Mamata to arrest scribes and imprison them for fourteen years if the dare to enter Nabanna! Buddha revolts against Karat and Yechury and declare would not stand with Mamta!
Palash Biswas
No body cares why 1382 laws have been dismissed with a single stroke in the Parliament in absence of opposition which stands together with an issue concerned with hate campaign which has been better mastered by no one else than West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with her unprecedented bamboo linguistics and body language as well.
Did does replicate Mrs Indira Gandhi opting for an emergency measure to restrict the entrance of scribes in Nabanna,the administrative headquarter where she sits in.
It turned out a horrible day in Bengal on the eve of Babri Mosque demolition anniversary as a policeman Friday threatened journalists they would face "serious consequences" including arrests if they move beyond the press corner at the West Bengal government's temporary secretariat "Nabanna".
On the other hand, Hindustan Times reports:
When the Opposition unites, the CPI(M) gets divided!
On Thursday late night, former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharyya publicly protested the party's Lok Sabha wing's move to hold joint rally with arch-rival Trinamool outside Parliament.
This rare public outburst from the tallest leader of CPI(M)'s Bengal unit, which is already disgruntled over several strategies of the central leadership, prompted the comrades in Lower House avoid the Opposition's grand protest outside Parliament building Friday where the Congress, Trinamool and others participated.
Bhattacharya's key objection was against party MPs joining protests with Trinamool against derogatory comments by a Union minister when the state CPI(M) is fighting for action against Trinamool MP Tapas Paul for his threat to send boys to rape women in families of CPI(M) supporters.
"Our party is consistently demanding the resignation of the minister. But we cannot go into a joint programme with Trinamool which has no credibility in the fight against communalism. Strict action against Tapas Paul also needs to be taken," Bhattacharya's statement said.
The incident, once again, brought out the underlying tension and disconnect between the Karat-led central leadership and the state leadership in Bengal, where the party is struggling to remain relevant. Sources added that party's Lok Sabha leader P Karunakaran, a veteran from Kerala, agreed to hold joint protests. With just nine MPs in Lok Sabha, the CPI(M) is far from being a major force on the basis of its own strength.
Karunakaran, sources added, enjoyed the support of Karat who told some of his colleagues Thursday, "This is good. Now, something will also happen in Lok Sabha." Till Thursday, the Opposition versus the government fight was restricted to Rajya Sabha only where the Opposition enjoys majority over the government.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader and politburo member Sitaram Yechury told HT, "The decision (to join protest with Trinamool) was taken by the Lok Sabha unit. As far as we are concerned, the CPI(M) is Rajya Sabha is leading the protests in the Upper House and our cooperation is limited within the House."
Trinamool spokesperson Derek O'Brian took a dig at Bhattacharyya for forcing his party stay out of the protests: "He lost the assembly election by a margin of 30,000 votes. It was their loss not to join protests."
Sources added, Bhattacharyya came to know about the developments late in the night and immediately tried to connect Karat and Yechury. Unable to get them, he called up a young party MP of Rajya Sabha and vented his frustration over the decision. Later, the former CM managed to speak to the two leaders and told them that he would issue a statement—a rare act in a regimented party like the CPI(M).
The verbal warning came in the afternoon from a policeman at the secretariat located in neighbouring Howrah.
The policeman, who claimed he was acting under instructions from Deputy Commissioner of Police (Reserve Force) Ashes Biswas, reminded the journalists of a circular that spelled out the "Standard Operating Procedure" of movement within the secretariat earlier this year and said the violation of the instructions would lead to strong action.
The circular issued Jan 15 had restricted the reporters to the press corner.
"Movement of media persons from the press corner to any other part of Nabanna without Visitors' Photo Entry Slip or approval of the competent authority for the purpose of media coverage is literally a breach of the SOP," said the circular.
It said only a reporter having a prior appointment with a minister or any officer would be allowed to move in areas beyond the press corner.
However, the circular led to a storm of protests, and the government had then backed out from enforcing it.
According to police Friday, some reporters "were habitually violating the circular, and going from one floor to another, and even barging into the rooms of officials without any prior appointment or permission".
The policeman, who gave the warning to the mediapersons, said they were liable to arrested if they breached the rules.
But as opposition parties and the civil society lashed out against the government move to "restrict" movement of journalists, the home secretary tried to control the situation by blaming the "overzealous policeman.
"He did not say the right thing by speaking about arrests. This is not the policy of the government," said Home Secretary Basudeb Bandopadhyay
Faced with media criticism, the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress government has often crossed swords with the fourth estate.
The government had earlier banned some newspapers from state-run libraries, while Chief Minister Banerjee herself time and again has asked people not to watch some television channels critical of her regime.
Times of India reports:
Mamata Banerjee's government on Friday banned movement of journalists inside the secretariat — Nabanna. Journalists having Press Accreditation card were told not to move out of Press Corner or they will have to face dire consequences. Even the police officers threatened to arrest journalists if they do not follow the restriction norm.
Police officers said that the senior officers held a meeting on Thursday to clamp down movement of the journalists and accordingly the journalists were told to take prior permission from the concerned officers whom they want to meet, or otherwise they might be charged with violating the official secrets act.
It might be mentioned that Mamata Banerjeeis also the information and cultural affairs (I&CA) minister and so the decision to restrict movement of journalists might have got his nod. Earlier on January 2, following an altercation with the policemen during the release of the administrative calendar, the DC (Reserve Force) had sent a note to the I&CA secretary saying that the journalists can be arrested under official secrets act if they roam inside Nabanna. So, the journalists were asked to remain inside Press Corner located on the first floor of the secretariat at Howrah. However, following protests by journalists this was not strictly implemented by the MamataBanerjee government.