Two Governors — Keshari Nath Tripathi of West Bengal and Tathagata Roy of Tripura — have confirmed their participation in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) border management conference in February in Kolkata.
“The Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi and the Governor of Tripura Tathagata Roy have confirmed that they will attend the conference,” Jagannath Senapati, the organising secretary of Seemanta Chetana Manch told The Hindu .
The objective of the two-day conference is to “sensitise local residents” to work in a coordinated manner with Border Security Force (BSF), an RSS official said. This is the largest ever conference by the organisation in West Bengal “to stop illegal immigration and cow smuggling” to Bangladesh, the official said.
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The two-day conference is being organised by the RSS-backed organisation Seemanta Chetana Manch and will start from February 10.
Congress described the move to involve Governors in a RSS programme as “unacceptable.”
“If sitting Governors who are holding the highest constitutional offices in their State attend RSS' conference [it] is completely unacceptable. It will be unconstitutional on their part, it will derogation of the constitutional oath that they took. We sincerely hope that they seriously don't enter into such misadventures contrary to the posts that they hold,” says Randeep Surjewala, communication chief of the Congress party.
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Mr Senapati however said that one of the key objectives behind holding the conference in West Bengal is to include the local residents of the border districts of the State in the process of curbing illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
“The key objective behind the conference is to sensitise the local residents of the border districts of West Bengal so that they can work in a coordinated manner with BSF to curb illegal immigration and cow smuggling to Bangladesh,” said Mr. Senapati.
He further alleged that the districts near West Bengal’s border with Bangladesh have become a “hub of illegal activities” and members of Bangladeshi terrorist organisations are “active” there.
The organisers said that due to “lack of development” in the bordering districts with Bangladesh the local youth are becoming “easy targets” of terrorist organisations who are trying to involve them in their illegal activities. “We have already witnessed communal riots in Kaliachak in Malda district and Bashirhat in Noth 25 Paraganas district. These incidents are the outcome of the activities of the Bangladeshi terrorist organisations,” said Mr. Senapati.
Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and State Minister Jyotipriya Mallick dubbed it as an “attempt to disrupt peace”.
Mr. Mallick said that “such organisations - RSS and its affiliates along with BJP - are trying to disrupt peace and communal harmony in the State as they have failed to counter TMC politically.”
Apart from the Governors of West Bengal and Tripura the organisers have also sent invitations to the Prime Minister’s Office, The Ministry of Home Affairs, BSF as well as to former Army officials. About 500 delegates of the Seemanta Chetana Manch from Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and West Bengal will take part in the conference.
(With inputs from Sandeep Phukan)