Congress gets ‘full permission’ for July 21 ‘Shaheed Diwas’, targets Mamata Banerjee over martyr memorial banner

KOLKATA: West Bengal Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar confirmed that the party has received official authorisation to hold a tribute programme at Shaheed Minar in the state, commemorating the Youth Congress workers who lost their lives in the 1993 police firing.

Sarkar asserted that the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held an event earlier, but under a different banner and not under the flag beneath which they made the ultimate sacrifice when they were killed.

Shubhankar Sarkar explained the necessity of this specific event. He said, “We have received full permission to hold the event at Shaheed Minar. We began planning this programme quite some time ago, and there is a specific reason behind it: the incident that took place on July 21, 1993”.

Sarkar stated that the party will hold its own memorial service to honour the victims of the July 21, 1993, police firing, emphasising the party’s historical connection to the tragedy. “Our brothers from the Youth Congress and Congress were protesting while carrying party flags when firing was opened on them,” Shubhankar Sarkar said.

#WATCH | Kolkata | State Congress President Shubhankar Sarkar says, “We have received full permission to hold the event at Shaheed Minar. We began planning this programme quite some time ago, and there is a specific reason behind it: the incident that took place on July 21, 1993.… pic.twitter.com/zZmWZI6BHr

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The Congress president, while challenging the legitimacy of past observances, questioned Mamata Banerjee’s choice of banner for the July 21 anniversary. He added, “Mamata-ji held an event under a different banner, not under the flag beneath which they made the ultimate sacrifice, the flag they were carrying when they were fired upon and killed.”

On Sunday, West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee had “hijacked” the July 21 ‘Shaheed Diwas’ (Martyrs’ Day) observance, saying the day was originally associated with Congress workers.

Speaking in Kharagpur, Ghosh said permission had been granted by the police for the event and stressed that tributes should be paid to all those who lost their lives. July 21 is observed every year as ‘Shaheed Diwas’ in West Bengal. The day commemorates the 13 Youth Congress workers who were killed in police firing during a protest under the Left Front regime in 1993.

On the other hand earlier in July, MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who recently joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) from Trinamool Congress (TMC) wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari seeking a fresh investigation into the July 21, 1993 police firing on Youth Congress workers in Kolkata, alleging that successive governments failed to prosecute those responsible and demanding publication of the inquiry commission’s report.

Calling the incident a “gross miscarriage of justice,” Dastidar wrote, “Despite coming to power in 2011 on the promise of justice for the 21 July martyrs, the Trinamool Congress government has failed to prosecute the ministers, bureaucrats and police officers responsible.”

She further wrote, “If justice is denied, it will only strengthen the perception that the Trinamool Congress government has colluded to shield former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Left Front leadership responsible for the 21 July atrocity, betraying the very martyrs whose memory it claims to honour.”

July 21 is observed every year as ‘Shaheed Diwas’ in West Bengal. The day commemorates the 13 Youth Congress workers who were killed in police firing during a protest under the Left Front regime in 1993.

Mamata Banerjee, who was the West Bengal Youth Congress president at the time, continued observing the day annually after founding the Trinamool Congress. The event has since become a major political gathering organised by the TMC every year. (ANI)