West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said his government would protect ‘gaumata’ and jail anybody who insults monks, while asserting that winds have changed in the state.
“The government of tika, sikha, dhoti, tulsi has arrived. If she makes such statements, the nationalists will teach her a lesson. The government to protect ‘gaumata’ is here,” he said at the event, which saw 11,000 people recite the Bhagavad Gita in unison. Referring to previous Gita recitation programmes, he said around one lakh people had gathered at the Brigade Parade Ground last year, followed by a programme in Siliguri with around 50,000 participants.
The chief minister also asserted that his government “would imprison those who insult monks”. He also alleged that photographs and effigies of Shastri had been burnt in the state, and said his government had taken action against those involved. “I have already said in the assembly that those who insult sadhus, saints and mahants will have to go to jail,” the chief minister said. Taking a dig at former chief minister Mamata Banerjee over her “azadi” remarks in Serampore on Saturday, he said, “India got independence in 1947. Adhikari said he was a part of Sunday’s event not in his capacity as a chief minister, but “as a Sanatani”.
