized by military interventions, economic sanctions, and the promotion of regime change—has contributed to regional instabilities, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. This imperialist approach complicates global Geo-political landscape and undermines the role of the United Nations. It also heightens tensions in a multipolar world, challenging the quest for a stable and just global order. In this context, the lessons of the Russian Revolution of 1917 are of salient importance in bringing about peace, stability, mutual respect and harmony in global and domestic affairs, particularly in India.

It was the beginning of the last century. Transition was already in the process. The context in Russia was maturing up for the October Revolution. It was one of the greatest events in human history when workers and the oppressed started rising to throw off feudal-capitalist regime under the leadership of Vladimir Ilych Lenin. He had famously said that revolution in Russia took place in the weakest link in the chain of imperialist capitalist system. Russia was not advanced as the other capitalist countries in Europe were, and hence it was as late as in 1870 that Georgi Plekhanov founded the Emancipation of the Labour League to organize the working class towards a revolutionary struggle.

A slip of a girl when Aparna Dasgupta made her debut as a tomboy Mrinmoyee in Satyajit Ray's Samapti in 1961 , the final part of Teen Konya, few had doubts that she will go far. But perhaps none had foreseen that she would carve out her niche in Bengali films not only as an actor and director but emerge as one of the voices of conscience in West Bengal.

Kolkata (earlier Calcutta) has always been a fascinating subject for study by the Britishers, our former colonial masters as also the Indian historians and sociologists. In the recent years, there has been a renewed interest in tracing the stories associated with the growth of Calcutta in the East India Company era followed by the rule of the British government. A large number of Englishmen reached the Indian shores in 18th and 19th century and settled in Calcutta, the second city of the British empire at that period.

Amitabh Bachchan who is still a craze even after his 55 years journey in Hindi film industry will be step to 82 on October 11. Tall, dark and sans the conventional good looks of some of his predecessors and contemporaries hailing from the wheat fields of Punjab, he was the quintessential dark horse.

Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar whom Rabindranath Tagore had hailed as the symbol of 'ajeya paurasha, akhanda manushyatva' meaning invincible manliness and indelible humanism was the tallest among the social reformers and educators in 19th century Bengal. His 71 year life from September 26, 1820 to July 27, 1891 was the story of an unparalleled journey for modernising the Bengali language, spreading the education to the lowest level of the population including the girls through the setting up of schools, colleges and institutions and simultaneously fighting for the social emancipation of the Bengali women, especially widows.

NEW YORK: Sean O’Casey was the first English-speaking dramatist of international significance to emerge from the proletariat. His proletarian consciousness made his plays a significant part of Irish and international theatre history, securing their enduring relevance. O’Casey was not only a talented playwright but also a committed political activist. This dimension was not just a backdrop to his works but central to his creative output, and is crucial to understanding his work. O’Casey saw his plays not merely as artistic creations but as weapons in the fight to create a new, truly humane society. He died 60 years ago on September 18 in Torquay, UK.