Thread by @dibakardutta_

In a big blow to Bengali culture & heritage, a section of the ancestral home of #RabindranathTagore (also called Jorasanko Thakurbari) has been converted into the office of Trinamool Shikshabandhu Samiti.

Details: (1/n)

The Maharshi Bhawan of the heritage building, where Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (writer of #VandeMataram) allegedly met Tagore for the first time, has been remodelled.

(2/n)

The walls of the Maharshi Bhawan, which has been witness to the Bengali renaissance, have been painted green in colour.

The shade of doors and window panes, not to forget the flooring, has also been tampered with by the worker’s wing of the ruling party.
(3/n)

As evident from this image, a small portrait of Rabindranath Tagore is placed between two mammoth-size pictures of the TMC politicians @MamataOfficial and @abhishekaitc
(4/n)

This desecration took place despite the categorisation of the Maharshi Bhawan as a ‘grade one heritage’ building.

Subodh Dutta Chowdhury of Trinamool Shikshabandhu Samiti justified the move by saying, "We just wanted a place to sit for our members."

anandabazar.com/west-bengal/qu…
5/n

When asked about the disproportionate sizes of the pictures, Chowdhury told Anandabazar Patrika,

“Rabindranath is above our head, Mamata is in our heart.” 🤡

He also claimed that the Maharshi Bhawan was also used as Union office during the reign of CPI(M) in West Bengal. (6/n)

The matter came to light after a PIL was filed before the Calcutta High Court by one Swadesh Majumdar.

The Court directed the admin of Rabindra Bharati University & the WB govt to protect the heritage building from being tampered.

tv9bangla.com/kolkata/tmc-re…
(7/n)

Following the directions of the court, TV9 Bangla reported that the banner of ‘Trinamool Shikshabandhu Samiti’ was removed.

Interestingly, the congregation of party-affiliated workers did not stop despite the High Court’s order.
(8/n)

The statement of the VC of Rabindra Bharati University is bizarre.

He said, "We noticed this two-three months ago. I tried to stop this, but I was told the people who could be involved were the supporters of the ruling party.”

Why is he there then?

newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/no…
9/n

The reaction by BJP leader @paulagnimitra1 over the tampering of Maharshi Bhawan of Jorasanko Thakurbari:

https://twitter.com/paulagnimitra1/status/1590291424641429506

(10/n)

Meanwhile, @AITCofficial has cried foul over the matter.

“Our party doesn’t have any association with any organisation named Sara Bangla Trinamool Sikha Bandhu Samiti. Our party will take the necessary action against it.”

- TMC MLA Santanu Sen

indiatoday.in/cities/kolkata…

11/n

This is despite the fact that @IndiaToday was able to access a letterhead of ‘Sara Bangla Trinamool Sikhabandhu Samiti’, which bore the image of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
(12/n)

Irrespective of political affiliations & ideological inclinations, Bengalis must unitedly resist such attempts that threaten our rich culture. 🥲

Read the detailed @OpIndia_com report on the issue here 👇

opindia.com/2022/11/tmc-re…
(n/n)