In a move that has ignited a political firestorm in West Bengal, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of the ruling Trinamool Congress, has expelled one of its leaders for allegedly setting fire to a portrait of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
The incident, which also involved the burning of posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, occurred during a protest in Malda district’s Chanchal sub-division.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the protesters first set alight images of the BJP leaders. Subsequently, the now-expelled leader, identified as AB Soyel, also set fire to a photograph of the revered Bengali poet. The act was immediately condemned, sparking a swift political controversy.
The TMCP leadership acted decisively, expelling Soyel and distancing the organisation from his actions. In a statement, TMCP president Trinankur Bhattacharya said, “We are always respectful towards our culture, heritage and intellectuals. We will not tolerate any misdeed that goes against our organisation’s ethics and policies.”
Bhattacharya clarified that the Chanchal college unit had been demonstrating against the Army’s action on a TMC protest stage in Kolkata when the incident occurred. He claimed that Soyel had “mistakenly” set Tagore’s photograph on fire and that others present had tried to extinguish it once they noticed.
The BJP, however, seized upon the event, staging a vigorous counter-protest in Kolkata. The saffron workers, led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, gathered outside the government auditorium Rabindra Sadan, which is named after the poet. Carrying portraits of Tagore, they accused the ruling TMC of disrespecting Bengal’s cultural icons and attempting to silence dissent.
Adhikari was cited by The Indian Express as criticising the state government’s response to their protest, stating, “Everywhere there are locks - locks on industries, locks on democracy, locks on gates. Even Rabindra Sadan has been locked to keep us out. Is this Mamata Banerjee’s personal property, bought with Trinamool’s family money?” He affirmed that the BJP workers, who declared themselves “Rabindrapremi” (devotees of Tagore), would continue their peaceful agitation.
The rhetoric was further sharpened by BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, who labelled the burning of Tagore’s portrait a manifestation of a “jihadi mindset”. He drew parallels to incidents in Bangladesh, alleging, “The ancestral house of Satyajit Ray and many other greats were vandalised and libraries were set ablaze. The same picture is now visible in Malda’s Chanchal,” The Indian Express cited. He claimed that the nature of protest in border districts had become identical to that of Bangladesh.
In response, the TMC dismissed the BJP’s outrage as “cheap theatrics”, accusing the party of attempting to divert attention from its own failures in the state.
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