Highlighting “serious questions of collusion to protect the guilty” during the previous regime, rebel Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has written to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari demanding that the findings of Justice Sushanta Chatterjee Commission on the police firing on July 21, 1993 be made public and those guilty be punished.
The letter, written on July 2, was shared on social media by Kakoli on Friday.
“I am writing to you as a concerned citizen and public representative regarding the gross miscarriage of justice surrounding the 21 July 1993 police firing at Esplanade, Kolkata, in which 13 innocent Youth Congress workers were killed and many more injured during a peaceful democratic protest,” the letter read.
“The firing occurred under the government headed by Jyoti Basu, who also held the Home (Police) portfolio. Senior leaders, including Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (then Information & Cultural Affairs Minister with oversight on police matters) and Biman Bose (senior CPI(M) leader and State Secretary), were part of the decision-making process that shaped the government’s aggressive policy on handling opposition protests. Justice Sushanta Chatterjee Commission (2014) unequivocally held that the firing was ‘unprovoked, unconstitutional, and unnecessary’,” the letter stated.
“The Commission explicitly blamed the Home Department and police control room for overacting ‘to please their political bosses’, pointing to a clear failure of constitutional governance under Article 21 (Right to Life) and Article 19 (Freedom of Speech and Assembly) of the Indian Constitution,” it read.
“The Commission’s findings align with historical records of state repression under the Left Front regime. Jyoti Basu publicly defended the police action, and no meaningful inquiry was ordered at the time despite demands, including one from the Union Home Minister. This reflects a deliberate cover-up by the Jyoti Basu leadership to shield those responsible for the deaths,” Kakoli wrote.
“Despite coming to power in 2011 on the promise of justice for the 21 July martyrs (Shahid Dibas), Trinamool Congress government has failed to prosecute the ministers, bureaucrats, and police officers responsible. The Chatterjee Commission recommended action based on joint and combined liability, yet: Manish Gupta, the then Home Secretary (bureaucratic head of police administration), was never arrested or prosecuted. On the contrary, he was elevated by Mamata Banerjee government as a Cabinet Minister and later made a Rajya Sabha MP. This promotion of a key functionary from the Jyoti Basu era raises serious questions of collusion and protection of the guilty,” Kakoli highlighted in the letter.
“This selective inaction and active promotion of individuals associated with the 1993 incident suggest a political collusion to protect the perpetrators in exchange for political convenience or alliances. Such protection violates the principles of natural justice, the rule of law (Article 14 of the Constitution), and the public trust placed in her government by the people of West Bengal, who were promised accountability for the martyrs. The victims’ families and the people of Bengal deserve justice,” she added.
“I request you to immediately publish the findings of the Commission report. Please initiate proceedings against all guilty and promoted officials. Ensure compensation and rehabilitation as per the Chatterjee Commission recommendations without further delay,” she wrote.
“If justice is denied, it will only strengthen the perception that the Trinamool Congress government has colluded to shield former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Left Front leadership responsible for the 21 July atrocity, betraying the very martyrs whose memory it claims to honour,” Kakoli wrote.
Thirteen Youth Congress workers were killed in police firing in Esplanade during a protest march led by Mamata Banerjee in 1993. Every year, TMC commemorates the day as Martyrs’ Day through a massive gathering in central Kolkata.
After coming to power in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee government formed a judicial commission, headed by Sushanto Chattopadhyay, (a former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court) to inquire into the police firing.
Most of the politicians of the time deposed statements with the commission, including former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.
The letter comes at a time when Mamata Banerjee is cornered with 60 of her 80 MLAs choosing Arup Roy as party chairman, and 20 Lok Sabha MPs breaking away from the party and deciding to merge with NCPI.