By: Abhijit Bagal
Srikrshnah@yahoo.com
March 26, 2004

After Buddhadeb Bhattacharya became the Chief Minister of the Communist ruled West Bengal state in India, he is said to have coined a slogan in Bengali -- “Ekhoni Karun” meaning “Do It Now.” The slogan was aimed at the ministers and the bureaucrats of the West Bengal state government in an attempt to cut the red-tape, increase the efficacy of the officials, and to attract investors into the state. Unfortunately, it appears as if the buzz word for action does not apply to the Chief Minister himself as is evident from two recent incidents described below and reminds me of the Communist paradox of “All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others.”

The first incident involves Alfred Ford, great-grandson of the legendary automobile magnate Henry Ford, and the trustee of the International welfare foundation "Ford Motors Company Fund." Alfred Ford, since the last few years, has wanted to build a “Spiritual Disneyland” in Mayapur town in Nadia district of West Bengal. Mayapur is about 90 miles from Kolkata and is the birth place of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This religious tourism project is estimated to cost around $133 Million or Six Billion Rupees. Mr. Ford had earlier said that the project would have complete infrastructure, including spin-off benefits for the local economy. Mr. Ford has personally pledged $10 Million for the construction of a Vedic Planetarium, a guesthouse and theme parks where one could pursue his/her religious quest, research Indian culture or simply relax in a spiritual environment. Mr. Ford was in Kolkata during February 2004, on a four day India trip to hold talks with the state government and to meet industrialists including S.K Roy of Peerless, Harsh Neotia of Bengal Ambuja, Y.C. Deveshwar of IT and Sanjeev Goenka of RPG Enterprises. "We are looking...number one, it has to be a tourist attraction, spiritual, there has to be something to bring people out there. Even on a good tour it`s a two hour drive. So we have to have something there for people to come out there. We also have to do something for the local people. So there has to be health care facility, has to be economic developments. So once we want to create the attraction first and then we will work on the rest of the infrastructure," Mr. Ford said upon his arrival in Kolkata. Mayapur houses the world-famous ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple and attracts thousands of religious tourists every year.

Mr. Ford had further said that the Vedic structure would be built with a lot of research in consultation with top designers in London. “It’s going to be a very amazing looking structure. We spent years in the design. It reflects traditional, ritual buildings along with Bengali architecture. We have worked with our people in London... everything is lined with Vaastu...so basically it`s a Planetarium," Mr. Ford said. More than five million tourists from India and across the world visit Mayapur every year. The number rose by 30 percent last year. The Vedic Planetarium, built as part of the project, would be used as a thoroughfare to ferry tourists from the Sunderbans delta. Mr. Ford wanted to meet the Chief Minister and discuss the possibility of the state’s participation in the project through investments in infrastructure development. Despite several attempts, Mr. Ford was denied a meeting with the Chief Minister. "We are yet to get land from the West Bengal government," Mr. Ford explained later to the news media. So far, for all his business acumen, family name, and good intentions, Mr. Ford hasn`t even managed an appointment with Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. He was also supposed to take up the issue of poor road link between Kolkata and Mayapur. “River transport used to transport eco-tourists to Sundarbans can also be used for going to Mayapur,” ISKCON officials have suggested as an alternative. “The condition of the road is not conducive for travel,” Mr. Ford commented. While Mr. Ford was hopeful of the Chief Minister’s help in making the ride to Mayapur smoother, alternatives included a tie-up with Subrata Roy’s ambitious Sahara Parivar Sunderbans project.

The second incident concerns the abovementioned Subrata Roy -- chief of the Sahara Group of Industries, who is so “miffed” that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya did not attend his sons` weddings that he is considering withdrawing his ventures from the state. The marriages of Mr. Roy’s two sons were said to be the costliest and among the most ostentatious in India, with the country`s who`s who turning up to bless the newly weds. Several Chief Ministers, state governors, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani attended the weddings held in the city of Lucknow in February 2004. Some newspapers reported that Mr. Roy is quite upset that Mr. Bhattacharya, who otherwise shares a warm relationship with him, did not honor his invitation for his two sons` weddings. The Sahara group chief holds Mr. Bhattacharya’s party, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), responsible. Mr. Roy was angry and sad that the CPM had mixed politics with a father`s emotions. His pain was more profound because being a Bengali himself; he had special attachments to West Bengal. Mr. Roy now reportedly feels that if the state`s ruling party does not have confidence in him, he will have to think afresh about investing there. The Sahara group had also planned several new projects in the state, including an ambitious tourism venture on the fringes of the Sunderbans jungles -- all of this is now in jeopardy, the Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika said. The Sahara chief made every effort to have Mr. Bhattacharya flown into Lucknow -- the venue of the marriages -- but the Chief Minister allegedly avoided him.

Coming back to Alfred Ford, for the last few decades, Mr. Ford, following the humanistic ideas of his outstanding ancestor, has invested enormous assets in the development of the cultural dialogue between the West and East. Due to his efforts in America, India, and other countries of the world, a large number of spiritual and cultural centers have been constructed worldwide. Many people probably don’t know that Alfred Ford was initiated into the Vaishnava faith by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder Acharya of ISKCON, in 1975, and was re-christened as Ambarish Das, and became a devout worshipper of Lord Krishna. Mr. Ford’s wife, Dr. Sharmila Bhattacharya Ford, a Bengali Doctor, is an ISKCON member too and has taken the Vaishnava name Svahadevi Dasi. “Our two daughters, one sixteen and the other eight, are also attracted to Krishna consciousness,” Mr. Ford had emphasized earlier. Mr. Ford is the winner of the Friend of India award from the National Federation of Indian Americans in the U.S. He has helped build the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center in Detroit, Michigan, and the Hindu Temple at Hawaii, as well as Ramayan Arts Inc, an East India arts gallery. Mr. Ford also offers financial support to the Center for Hindu Studies at Oxford University in England.

Mr. Ford, whose family became followers of ISKCON (commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement) many years ago, says people at his proposed Spiritual Disneyland can pursue their religious quest, research Indian culture or simply relax in a spiritual environment. The project was to come up on 400 acres of land and would have had hostels, hotels, cultural and religious centers and health spas. Spiritual Disneyland was conceived as a one-stop religious tourism center that one could use as a retreat to rejuvenate ones soul and body in the Hare Rama Hare Krishna style. But all the plans can come unstuck if the West Bengal government does not give the required land. ISKCON authorities have been pursuing the state government on the matter for two months but have so far failed to get any assurance of grant of land. It is unclear whether Buddhadeb Bhattacharya`s reluctance to meet Mr. Ford has anything to do with the conflict between religion and Communism. Despite several attempts, Mr. Ford could not get an appointment with the Chief Minister, and was told to meet Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta instead. "But we are yet to get land from the West Bengal government to translate our plan into a reality," regretted Mr. Ford at a gathering of ISKCON members in Mayapur. ISKCON members are frustrated with the government`s alleged non-cooperation despite the fact that Mr. Ford considers himself close to West Bengal as his Guru, Srila Prabhupada was a Bengali, as is his wife. They also say such a project can assist in improving the state`s socio-economic scenario by creating new job opportunities.

Some newspapers reported that exasperated and dismayed with the state government`s indifference, Mr. Ford has decided to drop the project in West Bengal and has chosen the neighboring state of Orissa instead, to take his dream project away to Puri, another prominent place of pilgrimage and home of the revered Jagannath Temple. The main problem that Mr. Ford faces in West Bengal, apart from the government apathy, is in ownership of the venture. The state`s land ceiling laws will allow him ownership of only 10 percent of the 400 acres of land that he has sought. A proposal has been sent to Naveen Patnaik, Orissa Chief Minister, whose initial response seems to be encouraging. The Vedic Planetarium is to come up in the holy town of Puri. Completion of the project would lead to several things, including spin-off benefits for the local economy, improvement in healthcare and education facilities, availability of micro credit to the people, etc. The Planetarium would have five-star hotel facilities apart from a health spa and meditation and cultural centers. There would be a host of shops for the pious. Like the Tiruptai Temple, the proposed Vedic Planetarium is expected to yield high returns for Orissa -- the annual earnings projected are at $66 million or Rupees 300 crore. The entire project would be located in 400 acres of land and 90 per cent of the income would go to the Orissa state government for the welfare of the people. It remains to be seen if the West Bengal state government finally wakes up and whether Mr. Bhattacharya would now meet Mr. Ford and make an exemption for him to keep the investment in West Bengal in view of Mr. Ford having received an offer from the Orissa state government to set up the venture in Puri. "We can`t wait indefinitely. If not here, then we could move this to Puri," Mr. Ford told the news media before leaving India.

Abhijit Bagal

Abhijit Bagal lives in New York State and works as an independent software consultant.