As a Calcutta born person who lives outside the country, this city has never stopped mystifying me !! I used to read reports of the city actually showing lots of signs of improvement under Buddhadev. Then, Nandigram happened and that changed everything overnight in the media. Nandigram, was a huge huge mistake but I sincerely think Buddhadev is the person who can industrialize Bengal. Mamata and her posse are fairly ineffective and really don't have the capacity to rule and take the state to any kinda progress. Buddhadev in my opinion almost leads the state like the modern day Chinese goverment, which sees industrial progress as the future. For the people who think Communism can't bring progress, China is the answer. The key to successful communism is to know when to begin transition into a free market economy and to what degree the economy needs to be opened.
As for Bengalis being pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu, I really don't think, that's true. It's just that we have been more open-minded about religion (Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhism, ..). Also, Communists aren't necessarily the root of all evil in Bengal. Infact, in the 70s when the Communists took over, it really helped rural Bengal. Agreed doesn't have too many rich people or rich farmers but it also doesn't have very poor farmers either. The distribution of wealth is little better than many other states. I know this, because I've relatives who're farmers. But Commies managed to screw Cal. and that'll change soon !!
