'I'm very sad': President Murmu objects to Mamata govt allotting smaller venue for Santhal event

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday expressed strong displeasure after TMC-ruled West Bengal government changed the venue of an event she was supposed to attend.The President said authorities told her the planned venue was changed as it was congested. Addressing the International Santhal Council, President Murmu said: "Someone doesn't want Santhal to get united, to progress, to get educated...someone doesn't want Santhal to become strong. However, I know Santhals have scarifised their lives for the nation."Later, the President went to the venue where the meeting was originally supposed to happen and highlighted the contradiction in authorities' claim, saying: "When I came here I found the field was big enough to accommodate 5 lakh people." The President said she was very sad about the last minute change in the venue and also pointed out how chief minister Mamata Banerjee chose not to meet her, which is against the set norm.Murmu on Saturday said the contributions of the Santals to the country's freedom struggle have not received due recognition, and asserted that the names of several legends belonging to the community were "not deliberately included in history".After inaugurating the ninth International Santal Conference at Bidhannagar in Siliguri in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, she stressed the need for education for Santal children.“I know how much the Santals have contributed to the country’s freedom struggle. But the names of Santal legends have not deliberately been included in history,” she said.Reacting to the President's displeasure over the incident, ruling BJP's I-T department chief Amit Malviya targeted the Mamata Banerjee government, saying: "When a state government begins to disregard the dignity of the office of the President of India, it reflects not just administrative failure but a breakdown of constitutional propriety and governance."