19th century poet Michael's statue defaced in Bengal
BY IANS10 March 2018 9:42 PM IST
IANS10 March 2018 10:00 PM IST
Kolkata: A life-size statue of Michael Madhusudan Dutt was found defaced in Raniganj of West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district on Saturday, police and eye-witnesses said.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a prominent poet during the 19th century Bengal renaissance.
Dutt's face was smudged with red colour by unknown miscreants, which led to strong disapproval in the political circles as also among the locals.
The act was witnessed by morning walkers, who reported the incident to the police .
The Asansol municipality workers then washed and cleaned the statue.
Dutt was a scholar who wrote poems in English, and converted to Christianity at a young age.
He knew a number of languages, including Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Dutt was also a playwright.
Vandalism of Dutt's statue developed following a spate of fresh attacks on statues of renowned icons including Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, E.V. Ramaswamy, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
Communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin's statues were vandalised in Tripura amid post-poll violence earlier this month.
Next Story