Mamata's 40-year claim on a 33-year-old incident, new controversy erupts over statement on Martyrs' Day

Kolkata, Before the Martyrs' Day program organized by the Trinamool Congress every year on July 21, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee addressed the workers through Facebook Live. During this, she remembered the incident of July 21, 1993, and said that her party has been paying tribute to the martyrs for years. Mamata Banerjee said, 'On July 21, there will be a tribute to the martyrs. We have been paying tribute to the martyrs for 40 years. The fight for 'No ID card, no vote' was started by our workers. At that time, I was the state president of the Youth Congress. I myself was injured. Tear gas was thrown in front of me, bullets were fired, and a gun was even pointed at me to kill me.' She also said that this incident is from the tenure of the Left Front government and her reference was specifically to the then CPI-M government. It is worth noting that on July 21, 1993, a march was taken out to the Writers' Building under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, the then state president of the Youth Congress, demanding the mandatory use of photo identity cards. During the protest, 13 Congress workers were killed in police firing. Later, after the formation of the Trinamool Congress in 1998, Mamata Banerjee has been observing this day as Martyrs' Day. However, Mamata Banerjee's claim of 'paying tribute to the martyrs for 40 years' in her address has become a topic of discussion, as the incident of July 21, 1993, has completed 33 years in the year 2026, while the Trinamool Congress was formed on January 1, 1998. A debate has started in political circles over this statement.