Mamata’s comment touches raw nerve

Shubhadeep Choudhury 

Tribune News Service 

Kolkata, November 20

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to have touched some raw nerves in her state by tweeting in favour of movie ‘Padmavati’. 

“The #Padmavati controversy is not only unfortunate but also a calculated plan of a political party to destroy the freedom to express ourselves. We condemn this super emergency. All in the film industry must come together and protest in one voice,” Banerjee tweeted today.

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Achintya Kumar Biswas, former Vice-Chancellor of Gour Banga University of Malda, said, “In 1858, poet and journalist Rangalal Bandopadhyay wrote ‘Padmini Upakhyan’ based on the life of the Rajput queen. His account lauds the queen and Rajput warriors like Gora and Badal. It represents their fight as a struggle against invaders. 

“Later Abanindranath Tagore wrote ‘Rajkahini’ where again Padmini’s story was narrated beautifully. 

“By one tweet, Mamata Banerjee has demolished all sentiments that Indian women were traditionally considered sacred,” Achintya Kumar said.

Ranajit Das, a retired civil servant, mentioned Bengali-speaking ICS officer RC Dutt’s book. Dutt, reputed for his research into the economic exploitation of India by the British, also produced a book on Rajput courage and sacrifice. His ‘Rajput Jiban Sandhya’ became highly popular in Bengal.

“So much has been written in Bengali about the Rajputs that Rajput heroes and heroines have become household names here,” Das, who is also an award-winning poet, said.

That the characters of Rajput history are household names becomes evident from the reaction of Neela Choudhury, a housewife who lives near Jadavpur. She took offence to the support extended by Mamata Banerjee to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movie. “How can she accept the misrepresentation of a legend?” Choudhury asked.

West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said that Mamata Banerjee has taken a calculated risk by airing her support. “She thinks that it will strengthen her base among her Muslim voters while her Hindu supporters will forget the incident after a while,” he said.