Down with US imperialists! But long live the “Emperor of the entertainment world”, Michael Jackson!

Pop went Marxist Bengal’s Stalinist manifestation when MJ got pride of place in Paschimbanga, the state government’s official mouthpiece, better known for its articles on development than its tributes to US pop stars.

Not just “emperor”, MJ was also the “world’s greatest entertainer” and a “glittering star in a crowd of a thousand artistes,” writes Kajol Bhattacharjee, a senior officer of the Information and Cultural Affairs Department, which is headed by the Chief Minister himself.

Bhattacharjee, known as a Leftist in his friends’ circles, obviously got a free hand in lavishing praise on MJ and painting him as a great artiste in the three-page article, in an issue otherwise devoted to Hurricane Aila. Unlike the CPM daily Ganashakti, which claims a circulation of over 200,000, Paschimbanga is not great on the numbers or production front: the July issue has just hit the stands in Kolkata.

Paschimbanga has an entertainment section, but the articles are usually on serious art and culture; the MJ tribute is the first to a pop star.

So, why this sudden shift? As Paschimbanga Editor and Director of Information and Culture, Neloy Ghosh says: “Through this article we wanted to make the magazine more attractive. We thought that if we carry such an article, the young generation would read the magazine.”

It is not known if Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, a fan of Marquez and movie classics, has read the tribute. But the now CM had shot to fame in 1986 when as minister for information and culture, he had blasted as “decadent culture” a Bollywood extravaganza brought to Kolkata by Subhas Chakraborty, the sports and youth welfare minister.

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