Talking about freedom

Sir ? First it banned Taslima Nasreen?s autobiography on ?law and order? grounds. And now the government of West Bengal has banned a film on death penalty from Nandan, ostensibly because it wasn?t ?selling tickets?. The ?progressive? chief minister of West Bengal will have to do better. He must realize that the essence of free speech is to protect speech you don?t agree with. Maybe brushing up his Voltaire would help Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: ?I hate what you say, but I will fight till my death to uphold your right to say it.?

Yours faithfully,
Santosh Parikh, New Delhi

Divided they fell

Sir ? Mamata Banerjee may have lost control over the red building on S.N. Banerjee Road, but she has emerged the real winner in this year?s municipal elections. Winning 45 seats out of 141, against such odds as last-minute desertions and unfavourable media coverage, is no mean achievement. Banerjee has proved that she is the only real alternative to the left in West Bengal. The people?s verdict is also an endorsement of her stand that as long as the Congress leaders break bread with the leftists in Delhi, their rivalry in Bengal can never be credible. If Banerjee picks up from here and gathers her resources, the Trinamool Congress can put up a good show in the 2006 assembly elections.

Yours faithfully,
R. Balasubramaniam, Calcutta

Sir ? It is clear from the results of the civic elections in Calcutta and Salt Lake that despite its terror tactics, the left could not have captured power if the Trinamool Congress, Congress and other anti-left parties fought the elections as a single coalition. It is heartening to note that Mamata Banerjee has woken up to the need for such a union. The Congress would be foolish to use the Trinamool?s tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party as a hurdle to the merger, because the BJP is not even a force to reckon with in West Bengal. And if a few disgruntled leftists can be roped in, the coalition can be assured of success.

Yours faithfully,
Kalyan Ghosh, Calcutta

Sir ? In last year?s Lok Sabha elections, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)?s Sudhangshu Sil romped home because the sitting member of parliament from the constituency, Sudip Bandopadhyay, left the Trinamool Congress and contested as an independent candidate. In the recently concluded civic polls, it was again defectors from the Trinamool Congress who helped Left Front candidates win. As far as West Bengal is concerned, the agenda of the United Democratic Alliance ? made up of the Congress and the Trinamool defectors ? and the Trinamool Congress is the same: defeating the CPI(M). That should be enough reason for the two to come together and put up a united fight against the left.

Yours faithfully,
Arjun Chaudhuri, Calcutta

Sir ? Thanks to Subrata Mukherjee, the left is back in power at the Calcutta corporation, dashing the hopes of thousands of left-haters. The Congress, even with Mukherjee?s support, ended up looking like a fool and was exactly what Mamata Banerjee once accused it of being: the B-team of the left. Maybe the opposition needs to learn how to project a united front from the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar.

Yours faithfully,
Jayanta Datta, Chinsurah

Sir ? The leftists have shown how a revamp can help win elections. The masses have not read enough Marx to realize that the Kamal Gandhis and Nawal Joshis are inimical to Marxist principles. And therein lies the left?s winning formula.

Yours faithfully,
Kalyan Choudhury, Calcutta