Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday presided over a programme during which representatives of Bengal’s art, culture, business, academia, sports, religious bodies and a section of fringe political forces overwhelmingly endorsed Poila Baisakh as Bengal’s foundation day.
They unanimously rejected the Centre’s attempts to impose June 20 as the statehood day.
The chief minister — visibly happy with the view of the gathering — announced that when the state Assembly convenes on September 7, her party would table the proposal along the lines of the discussions held at the Nabanna auditorium on Tuesday evening.
“The opinion that we have got from you today -- the Speaker of the Assembly (Biman Banerjee) also heard it -- is very important to us.... We will take this to the Assembly when it convenes on September 7,” Mamata said, thanking the participants for their views.
Sugato Bose, historian and former Trinamul MP, contended that June 20 was a “sad footnote” in history after explaining how Lord Mountbatten announced his partition plan on June 3, 1947, following which the Congress Working Committee ratified it. Bose, in an article for The Telegraph, had written that on June 20, 1947, east Bengal legislators voted by 106 votes to 35 against partition while the legislators of west Bengal voted by 58 votes to 21 in favour of partition.
Mountbatten’s plans had provided for partition to go ahead if any one side wanted it and the freedom fighters’ dream of a united Bengal was smashed, Bose had written.
“Nothing happened on June 20.... We should select another auspicious day as foundation day,” he argued at the meeting.
Several other participants like historian Nrisinha Prasad Bhadur and poet Joy Goswami from different walks of life spoke at the two-hour-and-forty-five minute session and mooted various options -- like Poila Baisakh, December 12 and August 19 -- as statehood day during which the chief minister patiently heard them out and took notes.
The trigger behind the meeting was a communication from the Union home ministry that conveyed the Centre’s decision to observe June 20 as the foundation day of Bengal, following which Raj Bhavan organised a programme that day.
Mamata had then lashed out at the Centre for not consulting the state before taking such a decision.
After learning about the proposed programme at Raj Bhavan, Mamata had written to governor C.V. Ananda Bose and urged him not to hold any celebration on June 20.
“We had to convene this meeting without wasting any time.... Otherwise, they would have institutionalised this illegality and made it (observing June 20 as state foundation day) a permanent arrangement,” the chief minister said on Tuesday, decrying the Centre’s “unilateral attempts” at making June 20 Bengal’s foundation day.
As part of an attempt to stymie the move, Mamata proposed an all-party meeting and invites were sent to all major political parties in Bengal as she wanted to develop a consensus on the topic. Although some small outfits were present, all major political parties stayed away from the Nabanna auditorium on Tuesday.
“I wanted to hear everybody and that’s why all parties were invited so that they could share their views.... They could have come,” Mamata said.
Although her political opponents stayed away, the main objective of the chief minister, a source close to her said, was fulfilled as the reaction of the 120-odd people at the hall gave her a sense that an emotive issue like this could help galvanise support in her favour and further establish the BJP’s disconnect with Bengal.
During the meeting, another proposal — a state anthem — came up from the participants. Several suggestions — like Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol (written by Tagore), Dhanadhannye Pushpe Bhora (written by D.L. Roy) or a possible song by Mamata herself — were rolled out.
Mamata urged everyone to send in their suggestions to her chief adviser and former chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhay.