- Mamata Banerjee accused BJP and central government of insulting national icons and distorting history
- She claimed the central government conspires against Bengal and disrespects its culture and language
- Banerjee questioned why Netaji's birth anniversary has not been declared a national holiday
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP and the central government of insulting the national icons like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, and BR Ambedkar. Speaking at an event on Netaji's birth anniversary, she also accused those in power at the centre of trying to distort the country's history.
"There is an attempt to distort India's history. Saints and sages are being insulted, be it Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, or Babasaheb Ambedkar. There is intolerance, distasteful remarks, ungratefulness, and disrespect towards them and the language. Will Bengal accept this?" thundered Banerjee at the event in Maidan.
Recalling Netaji's iconic 'Dilli Chalo' slogan, she accused 'Delhi', a metonym for the central government, of conspiring against Bengal. "It is now chokrantonagari (city of conspiracies). It is always conspiring against Bengal. We will unite against them to protect our culture and language," the chief minister said.
Despite Netaji's contribution to the freedom struggle, his birth anniversary has not been declared a national holiday, she said, accusing the BJP of shattering the dreams of the freedom fighters.
"From Netaji to Patel, those who dreamt of an independent India, their dreams are being shattered today. They are trying to impose their history, which has nothing to do with our country's history. The Constitution is being humiliated. People are being deprived, and their rights are being taken away. Democracy is being stripped naked," she added.
She also attacked the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, suggesting that they would have asked even Netaji to prove his citizenship if he were alive today.
"If Subhas Bose were alive today, he would have been summoned for (SIR) hearing as well, citing logistical discrepancies, and asked to prove if he is Indian," the chief minister said, citing that Netaji's great-grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose has already been summoned by the poll body.
Banerjee alleged that over 110 people died during the SIR process, and the Election Commission and the central government must take responsibility for their deaths.
Earlier in the day, she demanded the immediate declassification of all files related to Netaji from the central archive. In a social media message, she reminded that her government had long back declassified all files on Netaji from the state archives.
"Unfortunately, the mystery of Netaji's disappearance is yet to be solved. We do not know what happened to him after 1945. It is a matter of great sorrow for everyone. But we made all the state files public long ago. I will again appeal to the Government of India to declassify all the information related to Netaji," Banerjee said in her post.
