CALCUTTA: Political parties have good reasons to pursue individual goals, but the rejection of communalism should be a shared value without which “we will not be worthy heirs of Tagore and Netaji,” said Nobel laureate Amarta Sen.
He said that the left and other secular parties in west bengal They do not have less commitment that the ruling TMC to ensure that communalism does not rears its ugly head in the state.
“Secular parties may differ in their detailed programs, but the importance of rejecting communalism must surely be a strongly shared value. Left parties should have no less commitment to that than the TMC (in maintaining the secular state),” he said Sen to PTI. in an email interview.
The BJP, which has often been targeted strong criticism for him famous economist On his policies, meanwhile, he claimed that the community side of the TMC has long been exposed.
Exuding confidence that the people of the state will reject non-secular forces, the 87-year-old Harvard professor said: “Bengal had suffered a lot in the past due to communalism.”
“Each party may have good reason to pursue their own goals without damaging the overall goal of keeping Bengal secular and not communal. First things must certainly come first. Otherwise, we will not be worthy heirs of Tagore and Netaji,” he said. . .
With the icons of Bengal taking center stage in political discourse in the run-up to the assembly elections, Sen said one must remember that all the luminaries “have wanted and defended” unity.
“Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Vivekananda all wanted and defended a united Bengali culture, and there is no place in their social purpose to try to excite one community against another.
“That is the Bengali culture that we have come to admire and support. Kazi Nazrul Islam is as great a Bengali leader as the others. Bengal has suffered greatly from communalism in the past and has learned to firmly reject it,” said the Nobel laureate. . a well-known critic of the BJP said.
When asked about the recent dispute that his family was allegedly in “illegal” possession of land in Visva Bharati, the prominent economist rejected the accusation, saying that the vice chancellor of the holy institution has issued “false statements” to the media.
“I am puzzled by the way Visva-Bharati VC is doing these very strange things, like making false statements to the media about me supposedly occupying their land, but never writing to me about returning any land to them. I am not sure if the VC is what can I say – (is) intellectually well coordinated, “he said.
When asked if he feels it was an attempt to defame him, the professor said: “Perhaps, as you say, he (VC) is trying to defame me, but it would be difficult to be sure given the lack of consistency in his actions.” . ”
However, Sen refused to hold the BJP responsible for the dispute, as suggested by many quarters.
“I am certainly critical of any political party that sparks communal and divisive sentiments, particularly between Hindus and Muslims. Certainly, Bidyut Chakravarty, the Visva- Bharati VC, gives evidence of following the BJP commands. But it is a huge leap from there to firmly conclude that the BJP is responsible for these false accusations, ”he said.
A controversy erupted last week when media reported that the central university has written to the West Bengal government alleging that dozens of parcels of land it owned were incorrectly registered in the name of private parties, including the Senator.
The Nobel laureate had said that the university land on which his house is located is on long-term lease, which is nowhere near expiration.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had offered an apology to Sen on behalf of the state and also wrote to him, asking him to consider her a “sister and friend” in his war against “intolerance and totalitarianism.”
Reacting sharply to Sen’s claims apparently aimed at the saffron field, BJP National Secretary General and Bengal caretaker Kailash Vijayvargiya said that his claims lacked truth as “the communal side of the TMC government was exposed when it stopped the immersion of the idols of Durga due to Muharram “. .
“The people of Bengal have already voted for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha center. They will vote for us again in the next assembly elections ”, he asserted.
Elections for the 294-member West Bengal assembly are due to take place between April and May next year.
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