West Bengal BJP chief calls AIFB members goons; Forward Bloc demands apology

While lauding the contributions of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Samik Bhattacharya recently hit out at the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), the party founded by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, calling its members “goons”.

Mr. Bhattacharya, a Rajya Sabha member, said that when Mookerjee urged Subhas Chandra Bose and his brother Sarat Chandra Bose to raise their voice against torture of Hindus in Bangladesh, none of them listened. These remarks drew sharp criticism from followers of Netaji and AIFB leaders.

AIFB general secretary G. Devarajan on July 11 wrote a letter to BJP national president Nitin Nabin demanding that he should immediately direct Mr. Bhattacharya “to withdraw his derogatory statement unconditionally and issue a public apology to the Forward Bloc and to the people of the country”.

“We further urge you to instruct all BJP leaders in West Bengal to desist from making irresponsible statements against Netaji, to refrain from any attempt to erase or diminish his legacy through symbolic or administrative actions, and to respect the established history of India’s freedom movement,” Mr. Devarajan said.

The State BJP president, while speaking at a public gathering had described how Mookerjee was attacked by AIFB supporters. “Syama Prasad was giving a speech at Md. Ali Park. Forward Bloc’s goons pelted stones at him and made him bleed from the wound. Had Mookerjee given any statement to incite the crowd, Forward Bloc members wouldn’t have survived that day,” Mr. Bhattacharya had said on July 6.

The very next day, Mr. Bhattacharya said, “When Hindus were being tortured in Bangladesh between 1937 and 1939, Syama Prasad approached Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Bose, requesting them to raise their voice and issue statements. Neither listened to Mookerjee”.

The AIFB general secretary in the letter has stated the Forward Bloc activists who opposed the communal and divisive speeches of “Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1940 were functioning under the direct leadership and political guidance of Netaji himself.

“It is equally well documented that Netaji repeatedly cautioned Mookerjee against delivering speeches that could inflame communal passions and disturb public peace. These are established historical facts that cannot be erased through propaganda or selective reinterpretation,” Mr. Devarajan had written in the letter.

Amid the Netaji versus Syama Prasad debate, the BJP MLA from Birbhum announced that a road which was named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be changed and named after Syama Prasad Mookerjee. This has further invited criticism not only from AIFB but also political parties in the Opposition.

Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee remains the biggest icon for the BJP and the party recently celebrated his 125th birth anniversary on July 6, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah coming down to Kolkata. The BJP government has announced a plan to construct a 125-feet-long statue of Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Kolkata. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, however, remains among the most iconic Bengalis who shaped the course of the freedom struggle in the country. While the BJP has 208 seats in the West Bengal Assembly, the AIFB, which is a constituent of the Left Front, has no representation in the State Assembly.