www.thestatesman.com | FOLLOW US: India’s National Newspaper since 1818 @TheStatesmanLtd | Pages 12 Nation | @thestatesmanltd ` 5.00 | People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR World Page 5 LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | 21 June 2026 S P O RT S Iran closes Strait of Hormuz as Israel strikes Lebanon, over 30 killed ‘There is only one Shiv Sena’: Amit Shah | Cunha stars in Brazil win Page 12 Page 9 ‘Syama Prasad saved Bengal from being cut off from India’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Tarakeswar, 20 June P Prez, PM emphasise tribal development, launch projects worth `47,600-cr STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Rairangpur, 20 June Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to tribal empowerment while inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs 47,600 crore in Odisha, with a strong focus on education, healthcare, infrastructure and livelihood opportunities for tribal communities. Addressing a gathering in Rairangpur, the PM said the development of tribal society remains a top priority of his government. He emphasised that tribal India to host BRICS NSAs meet next week STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 20 June India will host the BRICS National Security Advisers’ Meeting on 22-23 June that will discuss key global strategic issues, including the rapidly evolving nature of national security challenges and the role of new technologies in emerging security threats. The meeting will be chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. During the meeting, the NSAs/Heads of Delegation of BRICS member countries will exchange views on the theme ‘Non-traditional security challenges confronting the world today’. The participants will also review the outcomes of the recently held BRICS Joint Working Groups on Counter-Terrorism, and on Security in the use of Information and Communication Technologies. China will be represented at the meeting by its Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who also functions as the NSA. His visit will take place amid efforts by the two sides to normalise bilateral ties. Mr Wang and Mr Doval are also expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS meet. The Chinese leader is also expected to hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. youth are being connected with education and employment opportunities to ensure inclusive growth and participation in the nation’s development. Highlighting educational initiatives, the PM said nearly 500 Eklavya Model Residential Schools have been established across the country, while around 750 schools have been sanctioned. He also announced approval for a new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Mayurbhanj district. More than 1.5 crore tribal students have received pre-matric and post-matric scholarships worth hundreds of crores of rupees, he added. rime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the observance of Paschimbanga Diwas on 20 June was not merely a ceremonial event but a reminder of a decisive chapter in history when efforts were made to separate the whole of Bengal from India and merge it with Pakistan. Addressing the first official Paschimbanga Diwas celebration in this temple town in Hooghly district after the change of government in West Bengal, Mr Modi credited Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee for leading the movement that ensured a part of Bengal remained within India and called for greater awareness among younger generations about the events that shaped the state's future. The Prime Minister claimed that during the period leading up to Independence, there had been attempts by political forces to separate Bengal from India and that even Congress had eventually accepted those plans. Mr Modi said Syama Prasad Mookerjee emerged as the key figure who resisted such efforts and launched a movement for a separate homeland for Bengali Hindus within India. “The youth should know this. When there was a plan NTA denies NEET-UG centre mix-up: New Delhi: Amid a controversy over a NEET-UG candidate from Nagpur being allotted Abu Dhabi as his centre for Sunday’s NEET-UG retest, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday said that the candidate’s examination centre preference had been changed to Abu Dhabi by the candidate himself through the agency’s centre-modification portal. Records showed the candidate’s examination city preference was changed three times to Abu Dhabi using the candidate’s login credentials, the agency said. to annex Bengal to Pakistan, Congress was giving in to their plan. Then Syama Prasad Mookerjee stood against it and he made a resolution and so the Bengali Hindu Homeland movement started,” he said. The Prime Minister said several prominent personalities like Meghnad Saha, RC Majumdar and Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay and industrialists like G D Birla joined the movement initiated by Mookerjee. According to Mr Modi, the movement eventually forced those favouring the inclusion of the whole of Bengal in Pakistan to reconsider their position. “This mass movement forced anti-Indian people to think that the entire Bengal cannot be cut off from the country,” he said. Tracing the historical significance of the date, Mr Modi referred to 20 June 1947, when Bengal's Legislative Assembly voted in favour of partitioning undivided Bengal, leading to the creation of West Bengal within the Indian Union while eastern Bengal became part of Pakistan. Political supporters of the observance argue that the decision preserved a section of Bengal within India at a time marked by communal unrest and uncertainty. BJP leaders maintain that Mookerjee played a central role in shaping the political movement that led to the creation of West Bengal. CM announces Mookerjee’s memorial at ancestral home, statue in Kolkata: Tarakeswar: Announcing a series of initiatives to celebrate Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s legacy, Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari today said the state government would purchase the late leader’s ancestral house and convert it into a memorial complex with a library. A 125-foot-tall statue of Mookerjee would also be installed in Kolkata. The announcements were made during the Paschimbanga Diwas programme, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the state government highlighted Mookerjee’s role in the events leading to the formation of West Bengal within the Indian Union. Page 4
The Statesman is one of India's oldest English newspapers. It was founded in Kolkata in 1875 and is directly descended from The Friend of India (founded 1818). The Englishman (founded 1821) was merged with The Statesman in 1934. The Delhi edition of The Statesman began publication in 1931. The Statesman Weekly is a compendium of news and views from the Kolkata and Delhi editions. Printed on airmail paper, it is popular with readers outside India. The Statesman (average weekday circulation approximately 180,000) is a leading English newspaper in West Bengal. The Sunday Statesman has a circulation of 230,000.
