Bengal CM denied permission for foreign travel once again
The World Peace Conference would see a confluence of major political and religious dignitaries from across the world, and Mamata Banerjee is the only person from India invited to the event.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday reacted sharply to being denied permission by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to attend the World Peace Conference at the Vatican in Rome, which is scheduled in October.
On the campaign trail of her Bhabanipur Assembly by-election, Banerjee said, “How many places will you (Centre) not let me visit? You can’t stop me forever.” “I was going to represent India, it was not a vacation,” she further said
The MEA denied her permission to attend the conference saying the “event is not commensurate in status for participation by the chief minister of a state”.
The World Peace Conference would be held over two days, on October 6 and 7, in Rome. Pope Francis will grace the event centred around Mother Teresa, along with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Grand Imam Ahmad al-Tayyib of Egypt’s al-Azhar University and several other international dignitaries.
Banerjee is the only leader from India to have received an invitation, which was extended in recognition of her humanitarian efforts for society. She is also supposed to deliver a speech at the conference.
However, she cannot attend the event without clearance from the MEA.
During her campaign rally on Saturday, Banerjee questioned why she had been barred from going to events abroad “whenever I want to go but you all (BJP leadership) can travel as you please”.
And she has serious cause for complaint. She has twice before been denied from going abroad by the MEA: In 2018 to Chicago, for the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s famous speech at the World Parliament of Religions (which event, incidentally, was held later under a different banner, where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat spoke), and before that to China for a business trip, which had to be cancelled at the last moment.
At Saturday’s rally, she further said: “A Muslim preacher and a Christian religious leader have also been invited. I was supposed to be the only one representing the Hindu community. The only -ism I believe in is humanism. Had I been allowed to travel, I would have spoken about how Indians, across communities, coexist in peace and harmony. I would have spoken about (Mahatma) Gandhi, (Jawaharlal) Nehru, Netaji (Subhash Chandra Bose), (Vallabhbhai) Patel and other leaders. But they did not give me permission to do so. They want to stop me. I want to ask them how long will they stop me? You cannot stop me from going to other places. You can’t stop me forever.”
