Mamata govt wants 16 Aug to be Khela Hobe Divas, upset BJP recalls 1946 Calcutta killings

The famous slogan “Khela Hobe”, coined by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to rally the Trinamool Congress cadre ahead of the assembly polls earlier this year, is now being used to promote sports in the state. But the controversy around the slogan continues, with the BJP criticizing the Banerjee-led state government for announcing 16 August as the ‘Khela Hobe Divas’ since thousands of people in Kolkata were killed on the same day during riots in 1946.
In July, the West Bengal government had announced that 16 August will be observed as ‘Khela Hobe Divas’ in a bid to honour those killed during a stampede in Kolkata’s Eden Garden in 1980. A violent clash had erupted between the supporters of the East Bengal Football Club and Mohun Bagan Athletic Club on 16 August 1980, where over a dozen spectators were killed.
To commemorate the day, Manoj Tiwary, the Minister of State for Sports in West Bengal, said the government has planned a programme to promote football and other sports and will also felicitate sporting icons. The decision, however, has irked BJP leaders in the state who says 16 August was the day declared as ‘Direct Action Day’ in 1946 by the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and was followed by communal riots.
Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and the leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, also led a delegation of Sanatan Dharma monks to the Raj Bhavan Monday seeking redressal from Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on the matter. According to Adhikari, the delegation requested Dhankhar to persuade the state government to change the date of the ‘Khela Hobe Divas’.