The disease known as Leftist Liberalism, which is nothing but a cover for separatism and India hate, has infected major institutions of Bengal, ranging from Education, Entertainment, Art & Literature, Cinema to even Food , so much so that ways and means to disinfect/sterilize these, seem to be a distant dream at the moment, though not impossible, given the rise of the alternate ideology, that of Nationalism.
Bengalis are well known as foodies possessing an insatiable appetite for food, starting from home cooked Bengali cuisine to that prepared in various parts of the country and the world. This is apparent from the existence of a vast number of Bengali food blogging sites and groups on Social Media. To cash in on Bengal’s love for food as also cooking, primarily the myriad Bengali dishes- from the simple mundane ones to the pompous variety available in the many large to small eateries, a Food Blogging site called ‘Bong Eats’ was started around five years back by a techie, Saptarshi Chakraborty and a Kolkata-based educationist/columnist, Insiya Poonawala.
‘Bong Eats’ has a YouTube channel by the same name with around 5 lakh subscribers. The duo of Chakraborty and Poonawala had stated in an interview to a daily around 12 months back that they prepare the Bengali dishes themselves and upload the same in their site/page/ YouTube videos. The dishes range from a simple Macher Jhol or Shukto to Mutton Kasha, Pulao and various other Bengali lip smackers.
However, the food loving netizens of Bengal received a rude shock when they visited the Twitter Handle of ‘Bong Eats’ on 14th September to find a meme in support of Umar Khalid, who was taken into custody on the same day on charges of being a co-conspirator in the Delhi riots in February ((https://twitter.com/bongeats/status/1305510467712974849?s=03) . It became evident that the site lured food loving Bengalis by tickling their taste buds with delicious Bengali cuisine only to brainwash them with their destructive separatist ideology at the opportune moment. Buoyed by the adulation and accolades they received for their food, they thought they can influence and cajole the quintessential Bengali to join them in their support for a terror mastermind, Khalid, whose aim is to destroy India, which he had no qualms in mentioning through his infamous ‘Tukde Tukde’ slogan at JNU. The illusion that the owners of the site have is that Bengalis are essentially left inclined which will help them in achieving their purpose. A state which takes pride in worshipping Shakti, Devi Durga and Maa Kali, found it’s favourite Bengali Food Channel eulogizing a demoniacal terror mastermind involved in the brutal killings of so many innocents.
What the Chakraborty-Poonawala duo did not realize was that the mindset of the ordinary Bengali is changing fast, as they have realized that the leftist ideology which reigned supreme in Bengal has harmed Bengal and Bengalis in more ways than one. With their backs to the wall a huge section of Bengalis were fast in venting their wrath on the Food Blogger’s twitter handle, unsubscribing their YouTube Channel, unfollowing their Twitter handle, Facebook page and Instagram Account.
But what beats me is the audacity of the owners of the page in assuming that their shameless support of the anti- India forces and terror masterminds will be lapped by their followers/subscribers the way they lap up their recipes. They also displayed sheer arrogance in hitting back their detractors saying that they can unsubscribe if they did not like what was posted.
It is evident that Freedom of Expression has been taken for granted by these secessionist Leftist Liberals who have been, till date enjoying the support and patronage of the ruling powers, which in turn helped them reach the position of influence in society. Now the same may seem to be lacking and hence their chagrin. The incident also calls for unity among the patriotic Indians, particularly among those in Bengal to show these separatist apologists their right place in society, more so because Bengal seems to be one of the worst affected states by such mindset. Changing the mindset of the common man is most important in order to achieve success in spoiling the evil designs of these separatist forces.
DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.