Suvendu suspended from Bengal Assembly after Army remark row; calls TMC 'agent of Pakistan'

Kolkata, Sep 2 (PTI) The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday witnessed chaos as the ruling TMC and opposition BJP clashed over a motion condemning alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants in other states, culminating in the suspension of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari for the remaining part of this special session for "disrupting proceedings".

Dubbing the TMC as "agent of Pakistan", Adhikari alleged he was suspended for protesting against state Education Minister Bratya Basu's alleged remarks criticising the Indian Army's dismantling of a TMC protest stage in the city and drawing parallels with the Pakistani army's brutal crackdown in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, in 1971.

The dramatic showdown came less than 24 hours after Army officials partially dismantled a TMC protest pandal at the Gandhi statue on Kolkata's Mayo Road, because the party had overshot the programme's permission tenure.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had rushed to the spot on Monday evening, accusing the BJP of "misusing the Army" for "vendetta politics." Tabling the motion under Rule 169, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay cited recent incidents, including the alleged torture of a migrant worker in BJP-ruled states, to highlight the "persecution faced by Bengalis" outside Bengal.

During the debate, Basu said, "Our chief minister herself rushed to the site when the Army pulled down our podium meant to protest attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states." "When the Army dismantled our stage yesterday, it reminded me of the Pakistani Army firing in Dhaka on March 25, 1971. It also reminded me of the sacrifices made by people who laid down their lives to protect our language and identity." His comments triggered uproar from the BJP benches, with Adhikari accusing the government of "defaming the Army" and equating a lawful act with Pakistan's brutality.

"This government is maligning a proud national institution just to score political points," he said, demanding the remarks be expunged.

When Speaker Biman Banerjee refused, Adhikari stood up, repeatedly interrupted proceedings and shouted slogans.

"I am forced to suspend you for repeatedly interrupting the proceedings of the House and leaving your seat," the Speaker declared, amid loud desk-thumping from TMC legislators.

Later, while talking to PTI, the Speaker said Adhikari has been suspended for the "remaining days of this (special) session".

The Special Session, which began on Monday, will end on Thursday. There would be a break on September 3, which is a state holiday on account of Karam Puja.

BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, raising slogans such as "We don't want this pro-appeasement Mamata government" and "shame, shame." Outside the Assembly, Adhikari claimed he had been "unethically forced out," adding, "I was suspended because I protested against Basu's defamatory remarks against the Indian Army. We want those remarks to be expunged. How can a minister compare the Indian army with that of the Pakistani army?" "The TMC and its leaders have proved that they are agents of Pakistan... I am proud that I have been suspended for protesting against attempts to defame the country," he said.

Once the BJP legislators staged a walkout, Basu resumed his speech, accusing the saffron camp of trying to impose a "one country, one language, one religion diktat" on the nation.

"They are scared of the Bengali language. They get infuriated even hearing the name of our chief minister, who represents 12 crore Bengalis. In Assam, 12 lakh people are languishing in detention camps, and out of them, 7 lakh are Bengali-speaking, including 5 lakh Muslims," Basu said, accusing the BJP of "tarnishing the glory of Bengal." The TMC defended the motion, saying it was necessary to highlight the alleged "systematic harassment" of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states and that Basu's comments were being "twisted for political gains." During the debate on the motion, BJP chief whip Shankar Ghosh alleged that the motion had been brought "purely for political reasons." "A double-engine government in West Bengal will ensure the true supremacy of the Bengali language," he said.

In response, senior TMC minister Firhad Hakim said the BJP was "still nursing false hopes." Defending Bengal's linguistic and cultural heritage, he asserted, "Our Bengali language has its roots in Sanskrit. Today, 291 million people speak Bengali. It is the seventh most spoken language in the world. Language cannot be imprisoned. There were no attacks on Bengalis in Delhi or Odisha when non-BJP governments were in power. It is only the BJP and the RSS who are propagating the politics of hatred. They even worked against the country during British rule. And today, if we speak in Bengali, we are labelled Bangladeshis?!" The clash over migrants and the Army has added a fresh flashpoint to the bitter TMC-BJP rivalry, with the ruling party accusing the saffron camp of remaining silent on "attacks against Bengalis" and the opposition charging the state government with dragging the Army into partisan politics. PTI SUS PNT MNB