Best left in the drawer?
A government report that spends more than a decade in a drawer tells a story regardless of what is written on its pages.
Trinamul Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee raised the topic of Poila Baisakh being declared as the Foundation Day.
He was speaking during the Zero Hour.
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The state Assembly had passed a resolution in September 2023 to celebrate Bengali New Year’s Day as Statehood Day, calling it Bangla Diwas.
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Raj Bhavan officially declared 20 June as the State Foundation Day (Bengal) leading to a dispute between the ruling TMC and opposition BJP. The Chief Minister of West Bengal argued that 20 June, which carries associations with the partition, lacks relevance to the state’s establishment.
Ritabrata said Paila Baisakh has a special significance for the state concerning the business, cultural and historic association.
The day is celebrated by the Bengalis with a shobha yatra (early morning) procession in the morning.
“Around 5,000 years ago, our forefathers came and settled in the land. The language dates back to 2,000 years and 1,200 years of old history as written evidence of this language. Bangla means Asia’s first college, Hindu College (now presidency College); Asia’s first university, Calcutta University and first medical college. Bengal also means India’s first Nobel prize for Rabindranath Tagore. Unfortunately, the language of Tagore is being belittled as Bangladeshi language. It is being said that there is no language as Bengali,” said Ritabrata.
His speech drew loud opposition from BJP MP from Bengal Samik Bhattacharya, said Ritabrata, but the TMC MP carried on with his speech.
He said: “Let me tell those who are showing disrespect to Tagore and Raja Rammohan Roy, calling him pimps of the British, that Tagore in his poem “1400 shaal” mentioned Poila Baisakh.”
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