Agartala, June 19 (IANS) Hundreds of poets, writers and intellectuals on Thursday wrote to Bangladesh interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus seeking his intervention into the “shameful and condemnable” incident and demanded “exemplary punishment” of the culprits who recently vandalised the ancestral home of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in the neighbouring country.

The protest letter was signed by hundreds of poets, writers, singers, artists, intellectuals, cultural activists and others, who also held a big protest rally here on Wednesday.

The protest letter, signed by eminent litterateurs Professor Mihir Kanti Deb, poet Ratul Debbarman, renowned theatre artist Bibhu Bhattacharya, painter, mime artist and Sangeet Natak Academy awardee Swapan Nandy, Professor Mujahid Rahman, was sent to the Bangladesh Chief Advisor via the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Agartala and West Tripura District Magistrate’s office.

In the protest letter, the intellectuals said the protest was raised from Tripura, which has a long relationship with Tagore, and he has visited the state several times.

“People of Tripura are ‘deeply upset’ by the violent attack in Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral ‘kacharibari’ (revenue office) at Shahzadpur of Sirajganj district of Bangladesh,” the letter said.

It said: “Tagore is the consciousness that encircles all our inspirations, awareness. He is a beacon holder of global thought, rising above the narrow barriers of language, identity, religion, and colour. We celebrate him every day through the national anthem. We believe with all our heart that everything which shares his memory is of pride for us.”

Insult or disrespect to Rabindranath Tagore – whether it is in India or elsewhere – is shameful and condemnable, unpardonable, the letter said.

Earlier, the ruling BJP organised a series of protest rallies across Tripura, condemning the vandalisation of Tagore’s ancestral home and attacks on the minority communities in the neighbouring country, Bangladesh.

On June 8, a mob vandalised the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore in Bangladesh, also known as Rabindra Kachharibari or Rabindra Memorial Museum in Sirajganj district.

Media reports said that the attackers also assaulted a director of the institution. Situated in Shahzadpur in Rajshahi division, Rabindra Kachharibari is the ancestral home and revenue office of the Tagore family.

Many of Tagore’s literary works were up while living in this mansion. India’s Ministry of External Affairs also on June 12 strongly condemned the vandalism of Tagore’s ancestral home in Bangladesh, describing it as part of a “systematic” pattern by extremists to undermine the country’s syncretic cultural heritage.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal termed the June 8 attack on the Rabindra Kachharibari as a “despicable” act and “a disgrace to the memory and the inclusive philosophy” of the Nobel Laureate.

–IANS

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