Express News Service
KOLKATA: Hours before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s day-long visit to West Bengal to attend the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, one of the biggest annual cultural festivals in the state, Mamata Banerjee’s government on Monday banned the screening of the movie, ‘The Kerala Story’, across the state to avoid incidents of hatred.
Shortly after Mamata criticised the movie while slamming the BJP, chief secretary H K Dwivedi issued an instruction saying the movie has been banned in the state for maintaining communal harmony as the subject of the movie may trigger hatred.
“This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state,” said Mamata.West Bengal is the first state where the state government banned the movie.
Hitting out at the BJP, Mamata said, “First they came with Kashmir Files, now it is Kerala Story and then they are planning for Bengal files. Why is BJP trying to create a communal problem? Kerala Story is an attempt to defame Kerala with distorted facts.”
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya described Mamata’s decision to ban the movie as unfortunate.
“Mamata Banerjee’s decision to ban The Kerala Story in West Bengal is rather unfortunate. It raises serious questions on civil liberties and freedom of expression. The movie is a real account of victims, who have endured the horrors of demographic invasion,” he tweeted.
Reacting to the tension in Manipur, Mamata said “Manipur violence is man-made. They are planning to create the same situation in Bengal. They (BJP leadership) are silent on social media platforms about the violence in the northeast state. The Home Minister should visit Manipur, instead of Bengal. A total of 18 students from Bengal stranded in Manipur have been brought back home by the Bengal government. They were flown down to Kolkata on Monday morning.”
The intense political slugfest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the main opposition party BJP broke out a day ahead of Shah’s visit to the state. While Shah’s visit is said to be aimed to woo electorates ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections using Tagore sentiment, Mamata said that the Union home minister must visit violence-hit Manipur instead of coming to Bengal”
Referring to Shah’s Bengal visit, a TMC leader said, “Tagore, Bengal’s icon who believed in secularism, has always been noted for his strong stand against religious fundamentalism and exclusionary politics. He fought for Hindu-Muslim unity in his life.”
Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the BJP swung into action to woo Bengali sentiment but it received a jolt during Amit Shah’s roadshow in which a bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bengal’s social reformer, was smashed. “Shah’s visit to Bengal on the occasion of Tagore’s birth anniversary is aimed to control the damage caused four years ago. His visit is aimed to counter Mamata’s narrative,” said the TMC leader.
KOLKATA: Hours before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s day-long visit to West Bengal to attend the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, one of the biggest annual cultural festivals in the state, Mamata Banerjee’s government on Monday banned the screening of the movie, ‘The Kerala Story’, across the state to avoid incidents of hatred.
Shortly after Mamata criticised the movie while slamming the BJP, chief secretary H K Dwivedi issued an instruction saying the movie has been banned in the state for maintaining communal harmony as the subject of the movie may trigger hatred.
“This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state,” said Mamata.
West Bengal is the first state where the state government banned the movie.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Hitting out at the BJP, Mamata said, “First they came with Kashmir Files, now it is Kerala Story and then they are planning for Bengal files. Why is BJP trying to create a communal problem? Kerala Story is an attempt to defame Kerala with distorted facts.”
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya described Mamata’s decision to ban the movie as unfortunate.
“Mamata Banerjee’s decision to ban The Kerala Story in West Bengal is rather unfortunate. It raises serious questions on civil liberties and freedom of expression. The movie is a real account of victims, who have endured the horrors of demographic invasion,” he tweeted.
Reacting to the tension in Manipur, Mamata said “Manipur violence is man-made. They are planning to create the same situation in Bengal. They (BJP leadership) are silent on social media platforms about the violence in the northeast state. The Home Minister should visit Manipur, instead of Bengal. A total of 18 students from Bengal stranded in Manipur have been brought back home by the Bengal government. They were flown down to Kolkata on Monday morning.”
The intense political slugfest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the main opposition party BJP broke out a day ahead of Shah’s visit to the state. While Shah’s visit is said to be aimed to woo electorates ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections using Tagore sentiment, Mamata said that the Union home minister must visit violence-hit Manipur instead of coming to Bengal”
Referring to Shah’s Bengal visit, a TMC leader said, “Tagore, Bengal’s icon who believed in secularism, has always been noted for his strong stand against religious fundamentalism and exclusionary politics. He fought for Hindu-Muslim unity in his life.”
Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the BJP swung into action to woo Bengali sentiment but it received a jolt during Amit Shah’s roadshow in which a bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bengal’s social reformer, was smashed. “Shah’s visit to Bengal on the occasion of Tagore’s birth anniversary is aimed to control the damage caused four years ago. His visit is aimed to counter Mamata’s narrative,” said the TMC leader.
