Robert Clive: His Impressions of Bengal

Azizul Jalil

Sir Robert Clive (1725-74) became one of the richest men of his time in England, a member of the House of Commons and later a member of the House of Lords (ironically, as the first Baron of Plassey.) He came thrice to Bengal. Coming first as a company writer (clerk) in 1743, he became an army officer in 1755. Last time he came as the Governor in 1764. As long as he was winning battles in India, amassing huge wealth and high honours, Clive, opium addict and chronically depressive, was cheerful. But during retirement in England, when he was accused in the Commons for his excesses and the plunder by him and the East India Company officials in India, he committed suicide. Clive had begun the process of forcibly establishing British supremacy over India, edging out the French. Every schoolchild in England would perhaps recollect his exploits and consider him a hero, but in India- Bengal in particular, he will forever be remembered as a treacherous agent of British colonialism.
   Sirajuddaula became the nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1756. The young nawab had increasingly challenged the emerging British hegemony in Bengal. He attacked Calcutta, routed the British from there and punished them severely. Coming from his victories in south-India, Clive, along with Admiral Watson, recaptured Calcutta in January1957. The nawab's independent policies and aggressive actions were hindering British commercial interests and colonial ambitions. Using deceit and bribery with the nawab's officials and merchants, he confronted the nawab's formidable army at the mango grove at Plassey on June 23, 1757. The resulting battle may appropriately be called the first major Indian resistance to British expansionism.
   Recently, while reading about Clive, I came across a letter sent by him in 1757 to the East India Company in London giving a first-hand account of the conquest of Bengal, and a speech he delivered in 1772 at the House of Commons on the prosperity of Bengal and the character and conduct of the young company officials in India. These were included in a historical documents series compiled by the University Research Extension of Milwaukee- Vol. VII: The Age of Revolution. The two documents, which give an insight into Clive's mind and his view of Bengal, may not be widely known. Finding these interesting enough to share with the readers, I have extensively quoted his words to provide the real flavour.
   In his letter to the East India Company Headquarters in London, Clive reported that the nawab was designing British ruin in conjunction with the French. On June 22, 1757 the company's forces under Clive arrived at the Plassey Grove at night. Clive states: "At daybreak we discovered the Nabob's army moving towards us, consisting, as we since found, of about fifteen thousand horse and thirty-five thousand foot, with upwards of forty pieces of cannon. They approached apace, and by six began to attack with a number of heavy cannon, supported by the whole army, and continued to fire very briskly for several hours, during which our situation was of the utmost service to us, being lodged in a large grove with good mud banks."
   According to Clive, about noon the enemy drew off their artillery, and retired to their camp. A detachment was then sent with two field-pieces, to take possession of a tank with high banks from which the enemy had fired with some cannon managed by Frenchmen. The nawab's army made several attempts to bring out their cannon, but the company's advance field-pieces drove them back. "Their horse exposing themselves a good deal on this occasion, many of them were killed, and among the rest four or five officers of the first distinction, by which the whole army being visibly dispirited and thrown into some confusion, we were encouraged to storm both the eminence and the angle of their camp, which were carried at the same instant, with little or no loss. On this a general rout ensued; and we pursued the enemy six miles, passing upwards of forty pieces of cannon they had abandoned, with an infinite number of carriages filled with baggage of all kinds. It is computed there are killed of the enemy about five hundred. Our loss amounted to only twenty-two killed and fifty wounded, and those chiefly sepoys."
   In his 1772 speech in the Commons, Clive gave his uncomplimentary impressions of the Bengalis and a rather glowing account of the wealth of Bengal. From his account, one comes to believe that indeed there was a 'Golden Bengal' at that time and in the earlier decades: "Indostan was always an absolute despotic government. The inhabitants, especially of Bengal, in inferior stations, are servile, mean, submissive, and humble. In superior stations, they are luxurious, effeminate, tyrannical, treacherous, venal, cruel. The country of Bengal is called, by way of distinction, the paradise of the earth. It not only abounds with the necessaries of life to such a degree, as to furnish a great part of India with its superfluity, but it abounds in very curious and valuable manufactures, sufficient not only for its own use, but for the use of the whole globe. The silver of the west and the gold of the east have for many years been pouring into that country, and goods only have been sent out in return. This has added to the luxury and extravagance of Bengal."
   Clive then spoke about the mental conditioning of the young writers of the company and their bloated expectations of fortune from their presence in Bengal: "The advantages arising from the Company's service are now very generally known; and the great object of every man is to get his son appointed a writer to Bengal; which is usually at the age of 16. His parents and relations represent to him how certain he is of making a fortune; that my lord such a one, and my lord such a one, acquired so much money in such a time; and Mr. such a one, and Mr. such a one, so much in such a time. Thus are their principles corrupted at their very setting out, and as they generally go a good many together, they inflame one another's expectations."
   Clive vividly described how the young writers were corrupted from the very time they arrived in India and put the entire blame on the Indian merchants and their unscrupulous conduct and greed. He was met at the port by a banyan who desires that he may have the honour of serving this young gentleman at a nominal wage. The Company has provided chambers for him, but they are not good enough-the banyan finds better. Clive states: "The young man takes a walk about the town, he observes that other writers, arrived only a year before him, live in splendid apartments or have houses of their own, ride upon fine prancing Arabian horses, and in palanqueens and chaises; that they keep seraglios, make entertainments, and treat with champaigne and claret. When he returns he tells the banyan what he has observed. The banyan assures him he may soon arrive at the same good fortune; he furnishes him with money; he is then at his mercy. He is in a state of dependence under the banyan, who commits acts of violence and oppression, as his interest prompts him to, under the pretended sanction and authority of the Company's servant."
   About the conduct of the company officials in India, Clive concluded: "if they have erred, it has been because they were men, placed in situations subject to little or no control."

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Graduation Blues

Rayyan Kamal

The other day I got an e-mail from the Dean's Office reminding me to submit my height to the people in charge of making graduation gowns. Then today I got a message from University Dining Services to reserve meal tickets for family-members who will be at Yale the weekend before Commencement. But it was the e-mail I didn't get - the one about on-campus housing - that brought home the fact that I wouldn't be here next year.
   Many are eagerly awaiting the announcement of our Commencement speaker. S/he will join the ranks of Tony Blair (2008), Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward (2000) and Hilary Clinton (2001). I recently read an article deploring the overtly leftist bias of many east coast universities in the US. It is a sentiment epitomized by these colleges' consistent selection of liberal Commencement speakers in defiance of their non-profit status as institutions of higher learning legally bound to be non-partisan. Conservatives have observed that prominent American personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlesinger and Condoleezza Rice are repeatedly passed over for lesser known liberals. One person complained that "college administrators are using commencement ceremonies to send their students off with one more predictable leftist lecture."
   Another common phenomenon sweeping through several colleges is the organization of separate graduation ceremonies for people of a minority group. For example, at the University of California at Los Angeles, Latinos have a separate graduation, as do Filipinos, African-Americans and homosexuals. One writer labelled it an attempt by university administrations to "further politicize graduation day... and to balkanize American students." I agree. I think there should be one ceremony where the whole class is present. In addition to that, individual groups can do as they please.
   There are two weeks between the last final exam and Commencement. The first of these is called "dead week" and the second is "senior week." It is a Yale tradition for seniors to spend all or some of "dead week" in Myrtle Beach, South California. After spending four years in mostly chilly conditions with your class, I imagine it's nice to go tanning with these people too. Of course, bikinis are more flattering on some girls than on others.
   I am told that senior week is spent on campus frantically packing your belongings and taking care of logistics for after graduation while simultaneously spending as much time as possible with your friends, to whom you'll get closer than you've ever been, only to part ways at Commencement. I, along with some of my friends, have already started making a list of people whom we rarely see but with whom we definitely want to catch up before the final goodbye.
   But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Most of us have senior essays to complete, exams to take, and post-graduation plans to finalize before Commencement rolls around. Always on a quest to procrastinate, I have been watching Commencement speeches on Youtube. I leave you with a quote by J.K. Rowling during her Commencement Speech at Harvard in 2008: "Personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes."
   Rayyan Kamal is a senior at Yale University.

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Syed Saidul Alam

The new trend towards erecting high rise buildings in Dhaka raises a number of problems in terms not only of the fire risk, but also adds to the worsening of traffic jams, electricity and water supply, and equitable distribution of land, said speakers at a roundtable today in Dhaka last week.
   Speakers said the appropriateness of the construction of high rise buildings in Dhaka must now be debated and discussed. While high density living may improve some aspects of urban life as well as working environments, but the construction of high rise buildings are also causing more problems than they could really solve. Given their commercial nature, it is unclear why it should be the responsibility of the government, rather than those making a profit from the marketing and renting of such buildings, to provide specialised fire fighting equipment. This represents an unwarranted transfer of costs from the private company to the general public.
   The concentration of many people in a small space could lead to a reduction in traffic congestion if such a concentration involved a complete neighbourhood, with various goods and services available close at hand. In contrast, the construction of high rise malls with too many facilities away from residential areas attracting the wealthy people from all parts of the city to such facilities. They come to the malls in their private cars creating traffic congestion. This further adds miseries to the residents and businessmen of the locality.
   Besides, the demand for huge electricity and water by the high rise buildings also raise the question of supply and demand. It adds to the present crises of power and water supply in Dhaka. Residents of luxury high rise buildings are also prone to use many electric and electronic gadgets including air conditioners, while numerous Dhaka residents are passing days and nights without the luxury of using even fans.
   Such uneven distribution of existing electricity generation capacity raises serious questions of equity, and also puts into question the ability of expanding electricity supplies to meet the load shedding problem. If demand for electricity continues to rise faster than the ability of the government to supply it, people's sufferings will continue, especially the sufferings of the poor and middle class. Yet if sufficient space was allocated around buildings and trees were planted throughout the city, the breezes generated would remove the need for air conditioning, allowing for limited energy supplies to meet the needs of the entire population. Such a solution would also be environmentally-friendly, as opposed to possibilities of burning more coal or other polluting materials to attempt to meet an unlimited demand for energy, said Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of Save the Environment Movement.
   When precious land is prioritised for the recreation of the rich rather than the basic needs of the poor, the question of equity must be raised. Rather than providing basic services needed, Bashundhara City and similar shopping malls are being helped to built for the rich. Meanwhile, the poor are expected to make do with inadequate provisions of land within congested urban slums.
   The allocation of land in crowded Dhaka City involves a number of concerns, including access of the population to parks, playgrounds and open spaces for recreation, the need for trees for shade and vacant areas for absorption of flood waters, and the importance of urban agriculture to provide fresh produce at low cost to urban residents.
   Further, the construction of high rise buildings requires imported materials, representing a drain on foreign exchange and the economy of Bangladesh.
   Speakers at the roundtable further emphasised that fire is an issue not only for high rise buildings, but for many other structures in Dhaka which fail to follow the building code or take necessary precautions for fire hazards and other disasters. The roundtable was organized at National Press Club by Save the Environment Movement (POBA) and WBB Trust.

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Bangladesh Water Management Improvement Project delayed

Holiday Report

The overall progress in implementation of donor financed Water Management Improvement Project (WMIP) of Bangladesh is delayed due to various reasons, according to a World Bank review report.
   A joint review by the World Bank and the Government of Netherlands, however, observed that the project in its second year of implementation is gradually picking up. In particular, good progress is being made in rehabilitating protective works that were destroyed by the 2007 floods.
   The World Bank and the Government of Netherlands are supporting the Water Management Improvement Project (WMIP) of Bangladesh Government. This project consists of (i) system improvement and management transfer of flood control and drainage (FCD) and flood control, drainage and irrigation schemes, covering 378,900 ha; (ii) O&M performance improvement of Schemes covering 410,200 ha; and (iii) institutional improvement of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO).
   Further, the project also aims to rehabilitate the BWDB schemes damaged by the 2007 floods, for which revised provisions were made. Following these floods, about US$8.0 million was channeled out from this World Bank credit to other World Bank funded projects to support Flood Damage Repairs. Moreover, about US$37.1 million in this Project is being used for 2007 flood damage rehabilitation works. WMIP is a seven year project with a revised total cost of US$128.7 million. This project is co-financed by the World Bank and the Government of the Netherlands, where the World Bank provides US$94.26 million; the Government of the Netherlands provides US$20.0 million; and the Government of Bangladesh provides including the beneficiary contribution US$14.44 million.

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New shopping mall in Demra
suburban area

Holiday Report

Matuail New Market, a mega shopping mall will be launched soon in city suburban area of Demra Konapara Bazar, according to market committee.
   The chairman of the market committee Samsur Rahman hoped that the new market would help the local residents to get quality consumers and household items at a reasonable price at their vicinity.
   Housed in a 12-storied building the huge complex will also accommodate hospital, bank restaurant in the commercial zone and residential apartments on the top floors
   It will also have the facility for essential services like basement car parking, emergency fire service system and close circuit camera surveillance system.

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