Bratya Basu under fire for remarks linking Army action to 1971 Pak operation

West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu triggered uproar in the state assembly after comments that appeared to compare the Indian Army’s dismantling of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) protest stage with Operation Searchlight, the brutal crackdown launched by Pakistan’s Army in Bangladesh in 1971.

The minister made the remark during a debate on a motion condemning attacks and atrocities against Bengali-speaking people in several BJP-ruled states.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Basu of insulting the Indian Army. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari demanded the remarks be struck from the assembly record. When the Speaker ignored the demand, BJP MLAs shouted slogans of "Indian Army Zindabad" and walked out of the House. Adhikari was later suspended for his protest.

"Minister Bratya Basu compared yesterday’s dismantling of illegal structures by the Indian Army with the Pakistani Army’s actions in Bangladesh in 1971," Adhikari said. "We demanded expungement of such a comparison. He cannot compare the two."

Facing the backlash, Basu issued a clarification, insisting his words were being twisted. "I have not compared this with the Indian Army," he said. "I have said the way the Pakistan Army attacked Bangladesh is very, very condemnable. On 25th March, 1971, the Pakistani Army first attacked Jagannath Dham and then Dhaka University, they shot common people. This is not a comparison."

Outside the assembly, BJP’s former MP Arjun Singh escalated the rhetoric. "If I were in the assembly, I would have thrown Bratya Basu into the assembly and beaten him up," Singh said. "It is not right to compare India with Bangladesh like this."

While Basu maintains he was condemning Pakistan’s actions, the opposition insists the remarks crossed a line. The row has added to already tense relations between the Trinamool Congress government and the BJP in Bengal, with the Indian Army’s role becoming a flashpoint in political sparring.

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