Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday had protested inside the Parliament after Prime Minister Narendra Modi while discussing ‘Vande Mataram’ referred Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as ‘Bankim Da’.
Notably, ‘Da’ is an abbreviation of ‘dada’, used to acknowledge elderly men in Bengali.
At first interrupting the speech of the Prime Minister, TMC MP Saugata Roy stated that the Prime Minister instead of saying ‘Bankim da’ should call him ‘Bankim babu’.
Acknowledging the objection, Modi mentioned, “I will say Bankim Babu. Thank you, I respect your sentiments.”
Talking to the media, Roy said that the Prime Minister had given respect to his objection and had rectified his speech.
“It is very unfortunate that even if the Prime Minister had accepted my objection, but in the records of the Parliament it will be ‘Bankim da’ as the Prime Minister had said,” added Roy.
Another TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar inside the House claimed that the people of Bengal will not accept the speech where the Prime Minister has referred to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as ‘Bankim da’.
“Bengalis will not accept this. They (BJP) don’t respect Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar and other saints. Now the Prime Minister is saying Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as ‘Bankim da’ instead of Bankim babu,” mentioned Kakoli.
Taking to social media, TMC said, “It is a textbook fish-out-of-water moment for @BJP4India.”
On the other hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned, “do whatever he wants. We have no problem. But regarding Vande Mataram, I want to say that it originates from Bengal, just like our national anthem. The whole song of Vande Mataram was not taken, only selected lines were adopted. Earlier, the Rajya Sabha issued a notification stating that Jai Hind and Vande Mataram would not be allowed. I also heard yesterday that some individuals in the BJP do not like Netaji. So they do not like Netaji, Gandhiji or Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Who exactly do they like? How have such people come to the forefront when they do not even know the history of India? Are they aware of Bengal’s contribution?”
Meanwhile, Sajal Chattopadhyay, great grandson of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay welcoming the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged that the song should be sung at the end of every session just like the National Anthem is sung.
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