Harassment of Bengalis: After Aug 6 Jhargram rally, Trinamool protest in BJP stronghold North Bengal planned

Kolkata, Aug 1 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now decided to focus on North Bengal, considered a strong base of the BJP since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, to conduct her party’s third protest rally. The rallies, led by the Chief Minister are focussing on the issue of alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states across the country.

In all probability, Siliguri, the prime township in Darjeeling district of north Bengal, would be the venue for the third rally on this issue, that is most likely to be led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the tentative date for that protest would be between August 17 and August 21.

Already, a similar rally led by CM Mamata Banerjee, which was the first in the series of protests planned by the Trinamool Congress against harassment of Bengalis, was conducted at Bolpur-Santiniketan in Birbhum district. The next rally, the second in the series, has been scheduled at Jhargram town in tribal-dominated Jhargram district.

“Both Bolpur and Jhargram are in South Bengal, and hence it is the wish of the Chief Minister to conduct the third protest rally on this issue at a town in North Bengal,” confirmed a senior member of the state Cabinet who did not wish to be named.

Political observers say that while both Bolpur and Jhargram became the choice because of their historical and cultural significance associated with Bengali history, language and nostalgia, the reason for choosing either Siliguri or any town in North Bengal is political.

“Bolpur was chosen because of its rich association with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and the Gurudev-founded Visva Bharati University at Bolpur-Santiniketan in the district. Similarly, Jhargram has been chosen as the second rally venue on August 6, because of its historical and nostalgic significance, due to the Santhals’ movement against British rule in India in the 1920s on agrarian grounds. But the main reason for choosing Siliguri or any other two areas in North Bengal is to give a direct challenge to the BJP in the latter’s organisational stronghold,” pointed out a city-based political observer.

To recall, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won from six out of seven constituencies in North Bengal. Even in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls, while Trinamool Congress had landslide victories in almost the entire north Bengal, BJP candidates emerged as victors from the majority of the 54 Assembly constituencies in North Bengal.

The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, recently claimed that the BJP will win at least 40 of 54 Assembly constituencies in North Bengal in the 2026 Assembly elections as well.

CM Mamata Banerjee has described her party’s series of protest movements on the issue of alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states as yet another 'Bhasha Andolon (Language Movement)'.

However, she had also faced criticism on this count since 'Bhasha Andolan' was a political movement in what was then East Pakistan, advocating for the recognition of Bengali as an official language of the country, which ultimately led to the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation after erstwhile East Pakistan was liberated from Pakistan in 1971.

--IANS

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