Congress to hold July 21 Martyrs’ Day programme at Shaheed Minar after nearly three decades

West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar on Saturday announced that the Indian National Congress will organise the July 21 Martyrs’ Day programme at the Shaheed Minar grounds in Dharmatala this year. The announcement comes after the electoral defeat of the All India Trinamool Congress and growing political uncertainty surrounding the party’s traditional July 21 observance.

The July 21 programme traces its origins to 1993, when a Youth Congress rally led by Mamata Banerjee in Dharmatala allegedly came under police firing during the Left Front government. Thirteen party workers were killed in the incident, following which Congress declared July 21 as Martyrs’ Day. At the time, Maninder Singh Bitta was the national Youth Congress president and Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi headed the Pradesh Congress. The rally had been held near Dorina Crossing in central Kolkata.

Congress leaders have long alleged that after Mamata Banerjee formed the Trinamool Congress in the late 1990s, the new party gradually took control of the July 21 observance. According to Congress leaders, the party was subsequently unable to organise large public programmes for the occasion and instead held limited observances within its state headquarters, Bidhan Bhavan.

The latest announcement is being viewed as politically significant because Congress is planning to return to a public observance at Shaheed Minar after nearly three decades. The move comes at a time when Trinamool Congress leaders are reportedly maintaining a low public profile following the party’s defeat in the recent Assembly elections held in the state.

The political discussion around the July 21 incident has also revived references to allegations linked to the 1993 police firing. The article revisits claims that then Chief Secretary Manish Gupta was accused of ordering the firing during the Left Front regime. The issue later resurfaced when Mamata Banerjee fielded him as a Trinamool candidate in the 2011 Assembly elections, in which he defeated Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee from the Jadavpur constituency.