Mamata expresses ‘shock’ over PM’s ‘Swami’ prefix for Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for adding what she called an “unprecedented and improper prefix” to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa while paying tributes on his birth anniversary.

Accusing the Prime Minister of “aggressively displaying his cultural insensitivity to great figures of Bengal”, Banerjee objected to Modi referring to the saint as “Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa”.

“Shocked again! Yet again, our Prime Minister aggressively displays his cultural insensitivity to great figures of Bengal. Today is the janmatithi of Yugavatara (God’s incarnation in our age) Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadeva. While trying to hail the great saint on this occasion, our PM added an unprecedented and improper prefix to the great saint’s name, ‘Swami’!” Banerjee wrote on her X handle.

She advised Modi not to use new “prefixes” and “suffixes” before the names of Bengali scholars.

Explaining her objection, Banerjee said Sri Ramakrishna was widely revered as “Thakur” (literally, deity). After his demise, his ascetic disciples formed the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission and were referred to as “Swami” as per tradition. “The Master, the Acharya, himself continued to be referred to as Thakur. The prefix ‘Swami’ was meant for his disciples in the Ramakrishna Order; but the holy trinity of the Order remained Thakur–Ma–Swamiji. Thakur is Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadeva, Ma is Ma Sarada, and Swamiji is Swami Vivekananda,” she stated.

“I urge the Prime Minister kindly not to discover new prefixes and suffixes for the great Renaissance figures of Bengal who shaped modern India,” she added.

Earlier in the day, Modi paid tributes on X in Hindi, saying: “Humble tributes to Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa on his birth anniversary. The way he established spirituality and meditation as a vital life force will continue to benefit humanity in every era. His noble thoughts and messages will forever remain a source of inspiration.”

The controversy comes months after Modi, during a December 2025 parliamentary discussion marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, referred to author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as “Bankim Da”. Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy objected, urging him to use “Bankim Babu” instead.

Banerjee had then demanded an apology, accusing the BJP of repeatedly denigrating Bengal’s cultural icons and freedom fighters.