Indian Museum yet to wake up to Egypt's call for mummy's upkeep, country's oldest mummy in sick bed, gasps for breath

The authorities of Indian Museum in Kolkata are unwilling to involve experts from Egypt for the upkeep a mummy which is rotting steadily owing to the lack of preservation measures and neglect. A museum official told 101Reporters there is fear that the 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy, one of the six in India, may soon be "decayed beyond recognition" if it is left unattended further. Egypt's ambassador to India Hatem Tageldin had expressed his displeasure over its maintenance at the museum in 2017 and had expressed a desire to send a team to the train the museum staff on the preservation of ancient mummies. While the Indian Museum showed interest initially, they backed out later.The museum authorities have often been blamed for the mishandling of its rare collections, financial irregularities and mysterious disappearance of its priceless artefacts. However, the negligent way to handle the resident mummy, its most prized possession, has often invited ire from the Union Ministry of Culture. The body is wrapped in cloth, the arms tied down to the sides. The face and head have eroded, leaving the bones exposed. The mask which lay over the face has been removed and laid on the chest.The mummy's arrival in India, reportedly from "the tombs of the kings at Gourvah [in Egypt]" to Mumbai via sea and then to Kolkata, can be traced back to the 1800s.Records of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Vol III, dated 1834) mentions that the mummy was a gift to the Society, which founded the museum, from a British officer in the same year. In 2014, chief heritage conservationist Sunil Upadhyay was presumably abducted by some miscreants after he had raised voice against irregularities by a section of authorities at the museum. He has been missing since then. Renowned museologist Sachindranath Bhattacharya blamed the museum authorities for its unscientific upkeep. He told 101Reporters that everyone was aware of the substandard care the resident mummy has been receiving since the disappearance of Upadhyay. “It must not be an isolated case; we must get into the root of the problem. If Egypt is keen to provide us expertise, then what’s our problem,” he argued.Bhattacharya, who headed an expert panel to look after the preservation at the museum, said time-tested scientific methods were followed in the ancient days during mummification, which is exclusive to Egyptians and the museum staff across the world get training from the experts.He also called for the formation of an expert committee for the preservation of mummies in the six museums across the country.For mummification, Bhattacharya explained, the experts make a hole and insert a hook through a hole near the nose and pull out a part of the brain. Then they make a cut on the left side of the body near the abdomen to remove internal organs—intestines, stomach and liver—and put it inside jars, then place them back inside the body. Additionally, the body is covered with salt before applying the bandage and placing it in a coffin. He added that the mummy's physical degradation could have been averted had the authorities taken a cue from Egyptian experts.He said the standard steps of preservation stipulate that the mummy be kept in a proper climate with regulated temperature as mummies are not only fragile but also temperature and light-sensitive. Assessment of the bones of mummies should also be carried out at regular intervals. However, he claimed that these steps are not being followed by the museum.He lamented the fact that no status report is available, even though he had demanded it during his stint at the museum.Bhattacharya said one of the primary reasons for the decay could be the unregulated evaporation rate of the calcium from the bones of the mummy. Improper upkeep could pose health hazards to visitors, he added.He also claimed that there is a possibility of the presence of radioactive material inside the body. “If there is any radioactive material, it is sure to pose a serious threat to visitors’ health as such metals cause cancer,” he added.

TMC cadre target postal dept to derail Modicare

Kolkata, West Bengal: Trinamool Congress members in West Bengal have been intimidating post office employees to deter them from distributing documents pertaining to the Centre's Ayushman Bharat Yojana.Two such incidents have taken place in January.Trinamool Congress (TMC) is the ruling party in the state. At a public meeting in Krishnagar city on January 10, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her government was withdrawing from Ayushman Bharat. She argued that the Centre was taking credit for the scheme even though states bear 40% of its cost. Her speech pointed out that scheme documents that are being provided to the beneficiaries bear a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a picture of lotus, the election symbol of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She accused the BJP of using a government scheme to derive undue political advantage.The healthcare scheme, also dubbed Modicare, was announced in the Centre's 2018 budget. It aims to provide cashless medical treatment up to Rs5 lakh per annum to more than 10 crore families. The Centre and the states share the cost of the programme. While many non-BJP-ruled states have chosen not to implement Ayushman Bharat, West Bengal had agreed to merge it with its existing health insurance scheme last July.Nine days after Banerjee's aforesaid speech, a TMC MLA led about 200 partymen to the head post office in Krishnagar and threatened to shut it down if the department did not refrain from delivering Ayushman Bharat letters to beneficiaries. Requesting anonymity, a postal department official told 101Reporters that TMC legislator Gouri Sankar Dutta confronted postmaster Prabodh Bag and demanded to know if the postal department was working as an extended arm of the BJP to deliver Modi's letters.While Bag refused to comment on the incident, Dutta defended his action and told 101Reporters his party will fight any move to politicise Ayushman Bharat. Quoting Banerjee, he said the TMC won't allow the BJP to claim credit for the scheme. "We won't allow post offices to run, if necessary,” he asserted.Act IIA day after Dutta & Co's stunt in Krishnagar, TMC ward committee president Tapas Saha, his aide Shankar Sikdar and three others attacked a postman who was distributing Ayushman Bharat letters in Asansol, East Burdwan district. However, the TMC's aggression backfired as a group of local women attacked them with broomsticks and lathis upon witnessing them assaulting the postman. This incident took place at Chasipara locality in Durgapur Municipal Corporation limits. Saha and Sikdar sustained multiple injuries on their head and chest and were shifted to a private healthcare facility. Their condition was stable.The ruling party's intimidation tactics seem to have worked. Requesting anonymity, a postal department officical said they were feeling increasingly insecure but can't speak about it openly as it might invite the wrath of the ruling party. "The party leaders have issued a warning to our staff in several districts against distributing Ayushman Bharat letters to beneficiaries. I don't have any option but to obey their diktat. Otherwise, we may face more attacks,” he said.Attackers' attackers arrestedTwo days after the incident in Asansol, police arrested 12 persons on the charges of attacking TMC's Saha and Sikdar. On January 25, police arrested BJP's youth wing president from East Burdwan, Asim Pramanik, too for the attack. BJP East Burdwan president Lakshman Ghoroi alleged that the police were framing Pramanik. While the TMC blamed the BJP for the attack on its workers, Ghoroi refuted the charge and said it was the outburst of the common man against TMC-backed goons. Following the twin attacks on postal department employees, Ghoroi led a mass rally to decry the TMC cadre's heavy-handedness. He said postal employees face threats in Ketugram, Mangalkot and Katwa of East Burdwan, besides Asansol and Durgapur. He added that the BJP would soon start an agitation to protest the TMC's scare tactics. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh echoed this sentiment. He said any such attack on government employees is condemnable and the BJP will resist it with all its might. 

As Hasina returns for fourth term as PM, opposition in Bangladesh fears death of democracy, attack on dissent

Kolkata: The election sweep of Awami League, led by its charismatic leader, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who was elected to her fourth term, comes as no surprise. Hasina on January 7 took oath as the Prime Minister leading a 47-member council of ministers. Before becoming PM for the first time in 1996, Hasina was the leader of the opposition twice between 1986-’90 and 1991-’95. She went on to claim the second term as PM in 2008 and the third one in 2014, before returning to power for the fourth term in the elections concluded in December 2018. The ruling party’s landslide victory amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging in a poll fought against a new alliance led by Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated international jurist who drafted the country’s constitution, in the absence of Opposition BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia, speaks of a democratic system that seeks to thrive amid extremity. Hasina’s Awami League-led Grand Alliance, a conglomeration of 14 parties, won 288 seats out of 300 seats, while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led Jatiya Oikya Front suffered a complete rout, securing only seven seats.Opposition to stay away from regime Experts mainly attribute Hasina’s victory to her party’s success in outsmarting its Opposition, mobilised by Kamal Hossain, once ally of her late father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, though they are critical about the ruling party’s strong-arm tactics and soaring aspiration to grab power.Newly elected members of parliament, including Hasina, were sworn in on January 3, but the seven Opposition members stayed away, saying the results were rigged and demanding fresh election.Professor of International Relations at Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Sahab Anam Khan, attributed several factors for Awami League’s massive victory. These are failure of BNP-helmed Opposition, Jatiya Oikya Front to withstand the ‘firepower’ of the ruling Awami League, its failed strategy, Awami League’s greater urgency to win polls and Hasina’s success in projecting growth card.Though allegations of electoral malpractices are rife, but these factors took some sheen off the victory that has enough geopolitical significance.“Her trick mainly lies in putting the Opposition in disarray. She emerged as a capable leader who can address people’s fundamental needs and take the country to new heights. The contentious victory can be best explained, taking note of few factors which do not augur well for democracy in Bangladesh. For geopolitical reasons, Hasina’s coming to power is welcome; though for democracy in Bangladesh, it’s not,” Khan says.Substantiating his claim, the academician says probably none could handle extremist elements and growing Islamic fanaticism in a country, which has often seen attacks on minorities and bloggers. “None can take the credit from her for the way she has dealt with extremist elements. It was never easy in a country which saw a surge of fanatic activities even during her earlier tenure. But that does not justify her actions this time. Will you call it an election?” Khan asks.Growth promising, but democracy in dangerKhan, however, admits that Hasina despite being labelled as ‘authoritarian’ has been immensely successful in sailing the country through a period of crisis. He says the Islamic country’s robust economic growth, including a tripling of per-capita incomes since 2009 and an annual average growth rate above 6% in the past decade, which was the fastest in the developing world, comes into picture when one speaks about her success as a leader on whom rests the aspirations of 166 million population.“Hasina has built a domestic ecosystem that helped steady economic growth. The country’s GDP is now US$265 billion and per capita income is US$1,620. She can claim credit for framing effective investment policy, creation of business environment and foreign investments, which paid dividends for her,” Khan says.He, however, cautions against the regime’s taking extreme measures to contain detractors. “Credit must be given to PM Hasina for showing urgency to see the end of Islamic fundamentalism. Her firm dealing with extremist and Islamic fundamentalist forces, which killed her father, is welcome. But in the process, crackdown on civil societies and muzzling any rising voice is a not a sign of a healthy democracy,” the academician adds.BNP senior joint secretery general Rizvi Ahmed says that this election was “unprecedented” in Bangladesh’s history. “Our stand is very clear. We don’t want to be a part of any event called by the authoritarian regime that has used all means to muzzle the democratic voice in Bangladesh. The ruling party applied every means to win the poll.”He adds, “The huge security force, judiciary and every machinery acted on behalf of the government to ensure its victory. It’s not easy to fight against the party which is in power.” The BNP also accused Awami League of manipulating social media content.Convenor of Jatiya Oikya Front, Kamal Hossain, also alleged irregularity and violence during elections. On January 6, he held an emergency closed-door meeting with diplomats of at least 30 countries, including USA, UK, Canada, Russia and China, and discussed the ‘future of democracy in Bangladesh’ with them.The ‘evidences of the election violence’ were presented before the diplomats and written copies of the allegations with ‘facts and evidence’ were handed over to them.Academician Khan says the BNP boycotted the 2014 polls, claiming that it would be manipulated. “This time, Begum Khaleda Zia, BNP chairperson, was jailed for 12 years on corruption charges and her son, Tarique Rahman, who lives in exile in London, was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in October last year for a plot to assassinate Hasina. There is virtually no face to show up and none to put up a semblance of fight to Sheikh Hasina. All these factors certainly show the country in bad light,” Khan says. Free speech, media under threatThe BNP though looked in a shambles, Hasina has taken no chances, bringing an estimated 300,000 cases against the major opposition party and ordering thousands of its members to be arrested just before the election.Not only the Opposition, the ruling party was also criticised for its crackdown on journalists. In August last year, an award-winning photographer, Shahidul Alam, 63, was charged for “provocative comments” made in an Al-Jazeera interview about protests that have rocked the country for more than a week.Alam was released from prison in November after spending more than 100 days in detention in a case denounced around the world as an assault on free speech. Alam is accused of spreading propaganda against the government under Bangladeshi’s International Communication and Technology Act (ICT), a law that rights groups have decried as “draconian”. The measure is allegedly used to launch crackdown on media and repress government critics.A law professor at Dhaka University, Asif Nazrul, admits that Hasina must be credited for Bangladesh’s growth trajectory, but says that the regime’s repressive measures, crackdown on free speech have come as a “blot”.“Bangladesh is witnessing a sweeping change. There is sustained economic growth driven by domestic demand and exports. But that does not ensure political freedom,” he says.The country’s intellectuals feel that Bangladesh would ultimately turn into a one-party state. “If the current trend goes unabated, it will establish the culture of impunity in the form of partisan interests,” Khan says.