West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been quite vocal in leading demonstrations against the central government. Her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) has often been accused of indulging in violence and minority appeasement in her home state. She infact has vouched countless times for granting Indian citizenship for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. She has always been ready to fight Bharatiya Janata Party for granting citizenship rights to the Bangladeshis. Mamata Banerjee thinks of herself as a PM candidate and her ambitions are to lead the illusive Third Front in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She often tries to project herself as a national leader even though TMC has hardly any influence outside West Bengal. Her hopes of being branded as an icon of India have received a hearty snubbing from the Communist ruled China. West Bengal has failed to show prospects of growth under Mamata, the state which was under a long Communist rule has still not been able to develop at a fast rate. Mamata Banerjee’s appeasement policies have also led to times where the citizens of the state feel threatened, it is not surprising then that the outside investors want nothing to do with West Bengal. The images from the proposed Tata’s factory in Singur violence remain etched in the minds of investors and businessmen.
Mamata Banerjee was scheduled to fly to China to meet political leaders and other diplomats yesterday. She however had to cancel her trips as the officials and political leaders of the Communist Party of China refused to meet her. She took to Twitter to announce the cancellation of her trip, the tweet read, “Although our Ambassador in China had tried his best to make the programme a success, non-confirmation of the political meetings at the appropriate level as proposed by the Indian Ambassador to China, at the last moment, has unfortunately compelled us to cancel the visit.” China snubbing Mamata Banerjee might be a sign of the China government trying to impose its authority over the CM of Bengal. It is however going to be against our national interest and this snubbing shown by China needs to be condemned. Inspite of what Mamata does in her state she is a democratically chosen leader of her state and is entitled to the respect reserved for a CM. The actions of Chinese government are in a bad taste and should be treated as the same.
Although our Ambassador in China had tried his best to make the programme a success, non-confirmation of the political meetings at the appropriate level as proposed by the Indian Ambassador to China, at the last moment, has unfortunately compelled us to cancel the visit.
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 22, 2018
Mamata Banerjee, thankfully, has not blamed the central government for this and recognised the efforts of the Indian ambassador to China. The matter simply is that the Chinese government officials did not want to meet her. The reasons for this are not too far fetched. Communist Party of India (CPI) has long been known to have links with the Chinese ruling party, they have countless times taken funds from them and it is likely that the Chinese officials just did not want to meet the lady who had humiliated their Indian counterparts. Mamata’s record of violence and atrocities committed on Communist party leaders and workers post her win in the state is a big factor too. Nonetheless the image of West Bengal and their CM has been tarnished to a great extent by this snubbing from Chinese government. Central government of India should take necessary measures to voice their disappointment to the Chinese and to ensure something of this magnitude never happens again.