‘Khela Hobe’ slogan to now have its day in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress’s poll slogan “Khela Hobe (The Game is On)” is set to be formally institutionalised in Bengal as “Khela Hobe Diwas”, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in the state assembly on Tuesday. According to initial plans, the aim of this day — in July itself, though the date hasn’t been fixed yet — is to give football a leg up at the grassroots.
Sources said the day would be modelled on Kanyashree Diwas, which is celebrated on August 14 to mark the Kanyashree direct-cash-transfer scheme to fund high school and college education for girls. On Khela Hobe Diwas, the chief minister will hand over 50,000 ‘Joyee’ brand footballs, made by the state’s refugee handicrafts unit, to registered sports clubs across Bengal.
Former footballer Manas Bhattacharya, chairman of the managing committee of Refugee Handicraft (RH), said: “This will give us a new lease of life after football was impacted because of Covid. These balls are made by 600 women’s self-help-groups and prisoners.” RH is an autonomous body under the Bengal micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) department. “The footballs are handmade,” Bhattacharya said, adding, “the least expensive ones cost Rs 450, while the costlier ones are around Rs 750. The Joyee name was given by the CM herself in 2016. We got several orders, one even from China, but over the last one-and-a-half-years, with football matches coming to a halt and sports shops closing down, it has been a struggle for all to keep afloat. The CM’s announcement gives us hope. There, however, is a larger struggle — to keep pace with new machine-made footballs.”
Football, in Bengal, has been an effective tool for police-people outreach. Initially started in trouble Jangalmahal (the Jangal Mahal Cup) and the Hills (the Friendship Cup), it’s a model now replicated by all police units, including the Kolkata Police.
“I am very happy that the Bengal CM has declared the celebration of a Khela Hobe Diwas,” said Shamim Osman, a Bangladesh MP from Narayanganj, whose viral video on Khela Hobe had led to its use in Bengal. “I have a strong connection with Bengal and love visiting Kolkata. It feels good that my call has crossed borders and become a term that was used as a slogan in Bengal.... I had first used the term back in 2013-2014 during a meeting in Bangladesh. In India’s context, I urge Mamata Banerjee to ensure that ‘Khela Hobe Diwas’ becomes a day that is pro-people and pro-peace.”
Debangshu Bhattacharya, who made the slogan popular in Bengal, said: “Any creator is thrilled with public acceptance of his work. The same holds true for me when I coined the term. The slogan was not limited to political battlefields. It was hugely satisfying when my idol, Mamata Banerjee, started using the slogan at various rallies.... What gives me immense pleasure is that this Bengali term has also crossed our borders and is now being used in Assam and Uttar Pradesh.” DJ Bulbul, who remixed Debangshu’s slogan, said he was ecstatic. “The popularity of ‘Khela Hobe’ is beyond my expectations. It is rewarding to hear that Didi has announced a day in the name of this slogan,” he said.