Strengthen voices against all forces that try to stifle freedom: Mamata Banerjee

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 15

In keeping with her call for Opposition unity, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Sunday appealed to people to join hands against those who were set upon stifling the freedom of people.

“On the 75th Independence Day, let us all come together to strengthen our voices against all forces that aim to stifle our freedom. We must never forget the sacrifice of those who fought a long and hard battle for this day. Warm wishes to all my brothers and sisters. Jai Hind!”, the Chief Minister said in a tweet this morning.

Banerjee unfurled the National Flag at a function in Kolkata’s Red Road area today. However, since there were no spectators at the venue in view of the Covid protocol, Banerjee refrained from delivering a speech there.

Instead of speaking at an empty ground, Banerjee wrote a song which was posted by her on her Facebook page early in the morning today.

Written in Bengali, the lyrics, roughly translated in English, say “the soil of the earth should bound us all together, purer than gold, this country belongs to us all…”.

A video, with the song playing in the background, starts with visuals of the Union Jack being pulled down and the fluttering Tricolour replacing it on a flagpole. Bengali artists Indranil Sen, Monomoy Bhattacharya, Trisha Parui and Debojyoti Ghosh.  Sen, incidentally, is also Minister of State in the West Bengal government.

On Facebook the song is being viewed and shared by thousands of Banerjee’s admirers.