BOLPUR (WB): Faced with attacks by the BJP on how it can call people visiting West Bengal from other states “outsiders”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that she does not put that label on ” our compatriots “, but is against alleged attempts to impose a thought process alien to the people of India.
Banerjee, also supreme of the Trinamool Congress, claimed that attempts are being made to break Bengal’s own backbone and pride.
When interacting with journalists here in the Birbhum district, he claimed that efforts are being made to destroy the political fabric of the state by creating unrest.
Banerjee and his party often accuse the BJP of bringing “outsiders” into the state ahead of the assembly elections to be held in April-May next year.
When asked about the saffron party’s questioning about how people from other states who come to West Bengal can be called outsiders, he said: “We don’t call our compatriots outsiders. We can definitely all go to any state.
“What we are saying is that our culture is that of Indianness and not the thought process of others that they are propagating,” the prime minister said without elaborating.
Banerjee claimed that attempts are being made to break the foundations of all the country’s institutions and centers of culture and knowledge, “from Pondicherry to Nalanda University to Jawaharlal Nehru University,” by people who, he said, know nothing about Rabindranath. Tagore. .
Union Interior Minister Amit Shah recently visited the Visva-Bharati University established by Tagore near Bolpur, where he held a management meeting before speaking to the media.
“Efforts are being made to break the backbone, self-pride and history of Bengal. Efforts are being made to disrespect the culture of Bengal by spreading lies and misinformation,” claimed the head of TMC.
Without naming anyone, he said that anyone can speak in any language with the help of a teleprompter but it does not help to learn the culture of a state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Visva-Bharati University’s centennial celebration last week via video conference, quoting extensively from Tagore’s works in Bengali.
Bengal is the cultural capital of India and his pride as a Bengali is to be able to accompany people of all states, religions and languages, Banerjee said.
The TMC Supreme said she knows Bengali, English, Hindi and several other languages.
He said that if you go to Gujarat and do not visit the Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati, it will be a mistake on your part and the same will happen if you travel to Maharashtra but decide not to visit a temple in Ganapati.
Maintaining that the Trinamool Congress will be with the protesting farmers, he said: “We want the three laws to be withdrawn.”
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