Trinamool leader’s statements irk residents of West Bengal

Kolkata, June 29 (SocialNews.XYZ) There was public outrage in Kolkata and other parts of the state after circulation of a video in which Trinamool Congress leader Nirmal Majhi purportedly calls West Bengal Chief Minister and the party chief Mamata Banerjee a reincarnated of Maa Sarada. People took to social media to criticise Majhi for such a remark that has hurt sentiments.

Maa Sarada was the wife of Ramakrishna Paramahansa and continues to be revered by nearly all Bengalis. Many said that one need not drag in the name of people like Maa Sarada when paying respect to somebody else.

"This is nothing against Mamata Banerjee or her achievements. However, calling her a reincarnation of Maa Sarada is in bad taste. Just as we wouldn't like somebody to be called the reincarnation of Ramakrishna Paramahansa or Swami Vivekananda or for that matter, even Rabindranath Tagore," one social media user wrote.

Many party insiders have also distanced themselves from the comment. Some even said that Majhi went overboard to try and get into the good books of Mamata after being thrown out of the patients' welfare committee of Medical College Hospital, Calcutta following several allegations of mismanagement.

Majhi, a qualified doctor, went on to say how Maa Sarada had herself told Swami Vivekananda that she would be reborn near the Kalighat temple and take up social work and even politics to alleviate people's sufferings. Maa Sarada passed away in 1920 at Baranagar near Dakshineswar. At that time nobody considered taking up politics as a career to aid the common man.

"I have studied the preachings of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Maa Sarada and Swami Vivekananda but there has been no mention of any such statement. In fact, Maa Sarada was a simple lady who never considered herself important enough to feel that people would one day look out for her rebirth. Attributing such statements to her portrays her as a conceited person, which she was certainly not," a noted author and historian said.

According to another researcher, there is a general tendency among people, particularly politicians, to attribute comments to revered personalities who are no longer alive. "As I move around the city, I find statements supposedly made by people like Swami Vivekananda or Mother Teresa on walls of bus stands and other public places. After returning to my library, I have made it a point to look up these statements but many can't be traced," he said.

Source: IANS