Motion moved in West Bengal Assembly on harassment of Bengalis in other states; discussions on two days

Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) A motion was moved on the floor of the West Bengal Assembly on Monday afternoon, on the first day of the Special Session of the House, to discuss the crucial issue of the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in different BJP-ruled states in the country.

However, the House was adjourned for the day after the motion was moved and admitted. The discussion on the motion will take place on Tuesday and Thursday, after which the Special Session will conclude. The House will not be in session on Wednesday because of the holiday declared by the West Bengal government on the occasion of 'Karam Puja.'

On Tuesday and Thursday, there will be no “calling attention” or “mention” sessions when the House is in session, and on each of these two days, there will be a discussion for two hours on the said motion.

The motion was moved on Monday afternoon by the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, and the Speaker of the House, Biman Bandyopadhyay, admitted the motion.

It is learnt that besides the discussion on the motion on the issue of alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in different BJP-ruled states, there might be discussions on subjects like the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in West Bengal soon, and on the issue of sending back of the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, meant for giving harshest of punishment for the accused in cases of rape, and rape and murder, to the state government by President Droupadi Murmu, for reconsideration.

The Bill was sent back to the West Bengal government in July this year, after the Union government had some queries about certain provisions in the Bill.

Meanwhile, on Monday, after admitting the motion on the issue of the alleged harassment of Bengali migrant workers in different BJP-ruled states, Speaker Bandyopadhyay, said that Bengali-speaking people from West Bengal were being persecuted and harassed in other states, and there is anxiety in the state on this issue.

"We expect that all the parties having representatives in the Assembly will participate in this discussion peacefully. The interests of Bengali-speaking people from West Bengal are involved here. We believe that representatives of all political parties will speak here with emphasis on language and culture rather than politics."

--IANS

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