The Trinamool on Monday pounced upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s addressing Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as Bankim da, calling ut a “textbook fish-out-of-water moment for the BJP”.
Modi was speaking in the Lok Sabha as he initiated a marathon 10-hour discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram.
In his speech, the prime minister lamented that the Constitution was "throttled" and the nation chained by the Emergency when Vande Mataram completed 100 years.
"The Emergency was a dark chapter in our history. Now we have the opportunity to restore the greatness of Vande Mataram. And I believe this opportunity should not be allowed to pass," Modi said.
The prime minister noted that the mantra of Vande Mataram “energised and inspired India’s freedom movement and showed the path of courage and determination. Remembering that sacred Vande Mataram today is a great privilege for all of us in this House”.
The prime minister recalled that the British were forced to ban Vande Mataram and brought in laws to prevent printing and propagation of the poem.
"Vande Mataram was written at a time when, after the uprising of 1857, the British government was alarmed and unleashing various forms of oppression. A campaign was underway to push the British national anthem 'God Save the Queen' into every household,” Modi said.
"Through Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay responded to this challenge with great strength and resolve. British divided Bengal in 1905, but Vande Mataram stood like a rock and inspired unity," he said.
During his speech, he addressed the writer of the song as Bankim da on more than one occasion.
Trinamool MP Saugata Roy took objection. "Bankim da? You should say Bankim babu," he said.
The prime minister acknowledged the objection/: "I will say Bankim Babu. Thank you, I respect your sentiments."
He also quipped: "I can call you dada, right? Or would you object to that, too?"
In Bengali, da – a short form of da – is used to address older men informally.
“It is a textbook fish-out-of-water moment for @BJP4India,” the Trinamool posted on social media.
“For years, these BOHIRAGOTO [outsider] interlopers have tried to dishonestly appropriate Bengal’s cultural icons, hoping that borrowed reverence might compensate for their utter political bankruptcy in the state. Each attempt has only exposed how grotesquely alien they are to Bengal’s cultural consciousness, history, and vocabulary.
“They tried to appropriate Kobiguru, only for J. P. Nadda to betray breathtaking ignorance by wrongly attributing his birthplace to Santiniketan. They tried to appropriate Swamiji, only for Sukanta Majumdar to reduce him to an “ignorant leftist product.” They tried to appropriate Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, only to vandalise his bust,” the party wrote.
“And now, after the backlash over banning Vande Mataram in the Rajya Sabha, comes the latest farce. In a clumsy, performative display of CULTURAL COSPLAY, @narendramodi, insultingly patronising as always, refers to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as “Bankim da.” No, Modi ji, Bengal does not casually slap the suffix “da” onto figures it venerates. Only a CULTURAL ILLITERATE would think that sounds respectful.”
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the party said, “belongs to Bengal’s moral and intellectual spine, not to the BJP’s damage-control toolkit. You are not inheritors, you are IMPOSTORS. You are not admirers, you are APPROPRIATORS who can’t even fake sincerity properly.”
