November 8, 2018
#DarkDay Mamata Banerjee speaks on 2nd anniversary of #DemonetisationDisaster
Today is November 8. Two years ago, on this day at 8 PM, the disastrous decision of demonetisation was announced. Demonetisation has proved, over the course of the past two years, to be a complete disaster for the Indian economy. Many people lost their lives, and lakhs lost their jobs. Businesses in both the formal and informal sectors have been devastated.
On the second anniversary of the #DarkDay, Mamata Banerjee joined via telephone on a Facebook Live video. She reiterated that demonetisation was a disaster and there was an agenda behind the decision.
On how she reacted within one hour of the announcement two years ago
I always say that I come from the grassroots. My political activism began from student days. I know the pulse of the grassroots. After the announcement of demonetisation, I asked the grassroots people about their reaction. They started crying.
The housewives are ones who run the family; they keep their hard-earned savings in the piggy-banks at home. And now, overnight their savings were declared invalid.
I met one domestic help that day, who asked me for Rs 200. I asked what will you do with this money. She said, all my savings have been declared invalid. I have no money left to buy grocery items tomorrow. That is when I realised, these are the working class people, who actually matter in running the society.
That’s why I decided to go with what the common people are saying, what the daily labourers, the domestic helps are saying. I was then that I realised that this is a big disaster.
Other highlights of Mamata Banerjee’s statement:
I have said this before and saying it again. Demonetisation was a disaster. November 8th is the darkest day for India. There was an agenda behind the decision of demonetisation.
The biggest sufferers because of demonetisation were the agriculture sector, the small businessmen, labourers, the farmers, the unemployed, domestic workers, poor traders and others.
Who benefited from this decision? Why was this decision taken? To satisfy whom? I have a suspicion that this decision was taken to satisfy the agenda of a few people.
Economy is now totally depressed, business is now totally oppressed and common people are completely suppressed. The value of the rupee is also going down.
The (economic) situation is like that of a disaster. I don’t know how the country will survive and how much time it will take to recover from this (disaster).
It is very difficult to restore normalcy after a disaster. It takes a long time. Our country is a developing country. We are facing the disaster now.
The prices of fuel are rising. The number of unemployed people is increasing. The value of rupee is decreasing. Farmers are crying. The SC/STs, Dalits, Christians, economically backward classes, the general class – everyone is suffering.
People are scared to voice their opinion (against the government). If they do so, the agencies will hound them.
We have great respect for constitutional institutions and agencies. But nowadays, these agencies and institutions have become a ‘toy’ for the ruling party (BJP) and the RSS. Only to carry out polarisation. They are acting as per the directions they receive from the party office.
The main indicators of development are down. Investments are decreasing. The small scale industry, the main pillar of our country, which gives employment to lakhs of people, is suffering.
