Mamata prohibits telecast of PM's speech at WB Universities

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has indulged in yet another political war with the Centre over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special address to the university students across the country on September 11.

The WB CM has ordered the universities of her state not to make arrangements for the live telecast of PM's address, overturning the Centre's order.

PM Modi is scheduled to address the nation on September 11 to mark the centenary celebrations of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and 125 years of Swami Vivekananda's address at the Chicago World Parliament of Religions.

It is worth mentioning that the theme of the event is Young India, New India - A Resurgent Nation: From Sankalp to Siddhi.

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The speech will be broadcast from the Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi at 10.30 am, and the University Grants Commission (UGC), the apex body for hundreds of varsities across the country, had issued a circular to ensure all the students get a chance to listen to the address.

The UGC has written a letter to all vice chancellors over the same. UGC chairman VS Kaushal says, "This could be a life changing experience for many students."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, however, have strongly condemned the decision of the Trinamool Congress government in the state, describing it as 'very unfortunate and intolerable for democracy'.

Expressing disappointment over the Centre's decision of telecasting PM's speech at the university campuses, West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said, "This is a clear attempt to saffronise education. They are taking decisions on their own without consulting us."

Chatterjee also objected to the clubbing together of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, a politician and head of BJP's fountainhead - Bharatiya Jan Sangh - and Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk and philosopher seeking to raise interfaith awareness.