‘We should take an oath to never deviate from Tagore’s ideology’

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday paid her humble tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on his 162nd birth anniversary.

Hailing Tagore as a true leader who led the country through his strong writing prowess, Banerjee mentioned several inspiring songs of the bard to substantiate the relevance of his work even in the present times.

“I pay my humble tribute to Gurudeb Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary,” tweeted the Trinamool Congress chief.

“His great contribution to literature and art has shaped our rich cultural heritage and inspired many across the globe. May his teachings and philosophy continue to guide us all,” she added.

Banerjee in her speech from the stage of Dhana Dhanya Auditorium, the venue of the state government programme to pay tribute to the Nobel laureate spoke about his secular vision and his use of Raksha Bandhan to promote Hindu-Muslim unity. She also sang a song on Tagore’s birth anniversary on Tuesday.

“We hardly have the qualifications to define the Poet Laureate… he is in our soul, he is the poet of the freedom movement, the poet who stood against communal disharmony, who stood for Raksha Bandhan (Tagore tied Rakhis on the wrist of Muslim leaders to unite them with Hindus in the struggle against the British move to divide Bengal in 1905),” Banerjee said.

Hitting out at Union Home minister Amit Shah for being ignorant of the basic knowledge about Tagore referring to his statement of Santiniketan being his birthplace, she said: “We should not think that for the sake of elections, we can purchase someone spending Rs 5, or mistakenly we can say that Rabindranath Tagore was born in Santiniketan.”

“We need to walk on the path that Tagore told us. We should not think that teleprompters can be used to speak without information during elections or for elections,” she added.

“Those who have Tagore in their hearts always feel him. If ‘Ravi-upasana’ (Rabindranath homage) is done from the bottom of your heart, then that will be the real homage to the real Rabindranath,” Banerjee added.

She also pointed to an incident which occurred a few years back when a bust of Bengal Renaissance icon and educationist Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was destroyed in a college in Kolkata during a BJP rally, shocking people in the state.

“We should not think that one can vandalise the bust of Vidyasagar,” Banerjee said.

Her statement came amid a visit by the Union Home minister to Jorasanko Thakurbari. He reached Kolkata on Monday night and at around 11 am on Tuesday morning, reached Tagore’s ancestral home.