THE MAGAZINE THAT FANNED KOLKATA FIRE

The magazine is patronised mainly by CPIM ministers, though there are representatives from other parties of the Left Front. While the letter added to the fire, sources said that subsequently, copies of the open letter were distributed in a few localities by some organisations that allegedly orchestrated the protests on November 21.

The CPIM-supported magazine, in print for 33 years, claims to have several Left Front ministers on its advisory board8212;Subhas Chakraborty, Jogesh Chandra Burman, Bilasibala Sahis, Kshiti Goswami, Debesh Das, Abdus Sattar, Binoy Krishna Biswas, Debalina Hembram and Subhas Naskar.

The Sunday Express found the magazine was as much responsible for the violence as were the minority organisations who made full use of the letter. Consider these facts:
November 1-6: The October issue of Path Sanket is circulated among its subscribers.
November 7: A leading vernacular daily exposes the publication of the letter, publishing some of its content. Smaller vernacular dailies and weeklies join in. A small demonstration takes place at Park Circus.
November 8: State government orders a ban on the October edition. Police officials confiscate some copies from the market. The Milli Ittehad Parishad a conglomerate of 12 Muslim outfits holds a press conference and declares that it will protest Taslima8217;s stay. On the same day, Path Sanket also props up on the agitation agenda.
November 7-9: Photo-copies of the open letter are distributed in Muslim-dominated localities.
November 21: The All India Minority Forum supports a three-hour road blockade at Park Circus. Later in the day, violence erupts at Park Circus, Beniapukur, CIT Road, Ripon Street, AJC Bose Road and adjoining localities. Army is called in.

Despite all this, none of the magazine8217;s editorial staff has been arrested. After the incident, CPIM representatives had pushed through copies of an 8216;apology letter8217;, claimed to be issued by the magazine. Its editor Professor K.B. Kabiraj has stayed away from media.

8220;The publication has committed a mistake. They should offer an unconditional apology. I don8217;t know if its editorial members are with the party. In case they are, the party should act against them. I have heard about the issue, but I am not part of it,8221; Rezzak Mollah, Minister for Land and Land Reforms said.

8220;A number of ministers have been mentioned in the advisory panel by the magazine. Those who figure on the advisory panel don8217;t see what comes out in the magazine. We banned the magazine within 12 hours of getting informed about it,8221; said Abdus Sattar, Minister of State, Minorities Development and Welfare, who is on the magazine8217;s advisory panel.

The magazine8217;s editorial team has defended the publication saying the letter was an act of mischief carried out by somebody from the group of volunteers who work for the magazine.

Bimal Mistri, a founding member of Path Sanket and a member of the magazine8217;s editorial team, apologised for the 8216;mistake8217;: 8220;In over 30 years of the magazine8217;s history, such an incident has never occurred. It was not intentional. The person assigned the work of sorting printing material is also not aware of how it all happened. It may have so happened that the material that had been discarded was included in the print at the press.8221;

Mistri, a CPIM leader from South 24 Parganas, said the magazine was launched in the 70s to raise social issues. 8220;We have also taken up minorities8217; issues in the past, but we have never written anything against the minorities. As far as Taslima is concerned, we are not commenting on her. Except for the letter, there has been nothing written about her in the magazine,8221; Mistri said.

CPIM leader Dr Asim Bala, part of the editorial team, supported the ban on the particular issue. 8220;It happened unknowingly. It is also possible that somebody played a prank by inserting the letter at the press. We will be alert in future. We are conducting an internal enquiry. We will surely find out who made this error.8221;

Bala said the magazine was started in 1974 and was held in high esteem during the Emergency. He claimed the magazine doesn8217;t have enough staff but has a network of volunteers who write, collect material and take it to the press. 8220;We suspect the involvement of some volunteer. It is likely that the piece was inserted in the bunch that was sent to the press,8221; Bala added.

The editorial board will meet before December 15 to decide the future course of action. Till a decision is reached, further publication of the magazine has been suspended. The editorial team will also discuss the group of suspects and claims it will fire the member or members found guilty. Bala has termed the publication of the letter a 8216;historical blunder8217; committed in the history of the magazine. 8220;The publication of the letter is against the philosophy of the magazine. We are ashamed of what happened. The Government ban on the issue came as a relief for us,8221; Bala said.

The magazine was founded by the late Manoranjan Boral, who was a CPIM MLA and a journalist. Currently circulated at Rs 5 an issue, the magazine claims to have a circulation of around 2,500. It8217;s published from a city-based press and has an office in central Kolkata at CIT Road. The October edition, that carried the open letter, was a festive edition and was priced at Rs 30. The magazine is funded through collection, donation and through advertisements8212;public and private.