In a continuing celebration of Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary year, Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday paid a tribute to freedom fighters of Bengal, specially those who are relatively unsung as he inaugurated an exhibition in Kolkata.
The exhibition is up at Kolkata's National Library. As part of the outreach, Amit Shah also flagged off a cycle rally, divided into three teams. 300 cyclists will cross the southern Bengal districts to visit families of the unsung heroes, and their stories will be documented.
But no escape from controversy over the BJP' s cultural initiatives to reach the hearts and minds of Bengal voters.
In his inaugural speech Mr Shah took a dig at the Congress and said, "The people of India love and respect Subhas Babutoday as much as they did when he was alive and working for the country. There has been a lot of effort to try and erase the memory of Subhas Babu. However hard they try, his deeds, his love for the country and his highest sacrifice will keep him in the hearts of generations of Indians."
With elections round the corner, there is no escape of viewing such comments and events through the prism of the politics. According to sources, most of the 300 cyclists - part of the rally - work as BJP workers; the posts has been arranaged by the BJP Yuva Morcha from South Kolkata.
A person in the know said, "It had to be party workers otherwise you would have to pay people to cycle around the state in the hot sun." BJP leaders of course denied any party links to the programme.
The Union Minister for Culture Prahlad Patel said, "Avoid using even Netaji through the poll tinted spectacles. I have only one thing to say. We had nothing to do with the fact that it is Netaji's 125th birth anniversary this year. Neither you nor I can change the calendar. I urge you with folded hands to join these cultural programs without any bias."
"We have to rethink about the lapse in giving Neta ji the importance he deserves. We have to make up for it and also launch research about all aspects of his life," he added.
The Ministry of Culture pamphlet distributed at the unsung hero event also threw up its share of controversy. The English word "UNSUNG" mistranslated into Bengali as "DISSATISFIED"...'ashantushto'. Experts said the correct Bengali word for unsung would be 'agita' pronounced 'awegito' or "Sholpochorchito" or "akitirta" pronounced "awekitirto".
The faux pas is sure to draw the attention of the BJP's political rival Trinamool in poll-bound Bengal. Trinamool has already attacked the BJP as a party of outsiders who don't know Bengal's culture and history and mocked slips about Birsa Munda and Tagore.
On Thursday, Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee taunted Mr Shah for his Bengali pronunciation of the word "Sonar" or "golden" in his frequent promise of "Sonar Bangla". While the word is written as Sonar, the correct pronunciation is "Shonar" with a hard 'h'.
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