Puja Pandal not related to 'Moinul Haque Choudhury Mukto Mancha': Aminul Haque Laskar rules out any controversy

Not always we find in India that an MLA from BJP is in controversy for dedicating a stage to a former MLA belonging to the rival political party. Deputy speaker of Assam and Sonai MLA, Aminul Haque Laskar is making headlines for naming a multipurpose stage as ‘Moinul Haque Choudhury Smriti Mukto Mancha’. Allegations against him include him changing the name of a Durga Mandap’s stage as Moinul Haque Choudhury Smriti Mukto Mancha.

Born in Sonabarighat, Moinul Haque Choudhury is a famous name in Barak Valley, Assam and India’s political history. Till 1951, he was a Muslim League leader and then he joined Indian National Congress and was elected as MLA from Sonai, MP from Dhubri and was a minister in Central Government too. He is someone who is admired by people across caste, community and creed and he has his critics too as do all political leaders.

Recently, a stage in Sonai Bazar area was inaugurated as the ‘Moinul Haque Choudhury Smriti Mukto Mancha’. What spurred a controversy is that the stage has been built where Udiyoman Durga Puja Committee has been organizing Durga Puja annually. In fact, last year too the stage was used for Durga Puja but it was not yet named. “This year too the stage will be used for Puja as planned,” says Laskar.

Speaking with Barak Bulletin, the Deputy Speaker of Assam said people are creating controversy for political gains. “In the old bus stand in Sonai, Durga Puja has been taking place annually for more than 50 years. In fact, in 2018 the Puja committee celebrated its 50th anniversary. Now this area where the Durga Puja takes place used to remain dirty almost throughout the year. That is why Udiyaman Durga Puja Committee members had to rent wooden planks and use it for flooring during the Puja,” informs Laskar.

He adds, “In 2016 after I became the MLA of Sonai, people of the Sonai Bazar locality reached out to me with the request to make the bus stand puddle-free and clean. Then I took the initiative and installed CC blocks in the bus stand area to make it puddle-free. Now just adjacent to that, there was a huge dustbin and a couple of transformers. Entire garbage collected from the Sonai Bazar was dumped in that dustbin and as that is not a municipality area, there was no systematic arrangement to clean the trash. As a result, the people living in nearby areas had to suffer a lot and they reached out to me and requested to remove the dustbin from this area.”

To put things into perspective and give context to the entire controversy, Laskar says, “So, I got the dustbin removed and called for a meeting with local intellectuals. There it was suggested that we must construct a multipurpose stage after replacing the transformers. I spoke with the Electricity Board and then they removed the transformers leaving the place vacant to construct the “Mukti Mancha”. So, once the CC Blocks were installed and it was about to be inaugurated as ‘Sonai Muktayan’ we got a proposal to name the stage as Moinul Haque Choudhury Smriti Mancha.”

The reason behind this proposal, Laskar says was that the people who throw garbage in the bus stand area belong to the Muslim community and since Moinul Haque Choudhury was the first MLA of Sonai and people of this area respect him, they won’t dump the garbage near a Moinul Haque Choudhury Smriti Mancha.

“The stage got built and was inaugurated as ‘Moinul Haque Choudhury Smriti Mukto Mancha’ not a single person from Sonai or Udiyaman Durga Puja Committee raised an objection instead people sitting in Durgapally are writing about it. What is his relation with the Durga Puja in Sonai while he himself is in Durgapalli?” Laskar questions the base of this opposition.

“The place where the Puja takes place is still vacant. See, when we were building the stage it was decided that we will use it for Durga Puja and other purposes. So, the measurement was taken in a manner that suits the height of the pandal. Last year, as planned the Puja took place there Udiyaman Club used the stage as platform, next year too the Puja will take place on that stage itself,” says the Sonai MLA.

Laskar reminds everyone that the Prime Minister of India has said, Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Viswas. “Moinul Haque Choudhury is the first MLA from Sonai constituency, while he was the Minister in Assam Government he had revolutionised agriculture in Sonai and in fact, entire Barak Valley. After that, he went to Dhubri and became an MP and a Minister in the Central Government but his love for his birthplace got him working for the Valley. Sugar Mill in Cachar, Paper Mill in Cachar, Textile Mill, Engineering College, Medical College, Silchar Radio Station are all his contributions. If a small stage is dedicated to a man like him on request of the people of this locality, it cannot be seen as a crime,” Laskar takes a dig at the ones who according to him are trying to create a controversy.

He also took a jibe at those who are opposing now but remain quiet when government institutions were named after people who had zero contributions in the growth of Barak Valley. “We have stadiums in the name of those who had zero contribution to the growth of Barak Valley. A hospital built on the land donated by someone is named after another person who again has no contribution in Barak Valley. The entire population of the Sonai area irrespective of religion support this stage being named after Moinul Haque Choudhury. All this ‘hulla-gulla’ is nothing but a political gimmick and people trying to gain some brownie points,” concludes Laskar.