State minister Bratya Basu points out Centre order on 'Vande Mataram' before 'Jana Gana Mana', BJP hits back
Kolkata: West Bengal's ruling Trinamul Congress on Thursday accused the BJP-rule at the Centre of "belittling" famous poet Rabindranath Tagore by making national song 'Vande Mataram', penned by another legendary author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, mandatory to be played before national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' at public events.
State education minister Bratya Basu levelled the explosive allegation at a TMC presser, triggering an immediate backlash from the BJP which questioned his “foolish hypothesis". Mr Basu said at the party office, “We respect Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. But Tagore resides in our hearts. He was the first Indian to get the Nobel Prize. His literary works are still taught in a number of countries for being highly-regarded.”
Referring to the recent order, he however claimed, “RSS and other communal Hindu organisations never liked Tagore for his open thoughts. They wanted to belittle him for a long time. They have now belittled him in a bid to portray Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as big through the government order.”
Taking a swipe at him for drawing a comparison between the icons, union minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar said, “Mr Basu is talking unwisely. Tagore is a global poet and is respected by all of us. He is such a star of Bengali literature that no one can ever fade him away. Mr Basu has created a hypothesis on his own that if Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay is honoured, it amounts to insulting another!”
The former state BJP president added, “What kind of foolishness did he talk about? At least I am not aware of any equation in which respect for Tagore will decrease if respect for Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay grows. Only Mr Basu can explain where he got to know this equation from.”
