Kolkata, Sep 2 (PTI) Chaos prevailed in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday after the ruling TMC moved a motion against alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants, with BJP MLAs staging a walkout in protest against Education Minister Bratya Basu’s remarks that the legislators claimed maligned the Army.
Senior BJP legislators, led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, walked out of the House after Basu drew a parallel between the Army’s dismantling of a TMC protest structure in Kolkata on Monday and the firing on unarmed protesters during the 1952 Bengali language movement in erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, while tabling the motion under Rule 169, cited the recent alleged torture of a child from a migrant labourer’s family in Delhi as an example of the “persecution faced by Bengalis” outside the state.
As the debate continued, Basu alleged that the Army had dismantled a TMC protest pandal near the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road, and said the incident reminded him of the sacrifices made by people who had laid down their lives to protect their mother tongue and identity during the 1952 movement.
“Our chief minister herself rushed to the site when the Army pulled down our podium meant to protest attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states. It reminded me of the firing on people who sacrificed their lives to protect our language and identity,” Basu said.
The remarks sparked immediate uproar from the BJP benches.
Adhikari accused the government of “defaming the Army” and of equating a “rightful legal action against encroachment on the Maidan” with a historic sacrifice when the Pakistani Army had unleashed brutality in East Pakistan.
“This government is maligning a proud national institution just to score political points,” Adhikari said, before leading the walkout after the Speaker refused to expunge Basu’s remarks.
The row in the Assembly came less than 24 hours after Army officials dismantled a TMC dharna platform at the base of the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road, an area owned and administered by the defence forces, on grounds that the party had overstayed its permission.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the spot on Monday evening and accused the BJP of “misusing the Indian Army” to push its agenda of “vendetta politics” against the TMC. PTI SUS PNT MNB
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