Bengali poet Srijato Bandopadhyay courts trouble for poem against Yogi Adityanath

A student has filed an FIR against Bengali poet Srijato Bandopadhyay at Siliguri Cyber Police Station after the latter posted a poem against Yogi Adityanath’s elevation to the post of Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The complainant, Arnab Sarkar from Bagdogra has alleged that the poet has hurt Hindu religious sentiments through his poem which was posted on Facebook on Tuesday, World Poetry Day.

#BREAKING -- FIR lodged against Bangla poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay based in Siliguri for hate-mongering & insulting Hindu tradition & customs pic.twitter.com/TzpixgwYcN

— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 22, 2017

“We have received a complaint from one Arnab Sarkar last night. He accused Srijato of hurting Hindu sentiments in a Facebook post,” an official of Siliguri police station cyber cell said. “He has hurt the feelings of each an every Hindu through the use of distasteful words against the community. I have strong reservations about the last line of the poem where he makes derogatory remarks about trishul and Yogi Adityanath,” Sarkar, a member of ‘Hindu Samhati’, told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_3347146” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Srijato Bandopadhyay. Twitter/@srijato_speaks[/caption] An India Today report said the poem titled ‘Abhishap’ or ‘Curse’, is a critique of the hardline Hindutva with a veiled reference to the controversial leader’s appointment as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. While the poet has termed the complaint an assault on the freedom of expression, he clarified that his poem is a critique of all types of religious fundamentalism and not just about Hindutva. Reacting to the police complaint, Bandyopadhyay said, “It is really sad that in a country like India, which has been known for his democratic values, the right to freedom of speech and expression is shrinking fast. The majority of people in this country believe in freedom of speech.” “Since the poem was posted, I was trolled on Facebook and some of the comments made are very dangerous and threatening in nature,” he said. Tapan Ghosh, president of Hindu Samhati, said that the poem was written on the basis of false information and if the police failed to take action they would move court. According to The Times of India, Sarkar, a second-year student of Kalipada Ghosh Terai Mahavidyalaya said that if Srijato has freedom of expression to say whatever he feels in the garb of poetry, no one can deny my right to protest and take recourse to law. Sarkar added that Srijato can’t get away with what he wrote in the last line. “In the land of Tagore and Saratchandra, his choice of words is distasteful. He is a pervert,” said Sarkar, who claims to have the support of state BJP president Dilip Ghose. The India Today report said that the Left has termed this a ploy by the Mamata Banerjee administration to facilitate the emergence of BJP in the state. With inputs from PTI