11 yrs ago, I freed Bengal of bandhs, says Mamata
Siliguri: “Eleven years ago, I had freed Bengal of bandhs,” said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri before departing for Kolkata on Thursday.
Addressing media persons at Uttarkanya premises, on her way to the Bagdogra Airport, Banerjee said: “We have adopted a policy. We do not support bandhs. Bandhs halt development.”
Banerjee was answering questions raised by the media on the bandh called in the GTA area, slated for Thursday that was later withdrawn.
Banerjee had vehemently opposed the bandh and had warned that though it was everyone’s right to protest but if protesters take law into their own hands, causing any sort of disruption or problems on the first day of Madhyamik examinations, then they won’t be spared.
“I had appealed. Bengal is progressing at a fast pace. It is for the progress of the public. One should not halt this momentum by calling bandhs. 10 people cannot bring everything to a standstill while thousands wait on the roads with ambulances and examinees stuck,” remarked the Chief Minister.
After coming to power for the first time in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee-led government imposed a strong anti-bandh policy in the state.
Earlier, during the Left Front rule from 1977 to 2011, the state had become infamous for its bandhs. The Darjeeling Hills, in the past, had become synonymous with bandhs of all hues and duration. The last one was a 105-day bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in 2017 in demand of Gorkhaland.
Protesting against the motion moved in the state Assembly on Monday to thwart attempts to divide Bengal, nine members of the GTA from the Opposition bench sat on a 24-hour hunger strike below the martyrs’ column at the Gorkha Ranga Mancha premises at the Darjeeling Chowrasta on Monday and even announced a 12-hour bandh in the GTA area on February 23, the first day of Madhyamik examinations.
With the bandh call failing to garner support and based on “feedback” they had received, those nine people had withdrawn the bandh call on Wednesday.
Banerjee stated that there is a stringent law of the pollution department in West Bengal that microphones cannot be used 72 hours before Board examinations. “That is why we did not hold the government programme in Siliguri, outdoors. As Bhasha Dibas is a historic event, we had taken permission and NOC from the pollution department and observed it indoors,” stated the Chief Minister.
She wished all the examinees appearing for Board examinations the very best. “All examinations might not go as expected but one should not be undermined. If any examination is out of the way and is extraordinarily tough and comes to our notice, we will look into it. I wish all well and want all students to be successful in life,” stated the Chief Minister.
