Pradeep Bhattacharya, who spent his life for the cause of working masses, rational thinking

By YS Gill*
At 11:30 pm on May 3, 2021, I lost my best friend and comrade Pradeep Bhattacharya. He spent his life dedicated to the cause of the working masses and rational thinking.
A person of thorough scientific outlook and a well-read student of Marxian thought, he was a walking encyclopedia and could speak on a wide variety of topics from art and culture to science, philosophy, history and politics.
A writer, journalist, filmmaker, teacher, science communicator and a staunch atheist, he was always held in high esteem by his students, friends and comrades.
Pradeep always shunned opportunism and compromise and led a simple life. He never hankered after positions in the Communist Party of India, which he served as an activist, leader and a prolific educator – equipping hundreds of comrades with basics of Marxian thought and the history of world revolutionary movements.
He was the main brain behind our School of Communication and Cine Arts (SCCA) and had came up with the unique concept, From Stage to Screen, where students learned the arts of theatre and filmmaking as an integrated discipline in a free unencumbered environment even as they experienced the working of different departments of theatre and filmmaking including acting, set design, camera, sound, lighting and editing. They learnt how to act in a theatrical setting and in front of a camera.

He played an important role in the innovatively and creatively designing the studios at our SCCA's Faridabad campus because we had very little money that our friends and well-wishers had given us for the purpose.

Pradeep was the leader of the team of one of India's most successful science communication projects, the Science Page, which was a full-colour ready-to-print page published in several languages by mass-circulated newspapers - reaching several million readers. The page published during the 1990s carried stories on frontiers of science, written and illustrated for the lay reader.
We worked together in so many other projects like setting up popular websites like panjabilok.com and urdu tahzeeb.com; Science of Light school workshops in Delhi and NCR, Mathematics & Science Communication Media Workshops across India (commemorating the International Year of Mathematics and birth centenary of Shrinivas Ramanujan); Science & Astronomy workshops across the country and many more.
As they say an educator is always an educator, Pradeep Bhattacharya played a leading role in our science education and astronomy club projects. In fact, all the operations of Mars Education were looked after by this versatile genius whom we lost in the most unthinkable circumstances.
Among the fiction short films we co-directed and produced included a landmark 13-episode series based on short stories of the celebrated writer Sadat Hassan Manto which dramatised his different stories to portray the extraordinary range of his literary calibre. Many of our students launched their acting careers with the series that was broadcast on Doordarshan.

Another documentary series we did was in Urdu, “Masael aur Mustaqbil”, which traced the origin of Urdu, its contribution to our composit culture, literature, films and the national movement. The documentary was shot by teams led by Pradeep and myself across the country and included dozens of interviews.

He came up with the unique concept From Stage to Screen, where students learned the arts of theatre and filmmaking as integrated discipline

I vividly remember a radio drama series “Kitne Pakistan”, based on the novel by the same name by the famous writer Kamleshwar we did several years ago. Most of the recording supervision and directing of the voice actors was done by Pradeep while I conveniently popped in as co-producer of the radio drama which ran into 20 episodes.
Pradeep was a meticulous planner and executioner. I would come up with adventurous concepts and leave in to him to work out details and work-plan before we implemented the project together. We were two different people but so interconnected and interdependent that I am at a loss to understand how would work in future...
The extraordinary 30-plus hours delay to put him on ventilator cost him his life. The problem however started with the highly erratic oxygen support at Delhi's premier Covid hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital. That resulted in steady deterioration of his condition. This happened at different stages.
Each time his oxygen saturation level fell, he was attended to only after a lot of pressure and shouting and after long delays. Till we could call him, we would start making frenetic calls to concerned officials and well-connected friends as soon as we knew that his O2 level was sinking. Then we couldn't talk to him and there was a deafening information gap. He went from bad to worse and fought for his breath till his lungs collapsed.
It is less about the virus but more about the total failure of our health system, criminal lack of preparedness of the Modi government which did nothing for more than a year since the Covid outbreak. The Delhi government is equally culpable. So much for its empty promises of robust health and education system.
As the pandemic riding on virulent mutant strains is surging, a medical emergency should to be declared in the country. Armed and paramilitary forces should be immediately brought in to provide medical and logistical support to effectively combat the pandemic. When will we use these massive, often wasted, resources which are used more to suppress than to protect the people?
Private hospitals should be nationalised for the time being and health services, medicines, tests and vaccines should be free.
Otherwise India would be a nation of the walking dead...
---

*Journalist, filmmaker, science communicator; former director, School of Communication and Cine Arts (SCCA), Faridabad; currently with Mars Education, which works with schools on hands-on science education

Comments

What's behind public sector banks showing huge profits in 2nd quarter of 2022-23?

By Thomas Franco* The quarter two results of the public sector banks (PSBs) appear to be noteworthy compared to a few years ago. All these banks showed good profits in the financial year 2021-22. Twelve PSBs made a net profit of Rs 25,685 crore in quarter 2 of FY23 and a total of Rs 40,991 crore in the first half of 2023. The combined profit of 12 banks in March 2022 was Rs 66,539 crore which was 110% more than 2021 – Rs. 31,816 crore. The Asset Quality Review of 2015 saw a surge in NPAs of PSBs jumping to Rs 8.96 lakh crore in March 2018 from Rs 2.17 lakh crore in March 2014. This was simply because the norms for NPAs were changed from 180 days to 90 days, and all restructuring of even genuine accounts was done away with. In 2018 NPA of SBI was 5.73% which has come down to 0.8% in Q2 of FY23. The NPA of Canara Bank has come down to 2.19% from 7.48% in Mar 2018. The same trend is seen in all public banks. Now SBI has seen a jump of 74% in its net profit, while Canara Bank’s profit is

Economist-editor's allegations on Narmada defamatory, baseless: Medha Patkar

Counterview Desk In a reply directly addressed to well-known economist, journalist and columnist Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar’s two articles in the Times of India (republished here and here ), calling them defamatory and wondering whether they were borne out of “ignorance or a conspiracy through political alliance”, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Pakar has said that the Narmada Sardar Saravar Project and the people's movement by adivasis, farmers, labourers, fish workers, potters and all the generations’ old communities from the river valley have suddenly come to be focused on, since the Gujarat elections are in the doorstep. She believes that while the “defamatory accusations with baseless conceptions such as ‘urban naxals’ are to be laughed at as the electoral strategic moves, one gets shocked to read the articles by a known old columnist like Swaminathan Ankalesaria Aiyar, published in a reputed daily like the Times of India." According to her, Aiyar’s two articl

Business back to normal? IIM-A survey says, sales expectations have sharply improved

By Our Representative The Indian Institute of Management’s Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES), which polls a panel of business leaders to find out their perception of slack in economy, including their inflation expectations, year-ahead cost expectations and the factors influencing price changes, such as profit and sales levels, etc., has said that the cost perceptions data indicates signs of moderation in price pressures. Carried out for September, the survey says, the cost pressure of the reporting firms has shifted from “very significant increase (over 6%) to moderate increase (3.1% to 6%).” It adds, “The percentage of firms perceiving over 10% cost increase y-o-y has declined. Over 21% of the firms in September 2022 round of the survey perceive that costs have increased very significantly (over 10%) – down from 26% recorded in August 2022.” Claiming to be a unique survey, in that it goes straight to businesses -- the price setters -- rather than to consumers or household

Hindutva groups threat to peace, freedom: US diaspora groups tell FBI, other govt depts

By Our Representative The Islamophobic and neo-Nazi ideology of Hindutva is a clear and present danger to peace and freedoms in the United States, a coalition of civil rights organizations told key officials of the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at a recent event in Edison, New Jersey. At the event titled United Against Hate, activists from American Muslims for Democracy (AMD), Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) and Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) made detailed presentations on this ideology of Hindu supremacism that is committing mass persecution of India’s Muslims and Christians and is rearing its ugly head in New Jersey as well as across the US. Attending the event were David S Leonardis, Special Investigator from the New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety; Michael E Campion, Chief of the Civil Rights Division for the US Attorney General's Office; and Jonathan R Norbut of the U.S. Dep

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

GoI's productivity linked incentives to corporates 'without independent analysis'

Counterview Desk Wondering how prudent is the Government of India's (GoI's) Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, EAS Sarma, former secretary, GoI, in a representation to Nirmala Sitharaman, Union finance minister, has said it appears to be nothing more than subsidy to the private sector without any responsibility. Giving a specific example against the backdrop of announcement of 50% subsidy covering the project cost of the Vedanta Group's decision to set up a semiconductor fabrication plant in Gujarat, in collaboration with Foxconn, Sarma says, "The total cost of this project is reported to be Rs 1,54,000 crore. 50% of this works out to Rs 77,000 crore." Stating that this creates the impression that the entire subsidy allocation for the semiconductor manufacturing sector would be appropriated by this company, Sarma says, "The Gujarat government did not lag behind in liberally announcing similar incentives for the Vedanta-Foxconn project. It offered 7

As polls approach, electorate 'failing to realise': Gujarat model is in a shambles

By DN Rath* Gujarat assembly elections, scheduled to be held on 1 and 5 December 2022, is viewed by many as dress rehearsal for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. When the suffering people have been pointing towards redressal of some local issues like absence of cleanliness, sewage problem, shortage of water supply, troubles created by stray cattle, insufficiency of streetlights, etc., it is evident that they are not fully aware that assembly elections are being fought on ideological standpoints and policy decisions. Nor is there the realisation that the state is in a shambles and the much-trumpeted ‘Gujarat model’ of development has proved to be a hoax. Like other states, the people of Gujarat are also back-broken by steep rise in prices to the tune of 400% in last 20 years. It is not that the government cannot control the spurt in prices if it so wants. Apart from the fact that price rise is an inevitability in a capitalist economy, artificial shortage triggered by massive hoarding, b

BJP poll gimmick? Bilkis Bano rape case 'pardon' vs Rajiv assassins' release

By Sandeep Pandey* Supreme Court has released six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. This was bound to happen as earlier AG Perarivalan was released in the same case, setting a precedent. Even though four of them are Sri Lankans but a popular Tamil sentiment favoured the release of these convicts which is why Tamil political parties supported this and resolutions were passed by different governments in Tamil Nadu to his effect. Rajiv Gandhi paid the price of sending Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka where it got entangled with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and eventually the whole operation ended up is a fiasco. However, most importantly Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi and probably Rahul too do not have any objections to the release of these convicts. In fact, Sonia Gandhi played an important role in getting the death sentence of the only lady among the convicts Nalini commuted to life term through the Tamil Nadu Governor. Priyanka visited Nalini in Vellore Jail and

Amit Shah accused of inciting communal passion: Demand to postpone Gujarat polls

Counterview Desk In an email representation to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Dr EAS Sarma, former secretary to the Government of India, has objected to the statement reported to have been made by Union home minister Amit Shah, who allegedly justified the 2002 Gujarat riots stating that certain sections of people “taught a lesson” to the rioters. Noting that the statement, if correct, “in effect implies those other than the law enforcement authorities had taken law into their hands”, Sarma says, “Shah's statement needs to be viewed by the ECI in conjunction with the reported fact that it was the Union Home Ministry that cleared the release of the eleven rape convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, directly related to the infamous Godhra incidents in 2002, which triggered the shameful sequence of events that shook the nation's conscience.” According to Sarma, if the statement is true, “I am constrained to draw the inevitable inference that it would have already impacted th

Search This Blog