Buddha says 1993 firing on Congmen right

Kolkata: Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today justified the police firing on Youth Congress workers, killing 13 people on July 21, 1993 during Left Front rule and asserted that he had never felt the need for a judicial inquiry into it.

On Wednesday, he told a judicial commission probing the matter: “They were marching to Writers Buildings (state secretariat) with the aim to capture it. Given the situation, the police had to resort to firing.”

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, then the Youth Congress president who led the march, later declared July 21 – the day of the incident – a Martyrs’ Day. She observes a memorial service every year on July 21, a watershed in the rise of her political fortunes.

Bhattacharjee, who was then the Information and Cultural Affairs Minister in the Jyoti Basu Cabinet, told the commission, "At that time, in principle I did not feel the need for a judicial inquiry and I still stick to my views."

Bhattacharjee deposed for nearly 50 minutes before the one-man commission of Justice (retired) Sushanto Chattopadhyay, a former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court.

Mamata Banerjee, who was then the Youth Congress president in West Bengal, had called for a march to Writers Buildings demanding voter photo-ID cards to be made mandatory for free and fair polling.

The police fired on protestors on Mayo Road and Dorina Crossing at Esplanade, about a kilometre away from Writers Buildings, killing 13 people and injuring several others.

"The programme was absolutely irresponsible, they wanted to capture Writers Buildings. There was large-scale violence and around 70 policemen were injured," Bhattacharjee claimed.

At this, Justice Chattopadhyay said there was no record of any policeman having been admitted to any hospital on that fateful day.

Seeking to justify the firing, Bhattacharjee said it always depends on the situation and assessment by the law enforcing authorities as to what action was necessary to contain it, adding that "on that day the police had to resort to firing in order to control the situation".

Bhattacharjee, at present a CPI(M) politburo member, also claimed to have learnt that the Congress too had not felt the movement was right.

"We had discussed with Congress leaders. Various Congress leaders also did not like the way the movement was conducted," he said.

When the Commission told him that leaders of other Left Front partners had deposed before it stating they had wanted a judicial probe into the incident, Bhattacharjee said, "Our partners might have said they preferred a judicial commission, but they stated their views and I have stated mine."

Bhattacharjee said, "The necessity of a judicial inquiry depends on many factors, including the government's views, media, perception of common people and other aspects. In this case, we did not feel the necessity."

The veteran Marxist leader agreed to the commission's reference that it was a pre-announced political programme, but asserted the intention of agitators was violence and to capture the state secretariat.

He said it was his duty to brief the media as the then information and cultural affairs minister, he had got a copy of the report submitted by the then Kolkata Police Commissioner to the Home Secretary, who had placed it before then chief minister Jyoti Basu.

Bhattacharjee said though he had seen the preliminary report submitted a day after the incident, he did not remember seeing the statutory inquiry report, which is generally submitted after a few months of an incident of police firing.

Justice Chattopadhyay told him that authorities at Lalbazar (Kolkata Police headquarter) and Writers Buildings had given to him in writing that no inquiry report had been found and that, in fact, no papers relating to the incident could be located.

At this, Bhattacharjee said, "It is unfortunate that such a report went missing."

He told Justice Chattopadhyay that a commission should be set up by the government on proper upkeep of records and prevent these from going missing.

Asked whether the police should fire on innocent people in democratic movements, he told Justice Chattopadhyay, "There is a difference between a democratic movement and a pseudo-democratic movement."

Told that none of those killed were anti-socials and were instead "innocent politically-aware people", Bhattacharjee said, "There may have been innocent pedestrians and every death is unfortunate."