After a bust of Bengal’s second chief minister and Congress stalwart
Bidhan Chandra Roy was vandalized, a political storm has erupted in the
state with the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left
accusing BJP of being “anti-Bengali” and the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) demanding a probe to find out the real culprits.
The bust
was vandalized at Mankar in East Burdwan district a day after BJP’s
youth wing; the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha was accused of vandalism at
the state Congress headquarters, also named after Bidhan Chandra Roy,
in Kolkata.
Roy, a Bharat Ratna awardee, was a freedom fighter and
served as Bengal’s chief minister from 1948 till his death in 1962. A
legendary physician, Roy’s birthday July 1 is celebrated in the country
as national doctor’s day.
Following the vandalism, Congress
workers put up a road blockade at Mankar. A case has been registered at
Budbud police station but no one had been identified till Sunday
evening.
“The vandalism of
Bidhan Chandra Roy’s bust at Mankar and the spraying of black paint on
the Congress office are nothing but an attack on Bengali culture. We
express doubts about whether those who take electoral advantage by
accepting the demand of separating Darjeeling from Bengal and feel happy
with the exclusion of Bengali and inclusion of Gujarati as languages
for joint entrance exam possess any trait of Bengaliness,” state
Congress president Somen Mitra said.
Though Mitra did not name the
BJP, the reference of Darjeeling and joint entrance exams makes it
evident that BJP is their target.
“They have no idea about who
Vidyasagar and Bidhan Chandra Roy are. How do those who have failed to
become Bengali dream of ruling Bengal?” Mitra added.
Kolkata
mayor and senior TMC minister Firhad Hakim, too, blamed the BJP. “Those
who vandalized Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s bust in Kolkata and Lenin’s
statue in Tripura are the ones behind the desecration of Bidhan Roy’s
bust,” Hakim said.
BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh, however,
denied the charges. “None of us could be involved in such an act. This
is not our culture. We demand a thorough investigation to find out the
real culprits,” Ghosh said.
Incidentally, the vandalism of
Vidyasagar’s bust inside the Vidyasagar College campus in May 2019
created a political turmoil, with BJP and TMC blaming each other. In the
following days, the TMC carried out a prolonged campaign against BJP
and celebrated the twentieth century social reformer’s bicentenary year
on a grand scale.
Over the
past few days, BJP, its youth wing and its sister organisation for
students, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (BJP), have been carrying
out campaigns across Bengal, blaming the Left for the desecration of
Swami Vivekananda statue on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University in
New Delhi. They alleged that the Left proved itself to be
“anti-Bengali” and “anti-Indian” by desecrating the statue of
Vivekananda, one of Bengal’s greatest icons.
The Left, while
denying any role behind the desecration of Vivekananda statue, pointed
fingers at BJP for the vandalism of Roy’s bust.
“It must be the
handiwork of those who demolished Lenin’s statue in Tripura and attacked
Congress’ office in Kolkata. We demand that the state government should
investigate it thoroughly and ensures stringent punishment for the
culprits,” said Md. Salim, a politburo member of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist).
https://www.hindustantimes.com
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