On Tagore's death anniversary, Amit Malviya calls Trinamool 'fake champions' of Bengali language

Kolkata, Aug 8 (IANS) On the occasion of 'Baishe Srabon' that marks the death anniversary of the iconic Nobel-laureate Indian poet and writer, Rabindranath Tagore, BJP Information Technology Cell Chief and the party's central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, on Friday, described Trinamool Congress as "fake champions" of the Bengali language.

Malviya's statement comes amid two social media posts by the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, one on Friday morning and the other on Thursday, where she claimed Gurudev continued to be her inspiration to fight in the current situation when Bengali-speaking people were allegedly subjected to harassment in different parts of the country, especially the BJP-ruled states.

In his social media statement posted on Friday morning, Malviya had also claimed that the efforts of Mamata Banerjee and her associates in the Trinamool Congress to stir a "spurious and divisive controversy" over the language and identity of Bengal and Indian Bengalis could never match Tagore's grand vision of Indian unity.

"The fake champions of Bangla bhasha, who aggressively promote Urdu as the official language of West Bengal to pander to the basest anti-Bangla sentiments of a certain group, are undermining the very 'harmony of one life' that Gurudev envisioned. They deserve nothing but contempt," claimed Malviya.

In his statement, Malviya also highlighted the work done by the Narendra Modi-led Union government to protect and promote the rich heritage of the Bengali language, saying that no government before recognised "Bengali" as one of India's most prominent languages with a defining role in the subcontinent's cultural and linguistic history.

"The language of Bengalis and Bengal has nurtured poets, authors, and scholars who have shaped not only Bengal's cultural identity but also India's national consciousness. From the earliest translations of the Sanskrit epics to the revolutionary writings of the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature has driven social, political, and intellectual movements. It is the Modi government that accorded Bangla the status of Classical Language on October 3, 2024, an acknowledgement of its profound impact on shaping the Indian mind," Malviya added.

--IANS

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