Kolkata, Oct 11 (PTI) The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) changed the language of a Bengali poster welcoming Goddess Durga to a “clean city” after the opposition Mamata AITC attacked the BJP government over the alleged imposition of Hindi words in the campaign.
The poster on a cleanliness drive in the city from October 10 to 21 during Durga Puja festivities read: “Mayer korbo Swacchata Se Swagat” (Will welcome Mother Goddess with cleanliness), in an unusual mixing of both Bengali and Hindi phrases in a single sentence.
Later, the civic body changed it to “Swachhatar sathe Maa ke swagata janai,” which is a Bengali sentence carrying the same meaning.
The poster, bearing the logos of both the KMC and the government, was shared on social media by the Corporation, which is currently being run by an administrator. The state’s largest civic body is likely to go to polls later this year.
However, the mixing of Hindi and Bengali phrases in the campaign material irked the former ruling party of the state.
“No amount of proofreading goes into anything posted by @kmc_kolkata, apparently. As long as OUR BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE IS BEING BUTCHERED, it gets a go-ahead from @BJP4Bengal government! Stop forcing Hindi down Bengal’s throat to appease your masters in Delhi. STOP HINDI IMPOSITION. NOW,” the Mamata AITC said in a social media post.
Sharing the poster on social media, the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee wondered if he had learnt Bangla wrong as a child or whether the language had changed without anyone informing him.
Party MLA and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also attacked the BJP government and demanded that necessary corrections be made.
“What is this? Is this Bengali? Are you joking? How much more bad culture will the BJP impose on West Bengal? How much more will it distort Bengali? Delete all this immediately. Change it. Write proper Bengali. The current state of the corporation is just as bad as this piece of writing,” Ghosh, the Beleghata MLA, said.
Following the attack, the KMC changed the language and posted a new slogan that read “Swachhatar sathe Maa ke swagata janai” (We welcome the goddess with cleanliness), removing the Hindi phrase.
However, at the top of the new poster, the original “Swachhata Se Swagat” was retained.
The poster said the cleanliness drive was being launched to welcome Goddess Durga to a clean city. It also called upon people of the metropolis to be more responsible to ensure cleanliness. PTI SUS ACD NN
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