GREATER COOCHBEHAR

No plan to burn BC Roy's effigy : GCDP

COOCH BEHAR, Dec. 24: The Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party (GCDP) is going to observe 1 January as Black Day. Wearing black badges their supporters will organise rallies and street corner meetings on that day at different block areas in the district. But, this time they have no plan to burn effigy of late chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy on that day.

 

It may be recalled here that on 1 January 2008, the GCDP had observed Black Day and its enthusiastic activists burnt effigy of Roy at Dinhata. The incident had created much controversy in the district as Roy is considered the founder of new Bengal.

 

GCDP president Mr Ashutosh Barma said they would observe 1 January as Black Day like yesteryear because the erstwhile princely state of Cooch Behar was merged with India merely as a district of West Bengal on that day in 1950. The then chief minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy had chalked out the plan to include Cooch Behar as a mere district, he alleged. "We are not ready to accept Cooch Behar as an ordinary district of a state and so we decided to stage protest against that act", Mr Barma said. It is nothing but an act of treachery to the people of Cooch Behar, he opined.

 

A senior Congress leader and AICC member, Mrs Sabita Roy said, "It is impossible to insult a towering personality like Bidhan Chandra Roy and by burning an effigy one cannot reverse the wheel of the history. It proves lack of knowledge of the men who think so." The bid to insult 'Banglar Rupokar' BC Roy is not wise, District Trinamul Congress vice-president Mr Niranjan Dutta opined. The District Youth Congress president Mr Avijit Dey Bhaumik made an appeal to the GCDP not to try insulting the founder of new Bengal. They should not misinterpret the history by trying to convict BC Roy, he said.

 

The GCDP president Mr Barma however said that they had no plan to burn effigy of BC Roy on 1 January. In the previous occasion some over enthusiastic supporters did it at Dinhata but that was not done following any party instruction, he explained. []

 

PHOTO : GCDP hunger strike at the foot of BC Roy's statue at Shahid Baag in Cooch Behar in June 2008.