Centre disrespecting Bengal’s revolutionaries: MP Ritabrata Banerjee

Trinamul Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee has been raising the issue of Bengali pride in the Parliament and how freedom fighters from Bengal have made their mark in the struggle for Independence.

Chittagong Armoury Raid Today, the Rajya Sabha MP raised questions pertaining to Chittagong Armoury Raid in the Parliament. He sought information about the brave Bengali revolutionaries who took part in the Chattogram youth uprising, which the Britishers had referred to as the Chittagong Armoury Raid.

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Talking about the response in today, Ritabrata said: “In the last session, I had raised a question about Ullaskar Datta and Barindra Kumar Ghosh, and the Union government informed that there are no plans to instal statues of such great revolutionaries in the Cellular Jail. This time, I had sought information about the brave Bengalis who took part in the Chattogram youth uprising, which the Britishers had referred to as the Chittagong Armoury Raid. There will never be another revolutionary like Surya Sen. The movement was organised by Sen on April 18, 1930. Master Surya Sen was hanged in an unconscious state and his body was thrown into the Bay of Bengal.

“My question was very simple as this was such a significant event and there is nothing that compares to it. A revolutionary moment of this magnitude by brave Bengalis deserves to be preserved in its entirety in the Cellular Jail. It should be on display and a separate gallery must be established. To this, the Government stated that there is no such gallery and there are no plans to create one,” he said.

Seventeen individuals had gone to Chattogram, yet they only have the names of 16, and even those without any details. Across the country, people are being brutally attacked simply for speaking in Bengali. On the other hand, they are attempting to rewrite history. Those who made no contribution to the freedom struggle and aided the British are being glorified, while the stories of brave Bengalis are being erased. This cannot be allowed. In contrast, Mamata Banerjee has honoured all the brave Bengalis at the Alipore Museum. The Union government’s Bangla-Birodhi stance becomes more apparent with every answer they provide, argued the MP.

Earlier this month, in a written response to a question raised by Ritabrata, the ministry of culture had said that there are no statue of Rabindranath Tagore at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial, and, more disappointingly, that there is no plan to instal one either.