Bengal education minister Bratya Basu on Tuesday, on the floor of the Assembly, “compared” Monday’s army action to dismantle the protest dais the Trinamool Congress had set up on Mayo Road with Operation Searchlight carried out by the Pakistan army in 1971 in Bangladesh

The BJP accused the ruling party leader of humiliating the Indian Army by comparing it to the Pakistani forces.

“Yesterday, when the army hurt our political party’s movement and almost dismantled our camp, it reminded me of March 25, 1971, sir — when in the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh, the (Pakistani) army entered at night and began shooting and killing people,” Basu said on the floor of the Assembly.

The minister made the statement while taking part in a discussion on the motion moved to condemn attacks and atrocities on Bengali-speaking people in several BJP-ruled states. Parliamentary affairs minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay had tabled the motion on Tuesday for which the session had been convened.

Although Basu did not mention the term Operation Searchlight, he was referring to the military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh) in March 1971. The widespread violence resulting from Operation Searchlight ultimately led to the Bangladesh Liberation War, in which Mukti Bahini fought to expel Pakistani forces from East Pakistan, resulting in the formation of an independent Bangladesh.

During his speech, Basu, who is known in Trinamool as one of its most effective speakers, elaborated on the history of language movements in India that led to the formation of multiple states, and how the language movement helped shape the identity of neighbouring Bangladesh.

“In our neighbouring country, Bangladesh, from 1947 to 1952, there was a debate. They were wondering whether they would identify as Islamic or as Bengali. On 21st February 1952, after four people were shot dead, the question was settled — they would identify themselves as Bengalis. As a result, after fighting against Pakistan, an independent state called Bangladesh was born. Today’s Bengali language and identity have emerged through that history,” Basu said, before linking the Indian Army’s dismantling of the protest venue in Calcutta with the 1971 actions of the Pakistani forces.

Soon, the leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, and other BJP MLAs stood up and started shouting, demanding that Basu’s comment be expunged from the Assembly record. They shouted slogans hailing the Indian Army and condemning what they saw as its humiliation.

Amid strong protests from the Opposition lobby, Speaker Biman Banerjee instructed the BJP MLAs, particularly Adhikari, to remain calm and allow Basu to continue his speech. As Adhikari persisted, Banerjee suspended him for the rest of the session. The special session is scheduled to end on Thursday, when the ruling party is expected to pass a resolution on attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant workers.

“Minister Bratya Basu compared yesterday’s dismantling of illegal structures by the Indian Army with the Pakistani Army’s actions in Bangladesh in 1971. We demanded the expungement of such a comparison from the Speaker, as he cannot compare the two. When the Speaker ignored our plea, we began sloganeering in praise of the army,”
said Adhikari.

The Bengal BJP called for a statewide protest in every mandal (gram panchayat area) against what the party termed the humiliation of the Indian Army. A source said the BJP was planning a major movement in response to Basu’s comment.

Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty claimed that comparing the army’s actions in Calcutta with the Pakistani army killing innocent people in Bangladesh was entirely inappropriate and could backfire on Trinamool.

“I don’t know why Bratya Basu made this comparison, which has no proper connection. There may be two reasons. First, he may have inadvertently drawn the comparison while speaking on the issue of torturing Bengali migrant workers. Second, he may have intentionally made it to gain political points with Mamata Banerjee,” Chakraborty said.

In contrast to what Basu said, Mamata on Monday did not criticise the army. She repeatedly said the army was not at fault but accused the BJP and defence minister Rajnath Singh of misusing the army for political purposes.

“Today’s issue will certainly go against Trinamool,” said Chakraborty.