Attempt to disrupt Mamata’s Oxford talk joint initiative of SFI and BJP?

Kolkata: Was the attempt to disrupt Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s lecture at Oxford University’s Kellogg College a joint initiative of the Left and BJP? The question has been doing a round among the cross sections of the society after a few pictures went viral on social media which hint that there may be a connection between BJP and CPI(M).

According to media reports, the BJP had allegedly taken 3 people from Delhi to London to orchestrate the incident. They are from Rajasthan and Gujarat. The students’ wing of the CPI(M), Student Federation of India (SFI), had taken responsibility for the protest during West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s speech at Oxford. Now, it appears that there may also be some twist to the story that has apparently surfaced. Incidentally, those who tried to disrupt Banerjee’s lecture were not students of Oxford. A blogger on social media posted photographs of a person who was among those spearheading the disruption and has been found on social media wearing across his shoulder BJP’s party ribbon with its symbols on it. The same person was photographed at different places with different people. The person was also photographed with CPI(M)’s delegates in front of Kellogg College.

It was reported in the media that sons of some of the CPI(M) leaders from Bengal were sent to Oxford in the guise of students to disrupt Banerjee’s lecture. Likewise, the BJP had allegedly given the responsibility to trigger chaos onto two Gujarati businessmen and a chartered accountant. On the day of the incident, two Gujarati NRIs reached Oxford from Liverpool. Three placards were already made to stage demonstrations as the plans were hatched in Kolkata.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh who had accompanied Banerjee on her trip to London after the incident said: “Those who thought that they would disturb the Chief Minister ultimately had to escape following the composed handling of the situation by her… Those who resorted to such nuisance were jealous of the progress in West Bengal under the leadership of the Chief Minister. Those who resorted to such nuisance are unsatisfied souls.” Youth Trinamool Congress leader and in-charge of the party’s IT cell in West Bengal Debangshu Bhattacharya accused those who resorted to the protests during the Chief Minister’s speech of being part of an “anti-Indian, anti-Bengal and anti-humanity” organisation.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee during a media interview said that Youth Trinamool Congress and also the students’ wing of the party should have been more proactive and should have arranged movements against the attempt to disrupt Banerjee’s speech in Oxford.