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This is an archive article published on December 27, 2023
Apologise for ‘insulting’ Swami Vivekananda: Trinamool to BJP
Ruling party is doing politics: BJP’s Sajal Ghosh
State minister Shashi Panja and TMC leader Sayoni Ghosh during a rally in Kolkata, Tuesday. (Express File Photo)
On a day when Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda were on a visit to Kolkata, the TMC on Tuesday hit the streets in the city alleging that the Opposition party’s state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar insulted Swami Vivekananda with his remarks on football.
Holding placards of Vivekananda, TMC workers held rallies in different parts of the city demanding apology from not just Majumder but also Shah and Nadda.
Senior TMC leader and state minister Shashi Panja said, “Swami Vivekananda once said that playing football instead of reading Gita will bring you closer to heaven.
Sukanta Majumder has disrespected Vivekananda’s thoughts and ideas. He says those who say this about football and Gita are illiterate. The BJP has been repeatedly disrespecting the great men of Bengal, be it Swami Vivekananda or Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.”
In a post on X, the TMC stated: “@BJP4India’s routine influx of leaders into Bengal has commenced. @AmitShah’s impending visit is nothing but a futile exercise in damage control after @DrSukantaBJP publicly insulted Swami Vivekananda. While the Home Minister is here to clean up the mess left by his party’s State President, he better step up and offer an apology. Additionally, he must clarify whether his party endorses such disdainful remarks towards Bengal’s cultural icons.”
BJP leader Sajal Ghosh said, “Majumdar has no intention to insult Vivekananda. The TMC is doing politics. We have no problem if they play football because during their regime, football in this state was ruined. No Bengali youth now plays football. We are only saying that do not play with the future of the youth of Bengal.”
A controversy erupted last week when TMC leader Udayan Guha while criticising the Gita recitation programme at Brigade Parade Ground said, “Swami Vivekananda said playing football instead of reading Gita will bring you closer to heaven.”
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Reacting to Guha’s statement, Majumdar had said, “Bengal always was known for spreading Gita and religious beliefs. However, it was derailed by the Leftists. Those saying that playing football instead of reading Gita will bring you closer to heaven are basically illiterate and Leftist-minded.”
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