West Bengal Congress cleared for July 21 Shaheed Diwas

The West Bengal Congress has received official permission to hold a tribute event at Kolkata's Shaheed Minar on July 21, marking a significant political assertion over the legacy of a decades-old tragedy. The event will honor the 13 Youth Congress workers killed in a police firing during a protest in 1993, a day observed annually as Shaheed Diwas in the state.

State Congress President Shubhankar Sarkar confirmed the authorization on July 15, framing the event as a rightful commemoration under the party's banner. He emphasized that the 1993 protest, led by then-West Bengal Youth Congress president Mamata Banerjee, was conducted under the Congress flag. Sarkar directly questioned the legitimacy of Banerjee's long-standing observance of the day with her own party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which she founded after leaving the Congress in 1997. He stated that Banerjee had previously held events under a different banner, not the flag the victims were carrying when they died.

In a pointed political invitation, Sarkar has called on Banerjee to attend the Congress program. He said her attendance, coupled with a public admission that leaving the Congress was a mistake, would...