Now, a Tagore tug-of-war: As Amit Shah comes calling to pay tribute, TMC says ignoble

The BJP countered that the TMC and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should not do “dirty politics”.

In his speech after paying tributes to Tagore at his ancestral home in Kolkata, Shah also expressed his admiration for Visva-Bharati University founded by the Nobel Laureate at Shantiniketan. The TMC was quick to point out that the BJP leader’s words did not sit well with the fact that the university – which has the Prime Minister as the Chancellor – has served an eviction notice on Nobel Laureate and BJP critic Amartya Sen, over allegedly illegally occupying land at Shantiniketan.

During his visit, Shah garlanded Tagore’s statue, visited the room where he stayed, and spoke to officials about the historical importance of the place. In the evening, he participated in a cultural programme on Tagore in Kolkata.

In his address, Shah lamented the “narrow-mindedness that has crept into politics”, saying it went against the ideals and thoughts of Tagore. Linking the Modi government’s National Educational Policy with the poet’s advocacy of teaching children in their mother tongue, the Union Home Minister said: “The ideas of the Kaviguru are still relevant in present-day India. The kind of narrow-mindedness that has crept in politics is not in sync with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s thought and vision in regard to politics, social life and patriotism.”

After paying tributes to Tagore at a Rabindra Sangeet event, Mamata said many things were being bandied about for the sake of electoral calculations, such as that “Tagore was born in Shantiniketan”. Underlining the contribution of Tagore, including towards communal harmony, she said: “We are not qualified enough to try and define him… He is the poet of the freedom movement, the poet who stood against communal disharmony. You will find Rabindranath Tagore in every pulse of life. From birth to death, from peace to culture, Rabindranath Tagore exists everywhere.”

Mamata’s statement appeared to be a reference to an old BJP tweet quoting its president J P Nadda as saying Tagore was born in Shantiniketan. He was born in his family’s Kolkata ancestral home.

West Bengal Urban Minister Firhad Hakim accused the BJP of trying to ride on Tagore’s cult status in the state. “But Rabindranath Tagore should not be used for political reasons or electoral benefits.” Tagore’s ideology of secularism, humanism needs to be understood, Hakim added. “You need to follow his path of tolerance, harmony among all religions, which the BJP does not.”

Minister Shashi Panja referred to Shah’s remarks on Visva-Bharati and said: “Then why is the central university trying to evict Amartya Sen… who was named by none other than Gurudev (Tagore) himself?”

At another event, on Wednesday, Mamata said: “It is a matter of great pride that the national anthems of both India and our neighbour Bangladesh have been composed by Gurudev — Jana Gana Mana and Amar Sonar Bangla, respectively.”

This seemed a swipe at Shah’s remarks at Petrapole, on the India-Bangladesh border, where he spoke about Tagore as being the only poet who had penned the “rashtriya geet” of two countries. The TMC said Shah had committed a faux pas and said “national song” instead of “anthem”.

The TMC under Mamata has also aggressively laid claim to Tagore’s legacy. In 2011, when Mamata first came to power, the TMC adopted a Tagore song for the party’s slogan of ‘Badla noi, Badal chai (No revenge, we want change)’, while the administration ordered Rabindra Sangeet to be played at traffic signals.

A senior TMC leader admitted, “Every Bengali has a soft corner for Rabindranath Tagore. If anybody wants to reach Bengalis, the easiest way to penetrate is through Rabindranath Tagore. We did it earlier and now the BJP is doing the same thing.”

BJP leader Rahul Sinha said the TMC should not see everything through the prism of politics, such as Shah’s visit. “My advice to Mamata Banerjee is not to do this. She is famous for giving wrong information in her speeches.”

Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said both the BJP and TMC have only used Tagore. “Neither has walked on the path shown by Rabindranath Tagore.”

CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim slammed “RSS propaganda” over Tagore. “They also tried this with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and (Bengal renaissance icon and educationist) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, but were not successful. This time also, they will be rejected.”

Accusing both the TMC and BJP of being opposed to all that Tagore stood for, Salim said: “Today those who are playing with religion are trying to use Tagore for their divisive politics. Tagore was against all this. Neither the BJP’s nor TMC’s ideologies match with that of Tagore.”

with PTI inputs