A controversy erupted between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after a Bengal-based writer and researcher returned a prestigious award she received from the Paschimbanga Bangla Academy in 2019 as a protest against the same academy awarding literary honours on Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was honoured with the Bangla Academy Award on Monday for her ‘relentless literary pursuit.’ The chief minister received the new Sahitya Academy award for her book ‘Kabita Bitan,’ which pays tribute to West Bengal’s top writers.On the occasion of Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary, the government’s information and culture department awarded Mamata Banerjee with the award.
In her letter to the academy, Ratna Rashid Banerjee stated that she does not consider Mamata’s book to be literature and that returning the award is her method of protesting the move.
‘I feel insulted by the move to give a literary award to the CM. This is my protest against that decision. I cannot accept that. I do not consider CM’s book ‘Kabita Bitan’ as literature at all. She is our chief minister. We gave her a vote. I am an elderly lady. I know the language of the pen only. I don’t belong to any political party. And not even remain in any lobby. We know she is in a higher post which is not reachable for us. It will set a bad precedent,’ she said.
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