Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she will fight “till her last breath” against any attempt to snatch people’s freedom of speech, movement, and fundamental rights, accusing the BJP of pushing a divisive agenda across the country. Addressing a rally on the eve of Independence Day, the TMC supremo opposed the proposed implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, alleging it was a ploy to disqualify genuine voters and send them to “detention or concentration camps.”
“This is my pledge on the eve of Independence Day. We, the people of Bengal, were on the forefront of the freedom movement. Our revolutionaries gave their lives along with others across the country. In Andaman’s Cellular Jail, you will see the names of a large number of freedom fighters from Bengal who were imprisoned there,” she said. “Who formed the INA? Netaji. Who gave the national anthem? Rabindranath Tagore. Seventy per cent imprisoned in Cellular Jail were Bengalis and 30 per cent Punjabis,” she added.
“Where were the RSS and the BJP then? We won’t allow them (the BJP government) to snatch our freedom to speak, freedom of movement, or curb our liberty,” she added.
She questioned the motive behind the sudden implementation of SIR, pointing out that a similar revision was already completed in the state between 2002 and 2004. “People queued up before camps for hours to get Aadhaar cards a decade ago. Now, the EC suddenly says the cards are not citizenship proof. How many of those born before 1982 can produce birth certificates? We all knew school certificates could come in handy along with other documents. How many people can show PAN cards in this country?” she asked.
Earlier in the day, addressing the annual Kanyashree project programme, the chief minister accused the Centre of failing to protect Bengali-speaking people from harassment in different parts of the country, citing a recent incident where a techie and his son were allegedly denied hotel accommodation in Noida “simply because he spoke in Bengali.”
“If someone is a foreigner, action must be taken against them if the Government of India deems it necessary. That is not in our hands. But such actions should not be done arbitrarily… If I respect your language, why will you not respect mine?” She said English must be learned well, even in Bengali-medium schools, but “never forget your mother tongue”. “Earlier, till Class 5, English was not taught, but we have introduced it. We should know all languages,” she said.
Banerjee invoked history from Vidyasagar abolishing child marriage to Raja Ram Mohan Roy ending sati to highlight West Bengal’s contribution to Independence, stressing that “without Bengal, India’s Independence would not have been possible.” “We have also suffered from Partition. But people who left everything and came to India as refugees were received as Indian citizens,” she said.
Recalling her own struggles, she told students, “After my father passed away, I had to sell one of my necklaces to enrol in college. We had no facilities, no advantages. This generation’s youth should not suffer like that. They must be self-reliant. I urge parents not to pressure girls into marriage. Once they turn 18, they receive Rs 25,000, and keep that in the bank…” —With PTI