After Amit Shah, now Bankura BJP MLA garlands 'wrong' Birsa Munda statue

Kolkata: Controversy sparked off with Bankura's BJP MLA garlanding the statue of a hunter mistaking it to be that of Birsa Munda. It is the same statue that was garlanded by senior BJP leader and Union Home minister Amit Shah in Bankura a year ago mistaking it to be that of the tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

On Saturday, two days ahead of the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, Bankura's BJP MLA Niladri Sekhar Dana has garlanded the statue of a hunter at Puabagan in Bankura.

The row over garlanding a statue of a hunter mistaking it to be that of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda has once again came up as a major issue in Jangalmahal after a year as the people from the tribal community consider it to

be an insult to their freedom fighter.

It was on November 5 in 2020 when Shah had garlanded a statue of a hunter mistaking it to be that of Birsa Munda and the then state BJP president Dilip Ghosh had added fuel to the fire in an attempt to defend his party saying: "…It will be the statue of Birsa Munda from today after the announcement by our home minister even if it has not been named yet. Everyone has to accept it."

Trinamool Congress criticised Dana for committing the mistake despite being aware of the sentiment of the local people in this

connection.

"They actually do not give value to the sentiment of the people of any community. As a result they commit the same mistake repeatedly," said Bankura's Trinamool Congress chairman Shyamal Santra.

Dana accepted that he had garlanded the statue on Saturday and said that he did not want to hit anyone's sentiment as he paid the floral tribute as a mark of gratitude towards the people from the community in general.

Meanwhile, the state government will organise a programme on Monday to observe the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda at Rabindra Sadan. Backward Classes Welfare minister Bulu Chik Baraik and minister of state for Information and Cultural Affairs department Indranil Sen would be present in the programme and pay their respect to the tribal freedom fighter.

The Mamata Banerjee government has also declared Birsa Munda's birthday as a holiday in the state.