June 7, 2023
If the truth is suppressed, the ghosts of the dead won’t hold back: Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee handed out compensatory cheques to the relatives of those from Bengal killed and injured in the train accident at Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha, at Netaji Indoor Stadium today.
Each of the families of 31 dead were given cheques worth Rs 5 lakh and a one-time payment of Rs 10,000 and appointment letters for jobs as home guards. The seriously injured were each given cheques worth Rs 1 lakh and the other injured cheques worth Rs 50,000.
Highlights of her speech:
I had decided not to say anything. But circumstances are forcing me to do otherwise. There is a conspiracy going on to suppress facts. The families who have lost everything are asking for explanations.
If the truth is suppressed, the ghosts of the dead won’t hold back, and their response would be deadly.
How did the accident happen? Why did so many people die? The CBI can investigate only of a criminal case is lodged. Don’t you know what happened in Pulwama? The then governor of Jammu and Kashmir has said the truth.
The real crime was not investigated. Things were whitewashed. In this case of the train accident, I want the truth to come out.
(To the Union government) You are not doing any special favour by giving compensation. When I was the railway minister, I used to give Rs 15 lakh to each of the families of the dead. What we have given here is extra. It is because we are humane. You are the citizens of my state.
We want the truth to come out. Through involving agencies, if people are misled, there can be dangerous consequences.
