RECENTLY, JITENDRA GUPTA, director general of posts, Government of India, unveiled the logo of Kerapex, Kerala’s 15th state philatelic exhibition. The three-day exhibition happened in Kochi last week. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the turnout was good, considering that most young people have never received a letter by snail mail. How do they even collect stamps these days?
A stamp was many things to my generation. It was a bit of miniature art. A bit of history. A glimpse of geography. So many guests came home riding on letters—freedom fighters, presidents, prime ministers, exotic birds and animals… and even gods and goddesses. Then there are revenue stamps, court-fee stamps and fundraising stamps.
Fundraising stamps were about putting money where your sentiments are, like the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund stamp. I had almost forgotten about the Bangladesh relief fund stamp, issued in my 20s, until the topic came up in conversations recently.
Indians paid five paise per relief stamp. It might seem like a piffling amount to the youth now, but that five-paisa coin—a small square with rounded edges—represented a lot of purchasing power for kids then, believe me! So, we have a bond with Bangladesh that differs from our ties with other neighbours. And, perhaps, that is why the recent developments have evoked mixed reactions here.
This week’s cover is about the February 12 elections there. Chief of Bureau (Delhi), Namrata Biji Ahuja, writes that the country is trying to weave a future rooted in two realities—the journey from East Pakistan to Bangladesh, and the fervour of the 2024 uprising.
Namrata interviewed multiple experts to bring you a balanced view from the ground. Major Gen. Fazle Elahi Akbar, who founded a think tank after retirement, says the Bangladesh army will side with the people if the elected leaders fail again. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir wants India-Bangladesh ties to move beyond Sheikh Hasina.
The Jamaat-e-Islami is hoping to do well in the polls and its ameer, Dr Safiqur Rahman, promises a plural and inclusive government. Nahid Islam, convener, National Citizen Party, says that allying with the Jamaat will not lead to a theocratic state. The other interviews are with Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, BNP’s standing committee member; Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Muhammad Yunus, and Mahfuz Alam, former adviser to the interim government.
Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, told Namrata that his mother was in the safest place possible today—India. He also said that Yunus was picked by US president Joe Biden’s state department. We need not agree with any of them, or with all of them. But I have always felt that we should crawl into conclusions and not jump into them.
Neglect of the law and history can exact heavy costs, writes Senior Special Correspondent Kanu Sarda, referring to the Khetri Trust case where the Supreme Court returned 62 princely assets to the trust. The apex court dismissed the Rajasthan government’s claim and asked it to help restore the properties—at a cost estimated at Rs1,000 crore or more.
New Media Coordinator Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl interviewed Viswanathan Anand against the backdrop of his latest book, Lightning Kid: 64 Winning Lessons from the Boy Who Became Five-Time World Chess Champion. Anand talks about AI, the upcoming hybrid format called Total Chess and how technology is a leveller.
Coming back to stamps and youngsters, I remember a moment of hilarity that our company had in the last decade. A rookie who was leaving was asked to submit a document affixed with a stamp and a signature across it. The person returned the document with the signature scrawled across the face of a grinning Mahatma Gandhi. No one had mentioned the word revenue stamp, you see.