BJP distorting Bengal history, will oppose June 20 as State Foundation Day, says Mamata

“If we don’t oppose it, then June 20 will be established as the State Foundation Day,” the CM, who is also Trinamool Congress chief, said at an all-party meeting on determining a day for observing the occasion. With the CPI(M), CPI, Congress and the BJP not attending the meeting, Banerjee wondered why all of them, except the saffron party, are constituents of the Opposition bloc INDIA.

“When I am part of the INDIA alliance, the CPI (M) and CPI are questioning why this meeting on the State’s Foundation day was called,” Banerjee said.

The Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI-Communist), which attended the meeting, proposed the statehood day on December 12, the day when the British were forced to withdraw the proposal of the division of Bengal in 1905.

Noted historian Sugata Bose, the grandnephew of Subhas Chandra Bose, and poet Subodh Sarkar among others spoke in favour of April 15 as the state’s foundation day. The Bengali New Year (Poila Baisakh) is celebrated on April 15.

The decision to call the all-party meeting came days after a committee set up by the state Assembly to determine the day for the state foundation day recommended that it be observed on April 15 as ‘Bangla Diwas’.

The celebration of the day on June 20 had kicked off a storm in the state this year, with the Raj Bhawan locking horns with Banerjee who accused the BJP and Governor CV Ananda Bose of using the state’s ‘Foundation Day’ for political gains and promoting a narrative favoured by the saffron camp.

The Governor, who organised the state’s ‘Foundation Day’ programme at Raj Bhavan, had said the state government’s concerns would be “treated with all seriousness”.

The BJP, too, had observed the day across the state.

Also, the majority of the participants in the meeting unanimously accepted the Chief Minister’s proposal to accept the patriotic song “Banglar Mati Banglar Jol” written by Rabindranath Tagore as the state’s anthem.

Besides, it was decided to conduct a referendum for the district of Sylhet which was part of Assam. Banerjee said the final decision on the State Foundation Day and the state anthem will be announced on September 7 as a proposal in the state assembly.

In a letter to CM Banerjee, BJP state president Sukanta Majumder said, “You wrote in the invitation letter that you never heard or read about June 20. Your statement reflects that you are not ready to convene a meeting with an open mind. You already took a decision and want to use the all-party meeting as a shield. Therefore, the BJP will not be present in this meeting.”

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “This meeting is of a coterie of the CM. She even supported the Hindu Mahasabha in this meeting. Why would we go there?”