Naxalbari
—  village  —
Naxalbari Location of Naxalbari in West Bengal and India
Coordinates	26°41′N 88°13′E / 26.68°N 88.22°E / 26.68; 88.22Coordinates: 26°41′N 88°13′E / 26.68°N 88.22°E / 26.68; 88.22
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District(s)	Darjeeling
Parliamentary constituency	Darjeeling
Assembly constituency	Matigara-Naxalbari
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 152 metres (499 ft)

Naxalbari is the name of a village and a community development block in northern part of the state of West Bengal, India. Naxalbari block comes under the jurisdiction of Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district. Naxalbari became famous for the left wing revolt that took place in the late 1960s.

Geography[link]

Naxalbari is located at 26°41′N 88°13′E / 26.68°N 88.22°E / 26.68; 88.22^[1]. It has an average elevation of 152 metres (501 feet).

The stretch of land, where Naxalbari is situated, lies on the Terai region at the base of the Himalayas. To the west of Naxalbari, across the border river Mechi lies Nepal. The entire stretch of the land surrounding Naxalbari is covered by farm lands, tea estates and forests and small villages, consists of an area of 182.02 km². The Naxalbari block has six Gram Panchayats (village councils), viz. Gossainpur, Lower Bagdogra, Upper Bagdogra, Hatighisha, Naxalbari and Moniram, from north to south. The population of Naxalbari block was 144,915 in the year 2001.

History[link]

Naxalbari became famous for being the site of a left-wing poor peasants uprising in 1967, which began with the "land to tiller" slogan, an uprising continuing to this day (see Naxalite).

The "Naxalbari" incident was triggered on 25 May 1967 at Bengai Jote village in Naxalbari when the police opened fire on a group of villagers who were demanding their right to the crops at a particular piece of land. The firing killed 9 adults and 2 unknown children.

The CPI(ML) have put up busts of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Charu Majumder on that piece of land. The spot has Bengai Jote Primary School next to it. There is a memorial column erected that has the names of the people who died during the police firing. The names are 1. Dhaneswari Devi (F), 2. Simaswari Mullick (F), 3. Nayaneswari Mullick (F), 4. Surubala Burman (F), 5. Sonamati Singh (F), 6. Fulmati Devi (F), 7. Samsari Saibani (F), 8. Gaudrau Saibani (M), 9. Kharsingh Mullick (M) and "two children".

Administration[link]

Naxalbari block consists of one census town: Uttar Bagdogra and rural areas with 6 gram panchayats, viz. Gossaipur, Lower Bagdogra, Nakshalbari, Hatighisa, Maniram and Upper Bagdogra. This block has two police stations: Bagdogra and Naxalbari. The headquarters of this block is in Naxalbari.

Transport[link]

Naxalbari is a station on the Katihar-Siliguri Line.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Rising: Naxalbari to now
• From Naxalbari to Nalgonda
• The Road from Naxalbari
• Naxalbari (1967): The Naxalite Movement in India

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Rahul Gandhi
Member of Lok Sabha from Amethi
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
General Secretary of the Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Chairperson of IYC and NSUI
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Personal details
Born	(1970-06-19) 19 June 1970 (age 42) New Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Relations	Rajiv Gandhi (father) Sonia Gandhi (mother) Priyanka Vadra (sister)
Residence	New Delhi, India
Alma mater	Rollins College Trinity College, Cambridge
Profession	Member of Parliament
As of 5 June, 2011

Rahul Gandhi ([ˈraːɦʊl ˈɡaːnd̪ʱiː]; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency.^[1] Gandhi is the general-secretary of the Indian National Congress.^[2] He is the grandson of Feroze Gandhi and Indira (née Nehru) Gandhi, and fourth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Early life and career[link]

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 ^[3] as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister.^[4]

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi^[5] before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's alma mater,^[6] from 1981–83. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on October 31, 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled since then.^[7] Rahul Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations.^[8] In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE^[9] during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994.^[10] During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies.^[8][11] He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995.^[12] After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London.^[13] In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.^[14]

Political career[link]

In March 2004, he announced his entry into politics by announcing that he would contest the May 2004 elections, standing for his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament.^[15] The seat had been held by his mother until she transferred to the neighbouring seat of Rae Bareilly. The Congress had been doing poorly in Uttar Pradesh, holding only 10 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state at the time.^[16] At the time, this move generated surprise among political commentators, who had regarded his sister Priyanka as being the more charismatic and likely to succeed. It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful population^[17] In his first interview with foreign media, he portrayed himself as a uniter of the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions.^[15]

He won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a margin of over 100,000 as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.^[18] Until 2006 he held no other office.^[19]

Gandhi and his sister, who is married to Robert Vadra, managed their mother's campaign for re-election to Rae Bareilly in 2006, which was won easily with a margin greater than 400,000 votes.^[20]

He was a prominent figure in the Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes.^[21]

Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat.^[22] In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.^[23]

In 2008, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily mentioned “Rahul-as-PM” idea when the PM of India Manmohan Singh was still abroad.^[24]

Youth politics[link]

In his attempt to prove himself as a youth leader in November 2008 he held interviews at his 12, Tughlak Lane residence in New Delhi to handpick at least 40 people who will make up the think-tank of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), an organisation that he has been keen to transform since he was appointed general secretary in September 2007.^[25]

Under Rahul Gandhi, IYC and NSUI has seen a dramatic increase in members from a two lakhs to twenty five lakhs.^[26]

In various reports it has been proved that Rahul Gandhi has failed in his promise to eliminate family, patronage, money from Youth Congress. It has been seen that an aspiring delegates need to pay a substantial sum as nomination fee. Hence, an aspiring office-bearer with deep pockets sponsors them thereby allowing money power to have a role in the elections.^[27][28][29]

2009 elections[link]

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he retained his Amethi constituency by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 333,000 votes. In these elections congress is said to have revived itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and the majority of the credit for this turnaround is given to Rahul Gandhi.^[30] He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks.

Lokpal bill[link]

Rahul Gandhi opines that the Lokpal should be made a constitutional body and it should be made accountable to the Parliament, just like the Election Commission. He also feels that Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption. This statement came out on 25 August 2011, on the 10th day of Anna Hazare's fast. This statement was considered as a delaying tactic by the opposition and Team Anna's members. It was consequently slammed by prominent opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.^[31] The Parliamentary Standing Committee led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi tabled the Lok Bill report in the Rajya Sabha on 9 December 2011. Almost all points proposed by Team Anna were ignored while Rahul Gandhi's wish for Lokpal to be made into a constitutional body was implemented. Anna Hazare believes that Rahul Gandhi is responsible for the weak and ineffective bill proposed by the standing committee of parliament.^[32]

Land Acquisition Protests Arrest[link]

On 11 May 2011 Rahul Gandhi was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police at Bhatta Parsaul village after he turned out in support of agitating farmers demanding more compensation for their land being acquired for a highway project.^[33] He was released after being held for about three hours and later returned to New Delhi. He was to be presented before a Sub-Divisional Magistrate on 12 May 2011.^[34]

2012 Assembly elections[link]

Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in the 2012 Assembly elections, especially in the highly politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the hope that his popularity would help bring Congress back to power. However, the party did very poorly in the elections winning only 38 seats, a meagre increase of six seats from the 2007 elections^[35]. The Samajwadi Party and its new leader, Akhilesh Yadav swept the elections in UP, and Mr Yadav was sworn as the youngest Chief Minister of UP. The Congress party suffered humiliating defeats in other states (Goa and Punjab), and a close shave in Uttarahakhand. With only one win in the state of Manipur, the Indian press was quick to question the future of Mr Gandhi as the leader of the Congress party.^[36]

Political and legal issues[link]

Comparison of RSS and SIMI[link]

Rahul Gandhi has been critical of nationalist groups like the RSS and compared them to terrorist organizations like SIMI.^[37][38] According to a cable leaked by Wikileaks, in 2009, he allegedly shared concerns with the American ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that radicalized Hindu groups may pose a bigger threat to India than Islamic terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba.^[39][40] His comments on radical Hindu groups were criticized by the opposition party, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.^[41]

Sukanya Devi[link]

It has been alleged that Rahul Gandhi had detained a girl and her parents since 2007 after the family accused the Gandhi scion of raping the girl. On 01st Mar 2011, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi,^[42] however the allegations were found to be false. Allahabad high court not only dismissed the case after the girl in question appeared in the court, but slapped a 50 lakh penalty against the petitioner ordering a CBI inquiry against her and websites publishing the story.^[43]

13th Jul 2011 Terror Attack remarks[link]

On 14th Jul 2011, a day after the serial bombing in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi gave a statement that "it was very difficult to stop every single terror attack". The remark resulted in a number of strong criticism from a number of Shiv Sena party members.^[44]

See also[link]

• Political Families of The World

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rahul Gandhi

• Profile at BBC News
• Profile at Govt. of India website
• Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at The Times of India

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Shanti Das (born February 19, 1971 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a music industry executive, marketing consultant, entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. She was most recently Executive Vice President of Urban Marketing and Artist Development at Universal Motown Records, where she managed the marketing campaigns for artists such as Akon, Erykah Badu, and Ashanti.

Early life[link]

She suffered from a tragedy at an early age, when her Indian father (originally from Kolkata) committed suicide when she was 7 months old, leaving her African-American mother to take care of three children alone.^[1]

Career[link]

1990s[link]

Das graduated from Atlanta's Benjamin Mays High School in 1989. She attended Syracuse University, where she majored in Television, Radio and Film in the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. In the summers of 1991 and 1992, she worked her first record label job as an urban promotions assistant at Capitol Records. She briefly interned in the sales department at Sony Music Atlanta before graduating from Syracuse in 1993 with a bachelor of science degree in communications.

Right out of college, LaFace Records hired Das as its National Director of Promotions, where she worked with label founders Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio “LA” Reid on developing promotional campaigns for OutKast, Goodie Mob, Usher, TLC and Toni Braxton. She traveled with several artist tours, including Braxton’s first major U.S. concert tour (1993), TLC’s “CrazySexyCool” tour (1995-1996), and Usher’s 1994 and 1995 promotional tours.

In 1996, Das was promoted to LaFace’s marketing department, where she planned and coordinated campaigns for Outkast, Donell Jones, Goodie Mob and Toni Braxton. In 1997, she received Impact Magazine’s “National Promotion Director of the Year” award at its “Summer XII Conference.” A year later, Impact named her “Music Executive of the Year.”

2000s[link]

Upon the sale of LaFace Records to BMG in 2000, Das moved to New York and took on the role of Sr. Director of Urban Marketing at Arista Records, where L. A. Reid was then Arista’s new CEO. However, before leaving Atlanta, Outkast performed a free concert at Club Kaya in her honor. Das was awarded a “Key To The City of Atlanta” and June 5, 2000 was officially named “Shanti Das Day.”

Das left Arista in 2001 and became Vice President of Urban Marketing at Columbia Records. While at Columbia, she marketed high profile projects for So So Def Records, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri. In 2003, she was elevated to Sr. Vice President of Urban Marketing at Sony Urban Music, where she developed and coordinated marketing and artist development campaigns for Prince, Vivian Green, Lyfe and Omarion.

In 2005, Das joined Universal Motown as Executive Vice President of Urban Marketing and Artist Development. From 2007-2009, she was co-President of 1st Class Entertainment and co-Founder of R&B Live New York, a monthly live music series that showcased urban talent from signed and unsigned artists.^[2]

Das sits on several boards and committees of organizations including:

• S.I. Newhouse School of Communications Advisory Board Member

• Bandier Music Program at Syracuse Advisory Board Member

• NARAS (NY Chapter) Urban Committee Member

• Apollo Theatre’s “Apollo Young Patrons” Committee Member

Das recently completed the program, “Effective Strategies for Media Companies: Navigating the New World,” at the Harvard School of Business in Dec 2008.

Das was named to Crain Communications "40 Under 40" in 2009.^[3] Later that year, moved by the plight of those who either could not afford to bury their loved ones, she created May We Rest in Peace, a nonprofit organization to help bury bodies stacking up at Detroit's Wayne County Morgue.^[4]

Das left Universal Motown in 2009 and launched the company PressReset.me, an Atlanta-based firm that provides entertainment marketing consulting, talent booking, special event planning and life mentoring services.^[5] She is currently co-founder of the live music showcase, ATL LIVE on the Park, a southern version of Das' R&B Live showcase.^[6]

2010s[link]

In August 2010, Das wrote and published the book "The Hip-Hop Professional: A Woman’s Guide to Climbing the Ladder of Success in the Entertainment Business," which chronicles her 20-year career in the music industry.^[7]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Crain's New York 2009 40 Under 40 - Shanti Das
2. ^ uMusic article
3. ^ Crain's New York 2009 40 Under 40 - Shanti Das
4. ^ CNN Money, Nov. 16, 2009: "Charity helps Detroit bury their dead"
5. ^ PressReset.me Official Site
6. ^ ATL Live on the Park Facebook fan page
7. ^ The Hip-Hop Professional official website - Shanti Das