CM writes poem condemning vandalisation of legend's statue

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party (without taking name) for their alleged involvement in ransacking the bust of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar through a poem titled Lajja that she shared on her Facebook page.

In an indirect reference to the act of vandalisation at Vidyasagar College on Tuesday evening by BJP supporters who had joined their president Amit Shah's rally, Banerjee wrote that the saffron party has learnt to break and not to build. They have been instrumental in so many such acts of vandalism that they do not know where to stop and are shamelessly continuing with this tradition of breaking things (Bhangte sikecho, Gorte sekhoni, Bhangai tomader kaj, Bhangte gele thamte hobe, Chi chi naiko laj).

She had blamed the party for toying with the heritage of Bengal by committing such an act and warned them against neglecting the state which had experienced the cultural Renaissance of the country.

Banerjee, who had been vocal against the Prime Minister's claims of rebuilding the statue and had said that Bengal has enough funds to do so, wrote that they (BJP) may have the money power which is no match to the heart-filled respect that Bengal has for its icons. At the end, she concluded by writing that Bengalis are ashamed and do not have the courage to seek pardon. (Bidyar sar, amra lajjito, Khama Chawar Ney Spardha).

Condemning the incident, the Chief Minister had said: "We don't need your alms. Can you restore the 200-year-old heritage?"