The Oxford Union Debate society citing unforeseen ‘circumstances’ on Wednesday postponed a scheduled virtual address by chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the last moment.
The debating society has not given any particular reason for deferring but has sought an apology from Miss Banerjee.
In a communication that was sent to the chief minister’s office from Oxford Union the latter mentioned their “deepest apologies” and “reiterated that the Union would be happy and proud to welcome” Miss Banerjee “whenever may be convenient in her busy election schedule”.
“It is incredibly unfortunate: all of us from many countries were looking forward to it. Our audience in Oxford sent a great many questions, and we were all working hard to pull a number of elements together. However, nothing prevails over circumstances sometimes, it seems. I sincerely hope that the hon’ble chief minister will understand, and might honour us with her esteemed presence at the earliest possible convenience to you,” read the letter.
Taking to Twitter, the state home department said, “Today afternoon, the organisers have suddenly sought postponement and rescheduling of the programme at the last moment!”
“The request has been made telephonically from the organisers’ end, citing some unforeseen problems, a brief while ago. The programme with Oxford Union today stands cancelled.”
The TMC leadership, infuriated over the development, claimed that “political pressure” might have forced the organisers to take such a call.
“This is unprecedented… A programme planned months ahead was cancelled a few minutes before the event was scheduled to start. This is not the first time that such a thing has happened. Earlier, too, her programmes at international fora and foreign visits have been cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Miss Banerjee was scheduled to address the debate at 2:30 pm in virtual mode from Nabanna state secretariat. She was supposed to speak about the development projects of West Bengal along with answering questions from students.
She had received the invitation from Oxford Union in July and would have been the first Indian woman CM to address it.
According to state secretariat sources, Banerjee was expected to talk about the welfare schemes launched by her government, such as Kanyashree, Rupasree, Krishak Bandhu and Duare Bangla during the address.
The Oxford Union debating society was founded in 1823 and world leaders like US Presidents including Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton; British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron and Theresa May participated in it along with legends like Albert Einstein, Michael Jackson and Dalai Lama.
In 2018, Banerjee’s programme at Chicago to mark Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary, scheduled visit to China and her address at St Stephen’s college in New Delhi were cancelled, one after another.