Bloc members demanded inclusion of their five party workers, who were killed in the February 5 police-firing incident in Dinhata, in the list of obituaries read out by the Speaker.
“Our MLA Haripada Biswas stood up and demanded that the names of those persons who were killed in the Dinhata police firing be included in the obituaries. Mehboob Mondal, another MLA, demanded offering tributes to the martyrs. We protested today and we will continue to protest in days to come,” Jeeban Prakash Saha, a Bloc MLA said.
Among the names that were included in the obituary list were of former Union minister Pratap Chandra Chunder, former state minister Prasanta Kumar Sur, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, mountaineer Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, and noted filmmaker G P Sippy.
“Obituary references include names of only the eminent persons and not those who died in political violence. This is a practice not only in the Vidhan Sabha, but also in Parliaments the world over,” Left Front chief whip Syed Md Masih told The Indian Express. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and most of the senior ministers were, however, not present inside the House.
For the second day in a row, Bloc members continued wearing black strips and badges carrying photographs of the victims. Trinamool Congress MLAs also occasionally joined the protests led by Bloc members inside the House. The Trinamool members, too, wrapped their shoulders in black cloth.
Later, senior Trinamool Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee told the media that the Governor’s address is not the reflection of his personal opinion and the true picture of West Bengal.
“We don’t accept what’s in the Governor’s address. Even, today, in the obituary reference made by the Speaker, there is not one line about those killed at Singur, Nandigram or Dinhata. Those members (Forward Bloc), who are agitating and are a part of the Left Front, should start a movement. Merely wearing badges won’t do,” Chatterjee said.