Mamata writes to Modi, seeks pressure on B’desh govt for vandalism of Tagore property

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the alleged vandalising of Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral residence in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district by a mob on 11 June.

What was damaged is not just a house but a "towering fountain of creativity" in the subcontinent, she said in the letter.

Expressing her anguish over the incident, Banerjee urged Modi to “take up the matter very strongly with the neighbouring country’s government, so that no stone is left unturned to swiftly bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous and mindless act”.

According to local reports, the attack on India's first Nobel Laureate's ancestral residence was a follow-up of an 8 June dispute over the parking fee for a two-wheeler between a visitor and staff member of the Rabindra Kachharibari in Sirajganj, which also doubles as the Rabindra Memorial Museum.

“Although untold damage has already been done, a strong international protest would at least deter in future any attack on monuments of cultural legacies that have withstood steadfastly all tests of time,” Banerjee wrote in the letter, adding that Tagore is famous not only in Bengal but also in the whole world.

Reports in Bangladeshi media have stated that the department of archeology has temporarily suspended visitor access to the building and set up a three-member committee to probe the incident.

“Tagore frequented the place repeatedly in his lifetime, and many of his finest works were conceived or written while he was there,” Banerjee stated.

“The poet’s creativity was intertwined with his association with this ancestral estate of theirs in an intimate manner. What has been vandalised is not a mere house, but a towering fountain of creativity in our subcontinent,” she continued.

Local reports in Bangladesh suggested that what began as a minor dispute escalated quickly after the visitor was allegedly locked inside a room and physically assaulted, sparking anger among locals. A mob later stormed inside the museum premises and ransacked the building, especially its auditorium, while also allegedly assaulting the director of the institution.

“For the people of Bengal, this attack is an onslaught on the commonly held legacy of Tagore… To strike at the ancestral traditional roots of Tagore today tantamounts to striking at the roots of immortal creations of the great poet intrinsically bonding the brothers and sisters of the world,” the chief minister wrote in her letter.

Located in Shahzadpur in Rajshahi division, the Kachharibari served as the Tagore family’s revenue office and residence. Purchased by Rabindranath’s grandfather Dwarakanath Tagore in 1840, the premises worked as a favourite recluse for the Nobel Laureate, who wrote many of his notable literary works in the house.

Tagore’s celebrated works from the Sirajgunj Kachharibari include plays like Bisarjan, poetry collection Sonar Tori and several short stories of the Golpoguchho anthology.

The BJP has already slammed Bangladesh's interim government led by another Nobel Laureate, Muhammad Yunus, alleging that the destruction was a "preplanned attack" by radical groups Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.