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On Bengal trip, Amit Shah takes veiled dig at Mamata’s Trinamool
During his visit to the poll-bound state, Amit Shah also lashes out at those indulging in “narrow politics”
Union home minister Amit Shah, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, launched a veiled attack against the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress for trying to brand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders as “outsiders”.
“Today, in Bengal, those who resort to narrow politics, I would like to tell them that (freedom fighter and martyr) Khudiram Bose belongs to India as much as he belongs to Bengal. Ram Prasad Bismil (freedom fighter and martyr) belongs to Bengal as much as he belongs to Uttar Pradesh,” Shah said, while speaking to media after meeting Bose’s family members and garlanding the freedom fighter’s statue at his ancestral home in East Midnapore district.
Khudiram Bose was the youngest revolutionary freedom fighter who was executed on August 11, 1908 for his role in the Muzaffarpur conspiracy case. On December 19, 1927, freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq Ulla Khan and Thakur Roshan Singh were martyred.
“These freedom fighters never thought of such narrow politics. Today is their martyr’s day (Bismil, Khan and Singh). We should transcend above such narrow politics,” the Union minister said.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and other leaders of her party have been desperately trying to brand the BJP as an outsider trying to come and rule Bengal, and have even tagged them as “Dacoits from Chambal”.
“India can never forget the contribution of Bengal and her sons in the freedom struggle. Bose was a bearer of the tradition who kissed the gallows with a Gita in his hand while fighting the British. His popularity across India was such that some people wrote his name in their dhotis, which became a symbol of freedom struggle and inspiration for the youth of Bengal. His slogan of Vande Mataram on his way to the gallows became a slogan of freedom struggle,” Shah said while also saluting Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq Ulla Khan and Thakur Roshan Singh.
“I am fortunate that I could come at the birthplace of Khudiram Bose and touch the soil with my forehead,” he added. Shah also offered prayers at the Siddheshwari Temple in the district.
