Latest news with #ShahidDibas
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
CPI(M) West Bengal State secretary Md. Salim slams Mamata for ‘waking up late' to Bengali identity issue
Communist Party of India (Marxist) West Bengal State secretary Mohammad Salim has ridiculed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claims of upholding Bengali identity. He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have for many years been targeting regional identities and accused Ms. Banerjee for 'waking up to the issue now' in a bid to win the 2026 Assembly elections. 'This is not a new issue, BJP and RSS have always been targeting the most marginalised sections using various State and non-State machineries to profile and single-out the poorest of the poor. Ms. Mamata stayed mum for all these years, now she has suddenly woken up and realised she can use this to win the 2026 elections,' Mr Salim told The Hindu. He accused that if the Trinamool Congress party chairperson, Ms. Banerjee cared about the Bengali language and Bengali identity she would work to strengthen the public institutes which teach and impart the language to the young generations. 'The Bengali language has been ruined in schools and colleges under her, lesser students enroll to study the subject. Bengali language is already under threat under her,' Mr Salim added. Addressing a press conference, Mr Salim also dismissed the annual Shahid Dibas (Martyr's Day) celebration that the TMC conducts annually on July 21 is more of an 'annual picnic' which is organised for TMC workers under the watch of the Kolkata Police. He accused that for all the crimes that the TMC workers conduct throughout the year, they are rewarded through this annual 'excursion day'. His remarks came in response to Ms. Banerjee holding her final Martyr's Day address at the heart of Kolkata addressing her workers and supporters and setting the political narrative for the upcoming State Legislative Assembly elections in the State. Bengali language and Bengali identity took centre stage as TMC kept dialing up the heat on BJP for attack of Bengali-speaking migrants in multiple BJP-ruled States. From the Martyr's Day program, Ms Banerjee also gave a call to start a language movement in West Bengal from July 26. Reacting to this call given by the CM Mr. Salim said, 'Language movements happen when one language is being forcefully imposed on another community, like it happened in Tamil Nadu for Hindi imposition or in Bangladesh for Urdu imposition. This discrimination based on language that is happening against Bengalis calls for a political movement.' Mr. Salim said that Ms. Banerjee has ruined Bengali language, culture, and traditions and brought established Bengali writers into her party and have degraded their standards. He stated that if a language needs to be saved, then it should be done through education, respect, and institutional support, not political addresses. Senior CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said Mamata is now scared of CPI(M) because the recent programmes of their party are gathering support.
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
We will make BJP chant ‘Joy Bangla' after 2026: Abhishek Banerjee at Trinamool Martyr's Day rally
Kolkata Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee gave a call from the party's annual Shahid Dibas (Martyr's Day) celebration on July 21 and said that he will force the Bharatiya Janta Party to chant 'Joy Bangla' after the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections. Speaking to a massive crowd at the heart of Kolkata, party second-in-command, Mr Banerjee said that the BJP will not cross 50 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. Setting the election strategy and narrative tone of the party for the upcoming elections, the TMC leader said that if BJP is trying to put Bengali people speaking people in detention camps, they will go a step further and democratically put BJP in a detention camp by making them lose the elections. 'BJP used to say Jay Shri Ram earlier but now they are saying Joy Maa Kali, Joy Maa Durga. Mark my words today—in just 10 months, I will make them say Joy Bangla after 2026 elections,' Mr Banerjee said. He also added that in the 2021 elections they had said 'Khela hobe' (Game on) but for the 2026 elections they are saying 'Poddo phool upre fela hobe' [Will rip out the lotus flower – referring to the BJP party symbol]. Putting emphasis on his party's inclusive ideology, Mr Banerjee said, 'We don't do politics of religion or hatred. We maintain our religion at home, but in politics we have only one religion—humanity, to serve the people.' He accused that the Assam's BJP-led Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has labelled Bengali-speaking people as Bangladeshis, however, the BJP government has not taken any action against his 'discriminatory comments'. 'Chant Joy Bangla so loudly that the echoes of the slogans reach up to Delhi,' Mr Banerjee said as supporters at the Martyr's Day rally cheered on. Mr Banerjee also accused that the Union Government is using the State machinery under its power to strip the voters and opposition of their basic rights. 'On one hand, BJP uses ED to suppress the Opposition leaders and on the other, they use EC to snatch away the voting rights of the people. There are two Es — Election Commission and Enforcement Directorate. They are using these two Es to put Opposition leaders behind bars and take away the voting rights of Opposition voters and normal voters of the country,' Mr Banerjee said.
