New Delhi: While states in India usually observe foundation day to celebrate the moment of birth and glory, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress chose “Poila Boisakh” (the first day of the first month on Bengali calendar) to mark “Paschim Banga Divas” or West Bengal Day.
This came from a contention that June 20, 1947, reflects the trauma over the blood spilt and large number of displacements associated with the Partition.
But the day also marks the larger struggle for Independence where it stands out as the most historically grounded and nationally consistent choice.
It marks the decisive vote in 1947 that ensured West Bengal’s inclusion in India, aligning the state’s foundation day with the actual political birth of its modern identity.
On this day, legislators from the non-Muslim majority districts of Bengal voted for partition.
The Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution in favour, and a new state was born as part of India.
Without the adaptation of the resolution, all of Bengal could have gone to Pakistan.
Leaders like Syama Prasad Mookerjee played a pivotal role in securing West Bengal’s place in India.
Ignoring this date risks erasing the political struggle that defined the birth of a state.
It was thus a turning point in the subcontinent’s history, shaping the destiny of millions.
Rejecting the Trinamool’s demand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consistently said that June 20 marks the political birth of West Bengal within the Union of India.
Thus, soon after assuming office, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had shared the proposal to designate June 20, 1947, as West Bengal’s Foundation Day.
“You cannot change history,” he had stressed.
Under the Trinamool government earlier, his party had proposed that June 20 be recognised as Bengal’s Foundation Day.
It was rejected, saying that the day was a painful reminder of the past.
Then, in 2023, a resolution was introduced in the Bengal Assembly to decide on a “state anthem” and “state day”.
While Rabindranath Tagore’s “Banglar Maṭi Banglar Jol (Bengal’s soil, Bengal’s water)” was chosen as state anthem, ‘Poila Baisakh’ came to be called West Bengal Day.
The first day on the calendar is more associated with the culture and heritage of Bengal.
The day is culturally significant, but not associated with the birth of the state.
The “state day” debate is thus between cultural sentiment and historical fact.
Foundation days of states across India are tied to political events, not festivals.
Tagore’s rendition, chosen as state anthem, was composed in protest against the first Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon in 1905.
It is indeed a dark, emotional issue that June 20 recalls the trauma, displacement, and communal violence that marked the Partition.
But foundation days are not meant to erase, or ignore, pain, rather, acknowledge history.
West Bengal’s identity cannot be separated from the events of June 20, 1947.
In the contest between sentiment and history, the date is significant — not because it is painless, but because it is a fact.
This year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will himself participate in West Bengal Day celebrations at Tarakeswar in Hooghly district.
The venue chosen for the inaugural celebration holds symbolic weight, as Syama Prasad Mookerjee once led a conference there related to Bengal’s partition.
The Prime Minister will launch, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects in West Bengal.
The theme, “West Bengal: Heritage, Harmony and Development”, reflects the state’s cultural richness, social cohesion, and developmental aspirations.
And on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Modi will participate in the 12th International Yoga Day celebration in Kolkata. Later that night, he will commission three indigenously designed and built naval ships — INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata.
