Kamana Biswas

Designer at home.Interested in News Reading.Passionate Cook. Love Visiting Places.Dream to host a talk show on BBC. I live in God's Own Country.

[ParanjoyGuhaThakurta @paranjoygt]

The Telegraph editor’s passport not being renewed in Kolkata

Note from R. Rajagopal
Former Editor, The Telegraph
——-
In March this year, my name was deleted from the Ballygunge constituency electoral roll in Kolkata, apparently because the Special Intensive Revision process could not trace either my name or that of my late father in the 2002 voters' list. My father, a Gandhian, retired professor and former State Secretary of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi in Kerala, passed away in 2016. I remain unable to understand how a conscientious voter like him could have been absent from the rolls.

Like nearly 27 lakh other residents of West Bengal, I was excluded on account of what were described as “logical discrepancies”. No reason was furnished even after I submitted my matriculation certificate, and my appeal is now pending before one of the tribunals constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions. As a consequence, I was unable to vote in the recent election.

More distressing has been the fate of my passport renewal application. Although I completed the biometric formalities on March 19, 2026, police verification has not been cleared because my name no longer appears on the electoral roll. Despite submitting several alternative documents, I have been informed that they are insufficient. In fact, today (June 27, 2026) is the 100th day since my biometrics for passport renewal were taken. I was formally informed last week by the passport-issuing authority that Kolkata Police sent an adverse report, citing the deletion of my name from the voters' list. I have been asked to appear before the Regional Passport Office in Calcutta "immediately" but when I sought an appointment, without which it is difficult to gain entry, the date granted is July 17, 2026.

In between, our daughter, a journalist in California, got married in San Francisco on April 17. Needless to say, it would have been impossible for me to attend the wedding in the absence of an active passport, notwithstanding my possession of a valid ten-year US visa.

For all practical purposes, I find myself in a state of civic uncertainty although recently the government iterated that a passport is no proof of citizenship. Much of my time is now consumed by efforts to reconstruct family records and secure documents dating back several decades….

My days begin with checking my voting right appeal status and then the passport tracker. Then I write to the college where my mother taught in 1965 and to her school from where she passed out in 1959, asking for any document that proves she existed. The school has been very helpful but not the college. Similarly, I speak to prohibition campaign activists in Kerala, running down a list I collected after coming across an activist's name in a group by chance, asking for any news clipping or photographs that show my father campaigning against illegal liquor vends and communalism.

Some close friends and public figures have helped me in all these efforts. However, I am unaware if any media outlet or journalists' association or guild (of which I am not a member) has shown any interest in my situation. A senior journalist reminded me that this situation is by no means unique as "rejection" has been the daily certainty confronting millions of Indians for centuries. I accept that point.

My intention has never been to project myself as a victim. Rather, I have wanted to underline a larger point: if someone who spent his professional life in journalism and edited a relatively known newspaper can encounter such difficulties, one can only imagine what the truly marginalised must endure. Did I approach any newspaper? No, because I do not want it to become an issue concerning me. Do editors and journalists know about my issue? Of course, several do. If they don't, they should not be in the profession, don't you think?

Yet, the complete silence of newspapers on this issue has confirmed my suspicion, now reinforced with personal experience, that so-called mainstream journalism has little to do with my life. I do not "read" any newspaper now. I glance at some but hardly find anything that piques my interest.

[Arindam Paul @arindam___paul]

Been exactly a year since we launched water purifiers

We now have TDS data from tens of thousands of Atomberg water purifiers installed across the country

And we combined that with publicly available data from different government sources like central pollution control board, jal jeevan mission and central ground water board

And built a free tool where you can enter your pincode and check your water quality- TDS levels, TDS variance, chemicals present etc

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@Franc0Fernand0 @gork where is this in Austria?

[Arunn Bhagavathula చి లిపి @ArunBee]

Very useful info

[Nitin Pai @acorn]

In case you haven’t seen yet, my colleague @prof_nithiya has a dashboard showing risks for India

https://t.co/TKaQo65lyW

[Leyla @LeylaKuni]

“Prosperity is the most powerful contraceptive of all”

[Maryam @hell_line0]

The birth rate in South Korea is plummeting exponentially. This is a collective quote from the women there; “I will not give birth to a life that will discriminate against my gender, my own flesh and blood must not become a blade turned against me. If the world born from my body oppresses me, I will not let that world exist.”
This ignites my whole soul. Women have the ability to collectively decide to end civilization unless things change. That my friends, is what real power looks like.

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@morellifit How does dairy worsen inflammation?

[Aniket Biddu Ganguly @BidduGang]

Trams e naki lok hoyena , ei bhul bhabna door korun. AC tram on Rt 5 er chobi eta. Please do consider to increase the services of tram Rt 5 Esplanade to Shyambazar urgently for passengers. @MamataOfficial @FirhadHakim @SuvenduWB @TMC_Supporters @BJP4Bengal

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@KBRI_NewDelhi Could you tell if Visa On Arrival facility is available for Indian citizens entering Indonesia via Lebuan Bajo(LBJ airport)?

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@surajlakhotia The employer's NPS contribution can be increased up to 14% of Basic, right?

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@itsgottobeLIT Hi Team, please confirm if the sessions would be streamed live on YouTube?

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@ActusDei @jashkriplani We did Norway & Sweden at Rs 3.5 Lakh for 2 PAX in Oct 2022

[Tamal Bandyopadhyay @TamalBandyo]

#RGKarHospital: An artist’s impression of Durga Puja in West Bengal this year.

[Rituparna Chatterjee @MasalaBai]

If anyone knows this man's family - please show them this. Show his comment to his parents. To his relatives. There's nothing to be done legally. Nothing anyone can do to alter his thinking. But he needs to look into all his loved one's eyes and repeat these words.

[Ajit Anjum @ajitanjum]

मैडम @MamataOfficial जी
मैडम @MahuaMoitra जी
मैडम @sagarikaghose जी
मैडम @sayani06 जी
मैडम @kakoligdastidar जी
और TMC तमाम सांसद मैडम ..
क्या इस परिवार की तकलीफ को महसूस कर रहे हैं आपलोग?
क्या आप लोगों के इस परिवार के पास अब तक जाना नहीं चाहिए था ?
क्या आपके राज में एक बेटी के साथ बर्बरता, रेप और हत्या के बाद इसके परिवार को यूं बिलखना पड़ेगा ?
लानत है आप सभी पर .
कोई हक नहीं है आप लोगों को किसी दूसरे राज्य में हुई रेप की घटना पर बोलने का .
इस विडियो को गौर से देखिए . सुनिए . इस दर्द को महसूस कीजिए और तय कीजिए कि आप लोगों को अब क्या करना चाहिए ?

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@SpinnyCare @myspinny Can't imagine how inefficient your system must be. 3 tickets in 3 days for 1 single problem?! Imagine what the customer has to go through to manage and get timely updates. This is the next level of delaying tactics.

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

@SpinnyCare Is anyone looking into the Ticket ID #293178 ?

[Kamana Biswas @SmilingAnku]

Got a call from Ashish, and he assured someone from the concerend team would call back within the next 24 hrs. My 5 day money back period ends today. How is a customer even going to make an informed decision if all you have got say is wait for 24 hrs for 3 consecutive days?