The verbal wrangle between Nabanna and Raj Bhavan over observing the “Foundation Day” of the state spilled over to the streets of Calcutta a day after Governor CV Ananda Bose chose to ignore chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s strongly-worded urge to refrain from celebrating the day and went ahead with his scheduled show at the Raj Bhavan.
While the BJP legislative party, headed by state Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, took out a rally of MLAs from the state Assembly premises till Red Road central Calcutta expressing solidarity with the Raj Bhavan, the Trinamul Congress, on its part, held a protest demonstration at the base of the Gandhi statue condemning the move.
On Monday evening, Mamata Banerjee wrote to Governor Bose expressing her "shock" at the Raj Bhavan's decision to observe Bengal's 'Foundation Day' on June 20 to mark the resolution passed by the state Assembly in 1947 to divide the Bengal province. Mamata reasoned that the occasion marked one of the most traumatic phases in the history of Bengal. "This may at best be a programme of a political party, driven by vendetta, but not of the people or its Government," she stated in her letter, referring to the BJP ecosystem which has been trying to celebrate the day for some time now.
A bouquet of cultural programmes was held at the Raj Bhavan throne room on Tuesday morning and Governor Bose was seen witnessing dance performances at the event which was bereft of any representative of the state government. He left the programme, though, before it ended.
A statement from the Raj Bhavan issued later in the day clarified that the commemoration of the day was held as per an “advisory” issued by the Centre. “The advisory for the commemoration of the Foundation Day of States was communicated by the Government of India on 11.05.2023. The advisory proposed observing the Foundation Days of various States and Union Territories by all Raj Bhavans. Till now, as per the Government of India advisory, Raj Bhavan has already observed five State Foundation days, and celebration of West Bengal’s Foundation Day was in the sequence suggested in the Advisory,” the statement read.
(Right) Suvendu Adhikari with BJP MLA Hiran near Akashvani Bhawan. Sourced by The Telegraph
Referring to the chief minister’s letter, the statement concluded: “The contents of the letter received from the State Government will be treated with all seriousness and will receive priority attention and taken up with competent authorities for appropriate action.”
That clarification, however, failed to pacify Mamata Banerjee who lashed out at Governor CV Ananda Bose calling his chair Padmapal (a play on the Bangla word for governor, Rajyapal, and replacing it’s first syllable with Padma, Lotus, which also happens to be the political symbol of the BJP party).
“Those who have observed this day have done it with a political motive and vendetta. I have written a strong letter to the Governor. Both you and I were born in this state. We have spent our whole life working here. But nobody has ever given us any information about the foundation day of this state. No historian has ever spoken or written about it. No state legislature or the state cabinet have ever passed any such resolution. This is an attempt to insult and humiliate Bengal, an attempt to tarnish the image of this soil. It’s a vicious ploy to play a political game by distorting the legacy of Bengal and toy with the emotions of its people,” Banerjee said during an unscheduled visit to SSKM Hospital on Tuesday evening.
Aroop Biswas and Manoj Tiwary along with other Trinamul party members. Sourced by The Telegraph
“I condemn such acts with all my heart and appeal to all those living in this state to join me in condemnation. I will not bow down to BJP’s pressure to do things about which the state government has no knowledge,” she added.
Asked to respond to the Raj Bhavan statement, Banerjee snapped. “Where did the Centre get information about the state’s foundation day? Let them observe the day in states where there is an official day. We have no objections. But why Bengal? For the last six years they have been sitting on our resolution of renaming our state as Bangla. They have issues with the name of this state. And they want to observe its foundation day. I think this would be BJP’s death knell,” Banerjee’s irritation was evident.
“The slicing out of West Bengal was seen as a historical necessity at that point of time, but it was also known that it was a tragic destiny of the people of Bengal… Since Independence, we in West Bengal have never rejoiced over, commemorated or celebrated any day as the Foundation Day of West Bengal. Rather, we have seen the partition as a result of unleashing of communal forces that could not be resisted at that point of time,” Banerjee’s letter to Governor Bose on Monday read.
The BJP was, without doubt, at the opposite pole of that thought. “We are happy the way the Raj Bhavan has celebrated the day. We welcome this move made by the Governor. We believe he is an educated man who knows the history of this state,” Adhikari said after garlanding the statue of Shayama Prasad Mukherjee on Red Road at the end of his kilometer-long walk.
Trinamul ministers Aroop Biswas and Indraneel Sen were seen leading the party’s protest programme in central Calcutta. “The partition of Bengal was a traumatic process which left an indelible mark on the lives of millions of people. There is no particular day to pinpoint the formation of the state. The decision was taken unilaterally by the Government of India,” a party tweet, echoing Banerjee’s letter, read.
