A day after a purported video released by banned Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) chief Jivan Singha seeking partition of Bengal became public, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attacked the Opposition BJP for stoking separatism in the State.
“The BJP is stoking disturbance in Bengal by encouraging divisive sentiments among the people for narrow political gains … this will not succeed and Bengal will never be divided,” Banerjee said adding, “whenever there are elections approaching the BJP plays such dirty divisive card … before the elections they raised the issue of Gorkhaland … and now they are raising the issue of partitioning Bengal ... all this they are doing in the name of development … but after we came to power we ensured maximum development of North Bengal … we have implemented a host of government schemes like Laxmir Bhandar, etc.”
The KLO chief through his video had demanded creation of a new Koch-Kamtapur State mostly comprising the regions of North Bengal and threatened Banerjee against setting foot in the region. He said that “if the TMC Government tries to stop creation of a new State — which is our constitutional right — then there will be a bloodbath.”
He instantly found moral support from local BJP leaders including Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar MPs Jayanta Roy and John Burla who said that deprivation of and discrimination against North Bengal could end only through a self-rule which would be possible by partitioning Bengal.
In an apparent reference to the KLO, Banerjee said that she was not afraid of guns and would lay down her life to stop any partition of Bengal. “I am not afraid of guns … I have seen plenty of them in my life … there is no point threatening me with guns … my point is I will ensure all kind of development … But I will not allow partition of Bengal where people of all castes, creed, religion and sect live happily together.”
Attacking the Centre for demonetization and printing counterfeit notes thereafter the Chief Minister said “earlier I called this Government a government of Jumlas (allegory) … now I call this a counterfeit Government because during this Government we had notebandi and thereafter the market was flooded with counterfeit notes … today all the Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes are counterfeit … this is a Government that cannot even ensure circulation of genuine notes.”
Referring to the recent drives by the Indian Railways to vacate its encroached properties by evicting the occupants Banerjee called upon the encroachers to stand up in revolt and resist the eviction drives.
She said “I call upon the people to resist the eviction drives because such evictions are illegal … where the people who have no place to live will go … they (Centre) does not even have the basic humanitarian consideration … having failed to provide people with jobs, dwelling places and livelihood they are now evicting them … this cannot go on.”
The BJP hit back at the Chief Minister for “leveling false charges” against the party even as its senior leader Rahul Sinha said “the Chief Minister is still haunted by notebandi as many BJP leaders lost a ill-earned fortune during demonetization,” and wondered how Bengal had become a hub of counterfeit notes in the country.
“Wherever you go in all the cases the trail of the counterfeit notes is traced to Kaliachak in Malda or Birbhum district,” another senior leader Samik Bhattacharya said. On partition of Bengal he said his party was not for dividing the State and added “whatever the local leaders from North Bengal said was an impulsive outburst due to years of deprivation.”