The disciplinary committee of TMC on Tuesday pulled up MLA Humayun Kabir for his remarks on Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, telling him to abide by the party ’s ethics and ideology.
Kabir, who appeared before the four-member disciplinary committee led by minister Shovandev Chatterjee, was told not to make provocative and communally sensitive remarks in public.
“We have told Kabir in unequivocal terms that whatever be the provocations you have to follow the party line. You must not say anything which will go against the spirit of the Constitution. We all follow and profess our religious identities but that should not precede our identity as lawmakers who have taken an oath to protect the secular pluralistic democratic principles of the Constitution,” Chatterjee told mediapersons at his chamber on the Assembly premises.
“No one is above the party’s ethics and ideology. This is not only for Kabir but also for all the MLAs and leaders,” the senior leader said, adding Kabir promised not to make any inappropriate comments in public in future.
“Our leader Mamata Banerjee had recently asked all ministers and MLAs not to comment on any provocative statement of any (BJP) leader and leave it for the top leadership to formulate a response so that the situation doesn’t escalate… It was emphasised to Kabir that one cannot speak anything which might be inferred against the party. He agreed,” Chatterjee said.
Three other members of the committee – senior ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya, Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas – were also present when the party’s Bharatpur MLA appeared before them.
Coming out of the meeting, Kabir told mediapersons that he was “happy” after appearing before the committee.
“I am happy after meeting the disciplinary committee members… I will follow the directives of the disciplinary committee. I explained whatever I had to say before the esteemed committee members. I think I have been given due respect as a party functionary by the disciplinary committee,” Kabir said.
Asked if he had apologised, Kabir said there was no such suggestion.
To a question if he would organise protests if Adhikari visits Murshidabad on April 12 and 13 as scheduled, the TMC MLA said he will talk about this at that time.
Reacting to Adhikari’s remark that TMC’s Muslim MLAs would be “thrown out” of the Assembly if the BJP came to power, Kabir had asked Adhikari to apologise and warned that if he did not withdraw his comments, he would “be treated in an appropriate manner”. Kabir had given Adhikari a deadline of 72 hours, from March 12, to withdraw his comments.
Following this, he was served a showcause notice. He, however, refused to retract his remark, saying he did not say anything against the party.
As he remained steadfast in his comment, the disciplinary committee summoned him. After receiving the summons, Kabir asked why Siddiqullah Chowdhury or Firhad Hakim were not issued notices for their controversial remarks. He had also said that he has “no enmity” with the CPI(M) or Congress or the BJP in his home district Murshidabad.
“But some TMC leaders, which is 5 per cent of the party leaders, are always after me and are trying to tarnish my image in front of the party leadership,” Kabir had said on Monday.
Kabir on Monday had again threatened that Adhikari’s convoy would be stopped if he visits Murshidabad district by road and the BJP leader’s “only alternative is a helicopter ride”.
“You cannot expect us to treat Suvendu Adhikari with rasgulla if he talks about throwing Muslim MLAs out of the Assembly. I am certainly a TMC MLA but my identity as a devout Muslim comes first,” Kabir had said.
— with PTI Inputs