Mamata slams 'baseless' neem wood charge; condemns attacks on Bengali-speaking people in Odisha
Murshidabad: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday rubbished as "baseless and fabricated" the allegations that surplus sacred neem wood from Puri's Jagannath temple was used in crafting the idols of the newly built temple in Digha, even as tensions simmered between both the state over reports of attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant workers. Banerjee also condemned what she called a "disturbing pattern" of harassment of Bengali-speaking people in Odisha and said she had directed the state DGP to take up the matter with his counterpart in the neighbouring state. "Why would we use stolen neem wood? We have our sources of neem wood. These allegations are completely baseless and unacceptable," Banerjee said in Murshidabad. "Why are they so angry just because we have built a Jagannath temple in Digha? Is it a crime to worship Lord Jagannath in West Bengal?" she asked, adding that the backlash was politically motivated.
Her remarks came a day after the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri questioned a senior servitor over the alleged use of surplus sacred wood meant for the 12th-century Puri shrine in crafting idols for the Digha temple. According to officials, Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, secretary of the influential 'Daitapati Nijog', a body of servitors traditionally considered the bodyguards of Lord Jagannath, has been summoned for questioning. Dasmohapatra had reportedly supervised the consecration ceremony of the Digha temple held on April 30, which was attended by the West Bengal Chief Minister herself. Nearly 56 servitors from the Puri temple had participated in the ceremony in Digha, raising eyebrows among temple authorities and drawing criticism from some quarters in Odisha. Meanwhile, Banerjee expressed grave concern over reports that Bengali-speaking migrant workers from West Bengal were being targeted in Odisha. "Just like migrant workers from Odisha work peacefully in Bengal, people from Bengal also work in Odisha. I have received disturbing reports that even those merely speaking Bengali are being attacked there. This is deeply condemnable," she said. "Our DGP will speak with his Odisha counterpart regarding this. We will not tolerate attacks on our people," she asserted.
The Digha temple project, backed by the West Bengal government, has been pitched as a major tourism and religious hub on the Bay of Bengal coast and is seen by many as a cultural counter-narrative to Puri's famed temple, one of the holiest shrines in the Hindu religion. While the SJTA has not directly accused the West Bengal government of wrongdoing, it has expressed concern over reports that sacred wood left over from the construction of new chariots or temple works in Puri may have been diverted without proper authorisation. It is alleged that some Puri servitors used leftover 'neem' wood from the 2015 'Nabakalebara' (new form) ritual to make the idols for the shrine in Digha. 'Nabakalebara' is a ritual held every 12 or 19 years, during which the wooden bodies of idols — Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath — are changed at the Puri temple.
