Kolkata, Apr 7 (PTI) Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Centre of hurting the “pride and self-esteem” of the Rajbanshi community in north Bengal by failing to fulfil key poll promises.
Addressing a meeting in Natabari Assembly constituency in Cooch Behar district, the TMC national general secretary alleged that the Centre has not acted on the state government’s demand to include the Rajbanshi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and thus hurt the “pride and self esteem” of members of the community.
Accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of giving false promises to the members of the community, who comprise a large segment of voters in Coochbehar district, he said, “Shah had promised to raise a ‘Narayani Sena’ battalion of the Indian Army from the community members in 2019, 2021 and 2024 poll campaigns, but the Centre is yet to act on it.” “BJP leaders like Shah describe Rajbanshis as friends when he comes to their area to seek votes for BJP candidates and gives lots of promises, but once the polls are over and he is back in Delhi, he forgets about the community. This is true regarding Shah’s professed love for all the communities, including Matuas. This shows the true colour of deceptive BJP,” he said.
Descendants of the Koch dynasty, Rajbanshis are the largest Scheduled Caste group in north Bengal, primarily spread over Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Darjeeling districts and have historically faced economic hardships on account of their involvement in agriculture as sharecroppers.
Their political significance stems from their advocacy for regional development and recognition of their Kamtapuri-Rajbanshi language and has, in the past, demanded the formation of a separate state or autonomous council, often under the banner of a Kamatapur movement.
“The Rajbanshi Kamtapuri language was officially recognised by our state government in 2018,” he reminded.
Accusing Shah of being ignorant about the culture and heritage of indigenous communities of Bengal, he claimed that the Union home minister had misspelt social reformer and community icon Panchanan Barma’s name as Panchanan Barman while making another false promise in past.
“We are yet to see the Panchanan Barma memorial in Cooch Behar to be set up by the Centre as Amit Shah had promised in an election meeting years back. It is another matter that he even distorted his name as Panchanan Barman, which hurt the sentiments of every resident of Coochbehar and Bengal,” Banerjee said.
He said Shah’s promise to develop a religious tourism hub by developing popular temples in Coochbehar has also not seen the light of day, while the assurance to set up an AIIMS-type hospital in north Bengal seems to be dumped in cold storage.
Banerjee said Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t even “consider visiting the historic Madan Mohan Temple during his recent Coochbehar visit, though the venue of his recent meeting Rash Mela ground is located very near to the shrine.” “They use Hindu religion as mere shield,” Banerjee said.
“Also remember how many Bengali-speaking migrants from Coochbehar as well as other parts of Bengal, including Murshidabad and Malda, had been harassed simply for speaking in Bengali in BJP-ruled states,” Banerjee said.
He described this as a “fight between insult, humiliation and respect, asmita and dignity,” and called upon people to “teach BJP a lesson in the polls.” Accusing the BJP of deleting the names of lakhs of Bengalis from the SIR citing “under abjudication” cause, he said this includes several lakhs of Hindu Bengalis.
Told by a woman in the audience that her name does not figure in the supplementary list released by the Election Commission on Monday midnight, Banerjee said, “We are hearing about many such cases as lakhs of names have been arbitrarily deleted in districts like Malda, Murshidabad, Coochbehar and others.” “Those who have lived here for 79 years since Independence and exercising their voting rights are suddenly asked to prove their citizenships over and over again. We will ensure that the name of everyone is included in the electoral rolls in the long run. The BJP wants to deport Bengali-speaking citizens, including Hindus, but we won’t allow that to happen,” he said.
“BJP will take away your citizenship while TMC will help you protect your citizenship rights,” Banerjee claimed.
Banerjee also said BJP may have a section of media and a section of judiciary on their side, but “we have full faith in the Constitution and Supreme Court, and we are confident that we will be able to secure the rights of those citizens missing from the list with the intervention of the judiciary.” He wondered if former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been sheltered by the Modi government after the unrest in July 2024, should be branded as an ‘infiltrator’ or ‘Bangladeshi’ staying in India for two years.
“Remember that not a single Rohingya and Bangladeshi have been found among the deleted voters,” he said. PTI SUS SMY RG MNB
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