Be it Telangana Day or Assam Day, the state and the respective Chief Ministers go out of their way to celebrate the day their state was born.
But when it comes to West Bengal Day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is against any kind of celebration. So much so she uses adjectives like ‘ahistorical’, and ‘unconstitutional’ to describe Modi government’s decision to celebrate and commemorate the day.
This unusual objection has put the Raj Bhavan in the middle of a political one-upmanship between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is dead against such a celebration, and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which believes that Banerjee wants to ‘obliterate’ West Bengal’s history.
THE TUSSLE
Banerjee has written to Governor CV Ananda Bose, requesting to stay away from celebrating the day, alleging: “This may be a programmme of a political party, driven by vendetta.”
But the Bengal Raj Bhavan, in a subtle reference to Banerjee’s objection, called it “disinformation”, without naming her or her party. Bose cited an advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 11 this year to all states and Union Territories, asking respective Raj Bhavans to observe respective State Foundation Days.
We CONDEMN the decision of Hon’ble Governor C. V. Ananda Bose to commemorate the State Foundation Day of West Bengal on June 20, 2023.➡️ The partition of Bengal which was a traumatic process has left an indelible mark on the lives of millions of people ➡️ There is no… pic.twitter.com/giE2dnJ5Zx
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) June 20, 2023
Citing that, Bengal Raj Bhavan, in a way, insinuated that it is going by the book. While the statement acknowledged Banerjee’s objection letter, it also added that President Droupadi Murmu, too had “sent her greetings to the people of West Bengal”.
In a peculiar situation of sorts, where the President, MHA, and the Raj Bhavan are in a celebratory mode, the state government is against it.
What made things further complicated was when the BJP jumped into the controversy. The saffron party, traditionally, has been for celebrating this day, as they see it as a way to connect it to one of its founding fathers and ideological guide Shyama Prasad Mookerjee. This time, too, there have not been any aberrations, with the BJP training guns at Banerjee for “denying the past”
THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE PAST
In a long tweet, BJP’s co-in charge of West Bengal Amit Malviya referred to the pre-independence past of the West Bengal Day that cast its shadow even in 2023 and termed Banerjee’s determined objection a “travesty of justice and denial of our collective past”.
“The truth is that the state of West Bengal was created by partitioning the British Indian province of Bengal after the then British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, had announced on 3rd June 1947, that the legislatures of Punjab and Bengal could opt for partitioning their respective provinces,” tweeted Malviya.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee‘s objection to commemorating 20th June as Bengal’s Foundation Day is a travesty of justice and denial of our collective past.The truth is that the state of West Bengal was created by partitioning the British Indian province of Bengal… pic.twitter.com/pCi1upuW4L
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 20, 2023
Giving historical context, the BJP leader went on, “There were two votes on June 20, 1947. In the first division, the Bengal Legislative Assembly voted to incorporate the entire province in the new state of Pakistan. But a separate meeting of legislators from the non-Muslim majority districts of Bengal voted resoundingly to seek partition of the province and keep the Hindu majority areas in India.”
While he credited Mookerjee for creating a “homeland for Bengali Hindus, where they wouldn’t have to live under Muslim oppression”, he also acknowledged the role of then Congress members and two Communist leaders from West Bengal who voted for dividing the province accordingly, thus making it a battle where all political ideologies stand on the one side and on the TMC on the other.
Speaking to News18, Malviya went a step further, “Mamata Banerjee is denying the past to the people of West Bengal because of her vote bank. She thrives on appeasement politics. That’s why she is careful.”
According to the last census, Muslims make up a little above 27% of the population of West Bengal. And ever since she came to power, this vote bank, by and large, has been with the ruling party. In the high voltage 2021 Assembly Election in the state, the TMC bagged 120 seats of the 141 assembly seats having Muslim presence.
However, amid the political mudslinging, it’s the people of West Bengal who are left disillusioned about the day their state was created.