Dr Fuad Halim and the hyperlocal political brand
The Managing Director, Inexgro Brand Advisory, writes about elections, social workers and hyperlocal aspirations of the electorate
Shivaji Dasgupta
Those connected to the Bengal assembly polls will be well familiar with Dr Fuad Halim, the doctor philanthropist who is a medical messiah in his constituency. I am certain that there must be many such stalwarts across the country, rendering genuine community service prior to seeking electoral mandates, unlike the promise-based archetype of Indian politics. They are naturally affiliated to a mainstream party but their primary attraction is independent apolitical influence, due to genuine and consistent action.
Calcutta police to probe unnatural death of DYFI leader The investigation team is headed by joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma
A seven-member team of officers from Calcutta police was formed on Wednesday to probe the unnatural death of Maidul Islam Middya, the 33-year-old DYFI leader who had joined last Thursday’s Left march in Calcutta that saw clashes between the police and Left supporters.
The probe team is headed by joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
Sources said the probe would include examination of witnesses (on-duty policemen and Maidul’s friends and colleagues), corroboration of statements with available CCTV footage and verification of findings with the nature of injuries he had sustained.
Maidul Islam Middya, a 33-year-old DYFI leader who took part in a protest on Thursday in Calcutta that witnessed clashes between the police and Left supporters, died in a nursing home on Monday morning.
A preliminary post-mortem report said no internal injury had been found, according to the police.
But the Left and the Congress said Maidul, an auto-rickshaw driver and the sole breadwinner of his family, was beaten up by the police during the foiled Nabanna march last week seeking jobs.
When chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s attention was drawn to the death, she said at Nabanna: “Any death is unfortunate. We will have to identify the true cause of the death. If anyone from his family is willing, we will offer a job.”
Calcutta police on Tuesday lodged a case against over 250 Left supporters, including SFI state secretary Srijan Bhattacharya, for allegedly roughing up a policeman at Entally on Monday, a few hours before the body of DYFI leader Maidul Islam Middya, a protester in Thursday’s march, arrived there.
A Bankura resident, Maidul died at a Calcutta nursing home on Monday allegedly of injuries from police beating during the Left rally for jobs.
Hundreds of Left supporters reached the SFI-DYFI office in Entally on Monday. During a heated argument between them and the police, an ASI of Taltala police station, Arunava Dutta, was thrashed.