Don’t like derogatory remarks being made against Visva-Bharati’: Mamata Banerjee

A war of words has broken out between the BJP and Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) since Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the university which was founded by Nobel laureate Tagore in 1921.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) charging it for spreading a divisive agenda in the state ahead of the assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2021. Banerjee, during her address at a public meeting in Bolpur, also lashed out at the BJP and said that she disliked the comments made against Visva-Bharati, the university established by Rabindranath Tagore in Birbhum’s Santiniketan.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a rally ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls 2021, at Bolpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal. (PTI)

“Conspiracies are being hatched to destroy the culture of Bengal. Stop politics of violence and divisive politics,” the West Bengal chief minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “I don’t like the derogatory remarks being made against Visva-Bharati,” she also said.

A war of words has broken out between the BJP and Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) since Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the university which was founded by Nobel laureate Tagore in 1921. The Trinamool Congress also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his speech at the virtual event to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the university.

Banerjee also indirectly criticised Visva-Bharati chancellor after reports surfaced that the university has written to the West Bengal government alleging dozens of land parcels owned by the university were wrongfully recorded in the name of private parties, including Nobel laureate and noted economist Amartya Sen.

“I congratulate those who are associated with this century-old institution. The legacy of Visva-Bharati is not bound by time. Those who are running it now will be here for a few days only. Their days are numbered,” the chief minister was quoted as saying during a press conference last week.

The TMC also pointed out that there were some inaccuracies in the speech given by the prime minister during the centenary celebrations. “I could not understand why there were repeated references to Gujarat when he (Modi) was talking about Tagore. And, some of the things he said were factually wrong. For example, Satyendranath Tagore was not the poet’s eldest brother. Also, it was not from Gujarati women alone that Satyendranath’s wife Gyanadanandini Devi learnt to wear the traditional saree in a different way. She was inspired by Parsi women as well but the Prime Minister will not name Parsees for the same reasons that stop him from mentioning Dalits,” West Bengal minister Bratya Basu said last week.

The heated debates between the TMC and the BJP are likely to increase as the state heads towards the elections. The Trinamool Congress, which saw a few defections from their ranks in the last few months, have been attacked by the BJP over the implementation of the central schemes and the deaths of its workers in the state.