Infamous for his extreme bigotry, Bengali singer Nachiketa Chakraborty once again spewed venom on non-Bengalis. This time the target of his hate was Gujarat. The incident occurred on Thursday, September 22, during the inauguration of “Hemanta Setu” organized by the West Bengal government.
During this event, Mamata Banerjee requested the singer to sing a song, which Nachiketa cordially accepted. His song was loosely based on one of his most successful romantic numbers from over a decade ago. But, he had changed the lyrics of the hit song to make an ode to Mamata Banerjee. He praised the CM of West Bengal, saying, “only for you, the state has not become Gujarat.” This one line elicited a loud appreciation from the audience.
West Bengal State-backed hatred for another Bharatiya state
Nachiketa’s lyrics were seeped in Gujarat-hate – or was it the hate for Gujaratis? In any of these cases, he had solely belittled a Bharatiya state and community. And he did it from a state government’s official platform, making the entire incident a textbook example of state-sponsored bigotry and hate. The Mamata Banerjee camp has often displayed its deep hatred for non-Bengalis.
During her election rallies, she repeatedly demonstrated her absolute disapproval and dislike for the “bohiragata” (outsiders). However, the one attended by Nachiketa was not a TMC program; it was an event by the state of West Bengal. Hence, the hate for Gujarat was promoted and backed by the state of West Bengal. Is it constitutional for one state government in Bharat to disparage another Bharatiya state?
Nachiketa is a champion bigot craving Bangladesh
Nachiketa Chakraborty is a champion of bigotry. Earlier, a video of Nachiketa scolding an audience member for requesting a Hindi song had gone viral. He was seething at the request of the Hindi song and shamed the audience member. He also pulled in Bihar and other states on his unhealthy diatribe.
As a singer, he was expected to respect music and admire the same, regardless of language. Music is known to break linguistic barriers, after all. But this man suffering from acute “Bengali-superior” syndrome has no appreciation for anything that is not Bengali.
Nachiketa’s ancestors are from Bangladesh; he belongs to one of those Bengali families that had to shift base to West Bengal during the partition. In one video, he had visited his ancestral place in Barishal and professed his yearning for that place. He has repeatedly expressed his love for Bangladesh and complained that Kolkata has failed to preserve Bangaliyana (Bangaliness) and that Bangladesh truly represents Bengali.
Islamists regularly attack Bengali Hindus and Bengali Hindu’s Durga Puja in Bangladesh. But this singer maintains a hypocritical silence about those repeated attacks and has the gall to mock Gujarat.
Indeed, Bengal is not Gujarat
It is unclear why Nachiketa took a dig at Gujarat, but it is true that Mamata Banerjee made sure that West Bengal doesn’t become Gujarat. And she did it long before she came to power.
The sole force behind driving Tata out of Singur, the TMC matriarch has stalled the state’s industrial growth for over a decade. As a state chief minister who has a revulsion for the “chaiwala” turned PM, Banerjee now encourages the unemployed youth of her state to take a kettle and sell tea. Jhal muri and ghugni are the other options she has to offer. Of course, no CM of Gujarat has ever made discouraging statements to Gujarat’s people.
Gujarat doesn’t have scams relating to government jobs like the much-debated SSC scam. Crores of currency notes are not coming out from the apartment of Gujarat’s ruling party leaders, their drivers, and helpers.
A Gujarati is serving as the Prime Minister, and still, none of his family members got any undeserving appointment within the ranks of the state machinery. Reportedly, TMC leader Anubrata Mandal’s daughter was receiving a school teacher’s salary while staying at home.
Here, we take an educated guess that Nachiketa was perhaps referring to the 2002 riots of Gujarat. Again, Gujarat, indeed, stands no comparison to West Bengal in riots either. After that one riot instigated by Islamists who burned alive 59 Hindu devotees, there has not been a repetition of the same.
Under TMC’s rule, 200 Hindu homes were burnt in Bengal during the 2013 Canning riots. It was repeated in 2015 when communal riots sent tremors in Nadia. In less than a year, the 2016 Kaliachak riots ended with the burning of 500 homes. The same year, West Bengal saw Dhulagarh riots as the Hindus and Muslims clashed.
And the world bears witness to how violence spread through the state after the election results on May 2021 and continued for months. The “Sonar Bangla” was seeped in the blood of the innocent.
Nachiketa may choose to bury his head in sand and refuse to acknowledge the reality of this state. The world, however, agrees with his claim that Bengal has not turned into Gujarat. The reasons are different, though.
