ISSUE 35 November 30th, 2015

Paris under attack!! No facebook updates or tweets can compensate for the 128 lives lost during the attacks of 13/11. Yes, terrorist attacks are now merely been remember by their dates. When Al-Qaeda brought down the twin towers of New York, the fight against terrorism began. But over and over again the innocent has lost their lives in this ongoing battle. The battle has neither been lost nor won. The incident reminded us of the Mumbai attacks on the ill fated night of 26 November 2008. The attacks in Paris were carried out in the same format as of the 26/11, perhaps the best process of inflicting maximum casualties when you are enjoying your day out with your friends at a city restaurant or enjoying a rock concert or even watching an international soccer encounter.The group which has claimed the responsibility of the merciless butchering of the common people is ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). They are the new face of terror in the world. At a time when the US led coalition forces are fighting all their ends out against this terrorist group, they are slowly growing in number and resources. A group which was not even heard of before 2014 has turned out to be a largest funded and resourced with trained jihadis. Where did they come from? Well, to find out the answers we have to go back to 2003 when the US forces attacked Iraq to topple Saddam Hussain. As the US forces gathered momentum in Iraq and pulled Saddam out of his den, they destroyed the country, blew up its infrastructure and created a power vacuum in Iraq, a situation that was not to be healed so quickly. IS was formed in 2006 as a local insurgent group, they could not create much trouble for the US forces due to lack of resources. When they were largely unsuccessful in their attempts against the US military forces, in 2011 they turned towards Syria where a civil war was on to tumble President Bassar- al- Assad. The two major groups fighting against President Assad were Al-Qaeda and the Free Syrian Army which consisted of a breakaway faction from the Syrian Army. Now, when the ISIS entered the Syrian Civil War arena, the group couldn’t get hold of something substantial until the Syrian rebels asked for international help to fight Assad. Within a few weeks of this call for help the US, Saudi, Turkey, Jordan and Israel started

providing weapons, money and training to the Free Syrian Army. The CIA funded weapons started flowing in to the hands of the Syrian rebels. They were not American made, but were funded and organised by the CIA. These weapons which were meant for the Free Syrian Army, within one year landed into the hands of the ISIS. How?? Well, actually the ISIS fighters were a breakaway group from the Free Syrian Army. Slowly the ISIS with its large supply of arms and ammunition from the west started growing in numbers. In June 2014 they entered the Northern part of Iraq, heavily armed and trained by the coalition forces. They touched the highest levels of brutality with mass killings and taking in hostages and murdering journalists including James Foley. They captured nearly the whole of northern Iraq and captured the rich oil fields in the area. The ISIS earns nearly 300 million dollars a year only by selling oil to several countries including Turkey. But even though the ISIS got hold of weapons and fighters to fight

for them, they couldn’t have gained such a success without the US military equipments in Iraq. The equipments which were simply left behind by the US military forces without destroying when they left Iraq three years back. Despite knowing that the ISIS was getting hold of the military equipments the US government did nothing. They just watched silently. They continue with the supply of weapons and money to the FSA in spite of knowing that they would ultimately land up in the hands of the ISIS. If the US and the British forces didn’t attack Iraq in 2003, the situation would have never arisen. Former British PM Tony Blair accepted that they were wrong in attacking Iraq suspecting Saddam of having chemical weapons.

US made Frankenstein wreaks havoc on ParisAvijit Das

“Be arrogant with arrogant people; this is the only language they respect, as they confound kindness with weakness.”Paolo CoelhoWith another inhuman terrorist attack in Paris in the beginning of November, the united anger in the common people and the governments has risen. While many Indians got reminded of the similar 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008, many think that the world has to face more disrespect and get bombarded due to the loopholes in the national security measures. The Indian sentiments were hurt once again after the black day that killed several innocent people in Mumbai. The condemning of the incident and prayers by various Indian leaders has not done enough to keep the people of the world safe. There have been series of such incidents around the world, where it is always the innocent common people losing their lives and families. The social media went rampant on the issue, with hashtag movements, shameful messages against the attackers and the French tri-colour flag filters on Facebook. Numerous Indians have actively taken part in these movements in shaming the terrorists and letting the sufferers know that they are by their sides. With many strong messages against terrorism from leaders from all over the world, it is for the citizens to watch out for the

good times hopefully. Terrorism is not a religious issue, and neither can any particular religion be labeled as inhuman or anti-social. It is the violence in an individual that is cultivated through certain activities like these. The young generation however does not believe in radically making judgments

or speak on matters form an emotional angle. Rather due to certain technological developments people are well informed and have extensive knowledge. On one hand when the world is turning against Muslims and calling names to Islam, there are numerous non-Muslims who believe that a religion is not to be blamed. “Terrorist attacks do not happen without the participation

of some civilians, during the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, some Indians in high official ranks were involved in helping the terrorists. These traitors are equal to them, even in the Paris attack some French people were involved. Condemning one organization is not the ultimate step, the fraud people who often do not get caught are to be blamed as well”, said a young fashion designer, who wished to be anonymous. “Terrorism is an act, one cannot simply call Muslims terrorists. In that way I would say that the world has become an unsafe place for the Muslims, as they are being blamed and attacked for every mass killing. Anybody carrying out illegal activities and killing innocent people is a terrorist, and that person does not represent any particular religion. One cannot only blame some organizations, the French government just bombarded Syria, and they killed so many innocent people as well. That is not a good deed wither”, said Julfikar Rahaman, a 2nd year B.Sc. student from Barasat College.It is to see whether the world is heading for an ‘eye for an eye’ society or is there still some sanity and patience in us enough to get things back in shape before it is worse by understanding the cause and effect of events with logic and not being run by emotion.

News In Brief

Climate Change SummitPrime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Indian pavilion at the climate change summit on Monday and will address leaders and delegates from across the world at the summit. He will also jointly launch the India-mooted International Solar Alliance with French President Francois Hollande.

Aamir and intoleranceBreaking his silence on the raging debate over acts of intolerance, actor Aamir Khan expressed “alarm” and despondency over the rise in such cases “in the last six to eight months”. Khan said a sense of “insecurity” and “fear” had seeped deep within society, even in his family.

India beats PakistanIndia defeated Pakistan 6-2 in a scintillating performance to lift the junior Asia Cup. Hockey India announces cash rewards.

Didi invites Nitish and KejriwalMamata Banerjee has invited her Bihar and Delhi counterparts Nitish Kumar and ArvindKejriwal to the Bengal Global Business Summit here on January 7 next year.

French air strikes France has launched its first missions against Islamic State (IS) militants from its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, military sources said. French President Francois Hollande has vowed to intensify strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq after the group said it was behind deadly attacks in Paris.

Kolkata’s largest skywalk Kolkata-based realtor Siddha Group said it is developing the world’s longest skywalk in Kolkata and it would be completed by 2019.

Lahari Basu

9/11 World Trade Centreruined to the ground(2001)

Pan Am Flight 103 bombing,270 killed,Scotland(December 21 ,1998)

US Embassies bombingKenya,1998

Mumbai Blast 1993Mumbai local train blast,july11,2006Taj Hotel,Mumbai (26/11/2008)

Madrid train bombing11 March,2004

Chronology of terrorist attacks

26/11 horror revisited : Gen-Y retaliates

ISSUE 35 November 30, 2015

The Team: Avijit Das, Bhavna Yagnik, Koustabh Das, Lahari Basu, Santanu Ghosh, Shubhasish Mitra, Saptarshi Chowdhury, Soham Biswas Design Team: Abhishek Bhattacharjee, Indrani Sen, Supratim Sinha, Rishin Bose

Chief Mentor: Dr Buroshiva Dasgupta Mentors: Debanjan Banerjee, Reshmi Naskar, Bhaswar Bhattacharyya, Sourav Basu, Barnali Ray, Ankita Ash

November 16th is observed as the National Press Day every year. November 16 epitomizes a free and responsible day for press in India. Way back in 1956 the first press commission of India recommended to set up the Press Council of India as a statutory body. The council would act as a watchdog to ensure that press maintains its high standards and is not affected or influenced by any threats or external factors. Every year PCI celebrates National Press Day in an apt manner by organizing seminars and press conferences. This year PCI chairman Chief Justice

(Retd.) C.K.Prasad said it is necessary to include television and internet under the Council’s

ambit. He emphasized that the full potentials of the council will not be realized as long as it is

restricted to print media because media is no longer made up of words which are written on

paper. He also stressed on matters relating to funding, reforms in the act, changes in

the governing council etc.President Pranab Mukherjee felicitated awardees on the occasion of national press day. He introduced the theme of this year’s press day-‘Impact of cartooning and caricature as medium of expression of opinion’. He said that awards are “recognition of talent, merit and hard work by peers and leaders in profession” and hence should be valued. The PCI’s list of winner’s are- Press Trust of India’s Shahbaz Khan, Sujit Chakraborty of Indo Asian News Service, Tashi Tobgyal and CR Sasikumar from Indian Express. - Saptarshi Chowdhury

Soham Biswas

“Even today films remain the most persuasive form of entertainment.” spoke Amitabh Bachhan at the Kolkata International Film Festival 2015. So true his words were. The 21st edition of KIFF saw an assortment of passionate calcuttan audience as diverse as the genres of film portrayed by some of the very fine directors, though the festival was more concentrated on the female directors. It’s not only Kathryn Bigelow who has made an Oscar winning war-time film or Mira Nair who came out of the fore to present societal issues along with little nuances in everyday Indian household, KIFF 2015, the 21st edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival witnessed films from the women directors of India, China, Taiwan, Japan, Switzerland, Persia and a lot many places. Along with the unputdownable spirit of these women directors the festival was also thoroughly

electrified by a competitive environment, the second time in the KIFF’s history. The seven day long festival spanning across 12 venues

across the “City of Joy” was successful at highlighting some of the much matured female perspectives in cinema, as noted by Sharmila Tagore, the chairperson of the International Jury. The indomitable courage and the painstaking efforts put forth by the new age women directors were evident as the films screened dealt with a diverse range of themes and genres. Some of the most acclaimed films stand out to be a yemeni director Khadija Al-Salami’s ‘I am Nojoon

age 10 and divorced’ to which Sharmila Tagore commented, “It is very brave of her to show the courage and highlight the suffering of women in the name of religion.” Irena Pavslaskova’s Photographer was also much appraised for its bold representation of the life of the acclaimed photographer Jan Saudek. KIFF wrote on their website that since its beginning, this has become a unique kind of festival. One of the most interesting directors of the recent times, Jafar Panahi came up with another must-watch film “Taxi”, and won the Golden Bear at the KIFF 2015. The Golden Royal Bengal Tiger 2015 for the

best film was awarded to ‘The Wednesday Child’ by a hungarian director Lili Horvath. The Tiger was thus fiercely fought and won by the tigress.

Tigress win ‘The Golden Royal Bengal Tiger’ at KIFF

National Press Day

Author : Leo TolstoyCountry : RussiaLanguage : Russian, with some FrenchGenre : Historical, Romance, War novel, philosophicalPublisher : The Russian Messenger (serial)Publication date : 1869Media type : Print (Hardback & Paperback) & Audio bookCost : Rs 375Pages : 1,225 (first published edition)

All we can know is that we know nothing. and that’s the height of human wisdom.”War and Peace is a novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy that is regarded as one of the central works of world literature.War and peace has a larger cast of characters, the majority of whom are actual historical figures, such as Napoleon and Alexander 1.The book is divided in four volumes

and the chapters don’t just contain the narrative of the novel’s plot but philosophical discussions as well. This may be intimidating to average book readers but they shouldn’t be discouraged to try reading War and Peace. After all, this book was written for all and not just for intellectuals.The five wealthy families followed are the Bezukhovs, Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Kuragins and the Drubetskoys in the early 19th century especially during the time when Napoleon invaded Russia. Like with Tolstoy’s other novels, this one also tells about the different social problems in Russian high society like the fathering of illegitimate children of wealthy russians, financial ruin of some families due to incompetence, their vanity despite the poverty which surrounds them and so on. The lives of the main characters from the different families are intertwined in

the novel with friendships and conflicting interests.War and Peace is also a historical novel. Napoleon himself is one of its main characters and a huge part of the book was about him. It is really impressive how Tolstoy was able to depict him very accurately in this novel. Besides him, Tolstoy was also very accurate about his descriptions of the historical events during that time like the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow and others.This book doesn’t just narrate the trials and the problems and conflicts between the different characters in the novel but also provides philosophical insights to historical events. It is always interesting to learn about history from another point of view not just from what was told in history books. - Bhavna Yagnik

Book Review : War and Peace

Another black day registered in the history of the World. France was the country who suffered from the bomb blast by terrorist. Islamic state (IS) had claimed that this was done by them. It is a time to think where the world has gone to. People are openly accepting their crime to show their power. France is not the only victim of this, many more countries are affected. No Indian can forget the “26/11” case. Terrorist attacked Taj of Mumbai. It was happened in the year 2008, 7 years had passed down. But is India safe from terrorism? Let us see what the students of NSHM Knowledge Campus, Kolkata are thinking about this.

1.Is India safe from terrorism?

2.Did India take lessons from 26/11?

3. Do you think Indian Media has a role to play in combating terrorism?

4. Is India capable to fight terrorism?

Campus Buzz!