A day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee drew the attention of the Niti Ayog for wrongly depicting Bengal in its map a new controversy erupted in her own State concerning one of her own State run universities — after a State university question paper referred to revolutionary freedom fighters as “terrorists.”
The incident took place at Vidya Sagar University in Midnapore where the History Sixth Semester where it was to name three British officials who were shot dead by terrorists in the early 1930s. The question read: “Name three district magistrates of Midnapore who were killed by terrorists.”
The odd question sparked outrage among the citizens considering the fact that undivided Midnapore had been a major hub of the armed revolutionary movement during the pre-Independence era.
Though in a damage control measure University Registrar JK Nandi promptly offered apology and took disciplinary action against the moderatos concerned, BJP and the other opposition took to the streets demanding stricter action including suspension of the staff involved in the gaffe.
Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari who too hails from East Midnapore — a part of the undivided Midnapore from where the likes of Khudiram Bose belonged — demanded a clarificatiuon and public apology from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “Already the State education sector has been in shambles, it has become a den of Trinamool Congress’ armed criminals, bootleggers and job racketeers. As though these were not enough they have descended to insult our freedom fighters, this will not b e tolerated and we shall lay a gherao of the University,” he said.
A CPI(M) leader reminded how several years ago a similar controversy had erupted after a class 8 history textbook of the Secondary Education Board in Bengal dubbed freedom fighters Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chandra Chaki as terrorists.
The then State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee has promised in the Assembly that the “mistake” would be soon rectified. “Now instead of rectifying such mistakes. They are introducing more so as to insult the history of Bengal,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday the Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Niti Ayog regarding how a map of Bihar had been published in reference to Bengal on an Ayog website concerning a ‘Summary Report for the State of West Bengal’.
Calling it a “grave lapse in mapping West Bengal” the Chief Minister wrote “this is a direct affront to Bengal’s identity and dignity, raising serious concerns about the rigour and authenticity,” the TMC official post stated, “Trust the country’s apex policy think tank to confuse Bengal with Bihar in an official state summary.”
The letter was written to the Vice Chairperson of the Ayog.
Expressing doubts about the sincerity and reliability of the institution’s work she wrote “Such a grave lapse in an official document of a premier national institution is not merely a technical error but an affront to the identity and dignity of the State of West Bengal. Such a blunder in an official publication of NITI Aayog, reflects an alarming lack of diligence and respect towards the States of the Union.”
Earlier Banerjee had strongly raised the issue of migrant workers from Bengal being “unlawfully and unethically” confined to the detention centres on charges of they being Bangladeshis — “just because they speak Bengali language.”
She also raised the issue of one Uttam Kumar Brajabasi — a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district — who earlier received an NRC notice from Assam Police asking him appear at the SP office of that State concerned.
Brajabasi claimed that he lived at the North Bengal town for generations and that he had never visited Assam. “I am shocked and deeply disturbed,” Mamata stated.
“Despite furnishing valid identity documents, he is being harassed on suspicion of being a ‘foreigner/illegal migrant’. This is unacceptable,” she said expressing concern at how the Bengali speaking people were being detained in , Delhi and other places “just because they speak Bengali.”
She asked “is it an offence to speak Bengali … a language that is also spoken in Bangladesh … We also have crores of people living in Bengal from other States … but we treat them with honour and respect.”