'Insult to Bengal': CM Mamata Banerjee seeks PM Modi's apology over 'Bankim da' reference

Cooch Behar, West Bengal: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly insulting legendary novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by referring to him as "Bankim da" in Parliament, and accused the BJP of repeatedly denigrating Bengal's cultural icons and freedom fighters.

Addressing a public rally in Cooch Behar district, Banerjee said the author of the national song Vande Mataram was not shown the "minimum respect" he deserved by being addressed casually.

"The person who wrote the national song was disrespected. You should bow your head and ask for forgiveness from the people. Yet you won't be forgiven, because you have disrespected the country's history and freedom struggle," she said.

The controversy erupted after Modi, during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on Monday marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, referred to Chattopadhyay as "Bankim da".

TMC MP Saugata Roy objected to the use of the suffix "da" and urged the prime minister to say "Bankim Babu" instead.

Modi immediately accepted the sentiment, saying, "I will say Bankim Babu. Thank you, I respect your sentiments," and asked in a lighter vein whether he could still address Roy as "dada".

Despite the clarification, the TMC continued to target the PM, with Banerjee asserting that cultural icons of Bengal must be shown the highest respect.

The BJP, however, dismissed the TMC's charge as politically motivated and accused the ruling party of attempting to divert attention from real issues by manufacturing a controversy.

Taking a sharp swipe at the BJP, Banerjee said, "It sounded as if someone was calling 'Harida' or 'Shyamda'. This is how you addressed Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who wrote the national song. You did not give him even this much respect."

Recalling Bengal's contribution to India's freedom movement, the chief minister said, "When the country became independent, neither you nor we were born. But our fathers and grandfathers were. They saw the freedom struggle and taught us about it. Who struggled the most for India's independence? It was Bengal. Countless people were jailed, hanged and martyred. There were revolutionaries from Punjab as well. But where were you?"

She accused the BJP of systematically undermining Bengal's legacy, alleging that the party had branded social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy as "not a patriot", termed freedom fighter Khudiram Bose a "terrorist", and vandalised the bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in Kolkata.

Banerjee went on to label the BJP-led central government as "autocratic and corrupt", calling it a "Shakuni-Mama government" and a "Duryodhan-Duhshasan government".

"This is an authoritarian government. If we do not protect the country from them, they will destroy the Constitution, democracy, the judiciary and the electoral system and rule by brute force," she alleged.

Targeting the BJP politically, the Trinamool supremo claimed that if the party comes to power in West Bengal, it would "destroy Bengal's culture, language and heritage".

She also said the next Assembly elections would be announced immediately after the publication of the final electoral rolls following the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, so that "no one can challenge it in court".

"The SIR is being used to create fear among voters," Banerjee alleged, accusing the BJP of attempting to influence the electoral process ahead of the polls.

The renewed political sparring over Vande Mataram and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay has injected fresh heat into Bengal's already charged political climate ahead of the Assembly elections next year.