Kolkata: BJP MP Sambit Patra on June 12 slammed the incident of mob vandalising the ancestral home of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the historic Kachharibari in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district. The vandalism took place after a confrontation between a visitor and a museum employee, following which the place was closed to the public. The authorities have reportedly launched an investigation into the incident as the spate of violent incidents in Bangladesh has risen steadily since the protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina and toppled her government last year.
Patra, during a press conference on the incident, said that the BJP is taking the incident with utmost seriousness and sensitivity. He said, “Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was not an ordinary person. He was a man of diversity, a man who gave a lot to this world. He was a personality who was not bogged down by boundaries. He wrote the national anthem of both India and Bangladesh. He was a personality who received the Nobel Prize.”
He then talked about the Tagore family’s Kachharibari in Sirajganj and said that Rabindranath’s grandfather, Dwarkanath Tagore purchased the estate in 1840, and named it Kachharibari. He said, “The historic place was vandalised and per media reports that we have received, the violence was perpetrated by people belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam.” Notably, these two organisations are radical outfits in Bangladesh.
A pre-planned attack: Patra
Patra termed the attack on Kachharibari as a “pre-planned” one. He said that the perpetrators planned for five to six days to attack the house of Rabindranath Tagore, one of the greatest names in not just Indian history but also of the world to send a message.
He further said, “Bangladesh government made the house a museum, which holds in its precincts the originality of India. It was in this house that Tagore composed his literary masterpieces and now it has been vandalised.” Patra slammed the interim government of Muhammad Yunus for not taking any action so far against the perpetrators, for not being “able to protect such a significant monument”, and it sends a poor message to the world.
Tagore lives within us through his works: Patra
Patra did not hold back while praising Rabindranath Tagore, calling him a universal figure whose ideas, values and works still live on, making him relevant like Mahatma Gandhi. “The Nobel laureate still lives within us, and since his ideas and values have been attacked, we appeal to the world community to stand together against this,” he said.
He added, “This is the appeal of Bharatiya Janata Party, a party that believes in inclusiveness, in the mantra of Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas. Hence, the party is making a global call to all the countries who value culture and inclusivity, to condemn the attack on the house of Rabindranath Tagore.”
Patra questioned the “silence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee”, and asked why “she has not raised her voice against the pride of Bengalis.” He said, “She (Mamata) should have held this press conference, but she did not. She has guilt consciousness. BJP is not doing this to vote, but to condemn an attack on our civilizational values. Mamata is not raising her voice because she thinks people coming from the other side of the boundary can be her voters. Hence, she is driven by vote bank politics, while the BJP is driven by cultural politics.”
He also touched upon the need to know about the history of India, and about those who fought for the Independence. “Congress and Indira Gandhi sacrificed Indian democracy by imposing the Emergency, and it is the darkest chapter of the country’s democratic history. People should know about that.”
‘Hindus are attacked in Bengal’
Sambit Patra also spoke about the ongoing communal violence in Bengal and said that “Hindus are being attacked in the state.” He said, “This is not a new thing. If you go to the ground there, you will see the facts speak for themselves. The court itself said that the Murshidabad violence took place due to the failure of the state government. The TMC government is appeasing its vote bank, but appeasement has its lifespan.”
He also criticised Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh for questioning Operation Sindoor and slammed them “for making the country stand in the dock just for the sake of criticising PM Modi.” He said “Mallikarjun Kharge despite what he is saying in public, knows the good things that have happened in the last 11 years under the Modi government. Will he criticize Rajiv Gandhi? No, because he is the opposition leader. You look at the World Bank and its data on how India has brought down poverty.”
He referred to Nana Patole’s comments and added, “I am very sorry if Congress thinks that Operation Sindoor was kids playing. If the Congress party decides to commit suicide, we should stop them as good Samaritans. Are the personnel of the Armed Forces kids or were the missiles part of video games? The kid that Nana Patole was referring to was Rahul Gandhi himself who plays video games day and night. I would him not to play video games but to be serious about the affairs of the nation.”
