Insta
‘Parota vs Paratha’: TMC Accused Of Fuelling Linguistic Divide By Putting Posters Denouncing ‘North Indian Spellings’
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (Credits: Hindustan Times)
"Parota is better than Paratha", "Bengal is better than Bangal" (the way non-Bengalis pronounce Bengal) - anonymous white and maroon flexes and stickers appearing all over Kolkata and its suburbs have created a buzz, with speculations rife about those behind the exercise and the politics playing out in the background.
The flexes written in Bengali, with identical measurements and designs, started appearing from last week with the tagline "bhalo bhasha" (good language) and "nijer bhasha nijer thak" (let your language be yours).
One of the flexes apparently refer to former Indian cricket captain and Bengali icon Sourav Ganguly - "Saurav theke Sourav bhalo" (Sourav is better than Saurav).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, sees the hand of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) behind the "flex campaign".
"They are trying to bring about a linguistic polarisation and foment unrest. It's a fruitless effort to stop our victory march by driving a wedge between Bengalis and non-Bengalis," said state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu.
To buttress their point, BJP leaders pointed to one of the flexes that read "Swachh Bharater theke poricchono Bharat bhalo, Bolteo, Shunteo" (Clean Bharat is better than Swachh Bharat, be it in saying, or hearing).
"The dig taken at the Central government's Swachh Bharat campaign gives out the game. The political motive is clear," said the leader.
(With Inputs from IANS)
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest
