Sandipan Deb writes in the Indian Express about the weaknesses of the Bengali character and specifically about the futility of the actions of the passionate Bengali, seen in the larger context of history. As an example of this, he tells us how insignificant the contribution of Bengali revolutionaries was to the freedom struggle and how incompetent Bengali freedom fighters (as opposed to those from other parts of the country) were on the whole. (the Bengalis could not even hit their targets).

But Bengali passion has traditionally been unproductive.Thousands of young Bengalis went to the gallows or to the living nightmare called Cellular Jail for terrorist attacks on the British. But their fervour and their sacrifice hardly made a dent in the Raj. And most of the time, they could not even hit their targets. Sometimes, they ended up killing innocent men and women.

My grandfather Jyotirmoy Ray was one of those people who endured the living nightmare in Andaman Cellular Jail (Regular visitors to this blog may have read this post which is based on a letter my mother wrote to me after visiting Andaman Jail where my grandfather spent many years as a guest of the British empire. If you have not, kindly do so). So allow me to be a bit surprised when Mr. Sandipan Deb not only denies the impact my grandfather and his fellow Bengali revolutionaries’ sacrifices had on India’s history but also impugns their competence by saying that they were so punch drunk with “passion” that they could not shoot straight.

Continue reading ‘Thank You Mr. Deb’