No Khela Hobe Divas on Aug 16: Hindu outfits

August 10, 2021 19:37

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said representatives of various Hindu organisations met him and expressed reservations over the TMC government's decision to observe August 16 as 'Khela Hobe divas', stating that the Muslim League had proclaimed Direct Action Day on this date in 1946, which led to large-scale violence and bloodshed.

'Khela hobe' had been the rallying cry of the TMC in the assembly polls held earlier this year.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her government would want to promote sports on Khela Hobe Divas' in the memory of football fans who were killed in a stampede during a match some 40 years ago.

Taking to Twitter, the governor said, "Representatives of Sanatan organisations called on Governor WB today to seek change in the date of Khela Hobe Divas' as it reminds the horrendous memories of Direct Action Day and 'the week of long knives' in 1946 that led to killings of thousands."

Dhankhar also said that he would convey their message to the government.

"Their (Hindu leaders') only objection was to the date of Khela Hobe Divas'... Governor assured them that their feelings would be conveyed to the government, he wrote on the microblogging site.

Leader of the Opposition in Assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, who led the group of monks to Raj Bhavan, said any celebration on August 16 would bring back painful memories of a gory past.

"Accompanied by revered monks, pleaded the Honourable Governor Shri Dhankarji to persuade the WB Govt to change the day of the proposed Khela Hobe divas, as any celebration on this day would only make the Bengalis relive the pain of the gory past," the saffron party leader said.

August 16 is a "blot" on Bengal's history, he maintained.

"The day is horrifically remembered as Direct Action Day or Great Calcutta Killings which led to the brutal killings of thousands of Bengalis. Many dead bodies kept lying on road for days to be fed by dogs and vultures," Adhikari added.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Not changing 2G judgment, non-auction allocation only for...: Sources

The government is not seeking to change the 2012 Supreme Court judgment that backed auction as the preferred mode of allocating telecom spectrum except for narrowly defined sectors such as satellite communication and defence where the...

It's Modi govt that wanted to bring inheritance tax: Cong

Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax and cited former Union minister Jayant Sinha's remarks to allege that it is the Modi...

'Can't control polls': SC to EVM critics as it reserves order

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions...

Modi's 'redistribution' charge against Cong gets Pitroda's booster

In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda's comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country's social and family values that...

IPL PIX: Pant shines as spirited Delhi Capitals edge Titans

Rishabh Pant's belligerent unbeaten half-century helped Delhi Capitals' to a narrow four-run win over Gujarat Titans.