The wonderful hobby of throwing mud at each other

We know that those who live in glasses houses should not throw stones. We have also been taught that when we point a finger at somebody, another four fingers point back at us. One also remembers the instance of a group of men and women who wanted to punish a woman by pelting her with stones. Jesus Christ stood beside the woman and said he who has never committed a crime could throw the first stone. And – no one threw stones at the woman. However, today throwing mud at each other has become the norms. Recently, a huge scam came to light in Bengal. The Enforcement Directorate ED believes that Partho Chatterjee, a senior minister of the ruling Trinamool Congress TMC, was involved. He had engineered the scam, along with Arpita Mukherjee, a celebrity of the film industry. The total value of the scam is yet to be ascertained by the authorities. They say it runs into several crores of rupees. It has come as a shock to the TMC and its leaders are trying to reduce the damages by throwing mud at other political parties like the BJP that is in power at the center. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, TMC Supremo, has already sacked the minister. Mamata Banerjee sacks minister Partha Chatterjee after cash haul at his aide’s residence

Incidentally, there are leaders in other political parties, who are equally if not more corrupt. Those who are close to these politicians know the truth but prefer to remain silent spectators for fear of serious repercussions. Spilling the beans could end up in loss of lives for the men or loss of face for the women and girls. The fact remains that when there is a scam and it blows out of proportion, the opposition tries to divert attention. They draw a red herring across the trail to dilute the issue. Politicians treat these as wars and justify their actions by saying - everything is fair in love and war. The Ajay Devgan movie Gangajal of 2003 is a depiction of how those in politics treat others. Things have not changed much over the last nearly two decades.

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Tour package to the 417-year-old Bandel Church on the banks of the Hooghly river

The West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) has announced a special chartered bus service for tourists that would take them on a tour of the 417-year-old Bandel Church on the banks of the Hooghly river and the Mother House apart from well known churches of Kolkata on Christmas eve.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 23 December 2016.

The iconic Bandel Church is one of the oldest churches in eastern India. It had been founded in 1599 by Augustinian monks and, visitors to the church will be greeted with a unique display of light, music and water. As Prior of Bandel Church, Salesian Fr T L Francis has revealed - every year more than 100,000 visitors, cutting across religious beliefs, visit the Bandel Church during the Christmas season. An added attraction this year would be a colorful display of light, sound and water at the newly erected musical fountain.
The visitors can see larger-than-life sized statues of popular Christian saints like Mother Mary, Mother Teresa, Don Bosco, St Joseph, St Francis Xavier and others. There is also the life size Station of The Cross depicting 14 scenes from the final hours of Jesus's life with 54 statues and a Christmas crib depicting the birth of Jesus. Then there is the nine-feet statue of Jesus Christ with open arms in front of the Bandel shrine.
Yet another attraction is the historic 'Mast' from which the Church and the town get their name and a renovated grand 'doorway' that leads to the Church's precincts.
The mast of the Portuguese ship was a votive offering to the Church from the captain of the ship that was miraculously saved in a tempest in the Bay of Bengal in 1655. The mast has been declared a heritage item by the Archaeological Survey of India. The mast had fallen down in a storm in 2010 and has been restored last year.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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