While touching upon the issue of law and order, the scenario was described as “generally stable, notwithstanding a few specific incidents.” The specific incidents, however, were not elaborated on.

It was also mentioned that “there was no major communal incident during the last year” - missing out the outbreak of violence in Kolkata in November, when the Army had to be called in to control the rampaging mobs.

Passing references were made to the reduced KLO-ULFA activities in North Bengal, the Greater Coochbehar People’s movement and the movement against the dominance of the Gorkha National Liberation Force in the hills of Darjeeling. The speech also referred to the attempts made by Bhutanese refugees to march into Bhutan through North Bengal.

As the Governor read out the speech, members of the Trinamool Congress tried to draw his attention to what they felt were “acts of omission”. Later, a disgruntled Partha Chatterjee, Leader of the Opposition from Trinamool Congress said the speech “did not reflect the true picture of the state”. On behalf of the party, he demanded the inclusion of a tribute to those killed in police firing for taking part in democratic movements. The speech, he said, should have had a word for the police to have more patience and deal with such movements from a more humanitarian angle.