Tripura: Bajrang Dal activists burn CPI (M) leader's effigy for derogatory remarks on Lord Hanuman

Agartala: Bajrang Dal activists on Tuesday slapped with slippers and burnt an effigy of senior CPI(M) leader Sankar Prasad Dutta in Tripura's capital Agartala to protest against his derogatory remarks on Lord Hanuman.

They held the protest at the Radhanagar bus stand in central Agartala and demanded an apology from the former MP.

They were seen garlanding and slapping the effigy of the senior CPI(M) leader with slippers and later burnt it, amid slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram'.

On July 13, Dutta, CITU state general secretary, while addressing a programme of the Left-affiliated Tripura Motor Sramik Union (TMSU) at Muktadhara, said auto drivers have been forced to put up a portrait of 'shanda marka' (muscleman) Hanuman in front of their three-wheelers to avoid harassment.

"The Hindus worship Lord Hanuman, but Sankar Prasad Dutta, a former MP, had hit the sentiment of the Hindus by making derogatory comments. We want the Left leader to go to the Hanuman temple here and recite Hanuman Chalisa. He must tender an unconditional apology," Tutan Das, Bajarang Dal's state in-charge, told the reporters.

VHP's Tripura West district president Apurba Kumar Das and other functionaries threatened to launch a statewide agitation if Dutta doesn't seek an apology for making derogatory remarks about Lord Hanuman.

BJP Yuva Morcha state president Sushanta Deb, who led a rally protesting against Dutta's remarks, recited Hanuman Chalisa in a temple at Melarmath, close to CPI(M) state headquarters.

CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury and its West district secretary Ratan Das could not be reached for comment on the issue.