Kolkata: Freedom to express views is a golden gift of the Constitution and intolerance for it in any form can destroy the democratic fabric of the country, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar said, Sunday.
Jagdeep Dhankar’s comments came close on the heels of West Bengal Congress spokesman Sanmoy Bandopadhyay’s arrest over alleged criticism of the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on social media.
The governor, who has been on a collision course with the TMC government in the state since he ‘rescued’ Union Minister Babul Supriyo from the grip of agitating students of Jadavpur University here, called for ‘decent ways’ to disagree over a matter.
“Expressions of your view point is a golden gift of the Constitution and its intolerance in any form is destructive of democracy. Let’s learn decent ways to disagree with one another. Intolerance by structured mechanism is painfully worrying (sic),” the Governor Jagdeep Dhankar said without naming anyone.
Dhankar, who took over July 30 as the Governor of West Bengal, had ‘rescued’ Supriyo last month from a section of agitating students at JU, who tried to stop the Union Minister from attending an ABVP programme.
A fresh war of words erupted last week, when TMC minister Subrata Mukherjee criticised Dhankar for seeking a security cover upgrade without consulting the government.
Sanmoy Bandopadhyay’s arrest Thursday sparked outrage among all major opposition parties in Bengal. A section of BJP leaders visited his residence Saturday to express solidarity with him.
PTI