News Analysis India

Tag: Swami Vivekananda

  • Tripura minister wades into controversy, compares Biplab Deb with Vivekananda

    By PTI

    AGARTALA: Tripura’s Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, found himself in the midst of a controversy when he equated Swami Vivekananda with former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

    Nath who has earlier courted controversy with remarks over organ harvesting, while stating that great leaders like Subhas Bose, poet laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi were born in the country, also termed it “lucky” that Deb was born in Tripura.

    “Those who were at the helm of the state affairs had failed us to dare dream. The only person who taught us to dream is Biplab (Kumar) Deb and many of (his) dreams he has fulfilled”, he said at a function in Kamalpur Town Hall in Dhalai district on Friday.

    “Sometimes some great leaders were born in our country and in the world like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Kabriguru Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Einstein. In every place every (great) individual isn’t born”, he said, adding that “we are lucky enough that a person like Biplab Deb was born in our state.”

    “The way Swamiji taught us to dream and fulfill dreams, Biplab Deb also did it by taking several steps and implemented them,” the minister claimed.

    “People who have little knowledge about the country’s culture, tradition and etiquette are running the state of affairs. The way he (Nath) equated the former CM Biplab Deb with some of the country’s great sons, amounts to showing disrespect,” Trinamool Congress state president Subal Bhowmik told PTI.

    On being asked about the party’s stand on the Education Minister’s statement, BJP chief spokesperson, Subrata Chakaborty on Saturday replied, “I have not seen the video footage. More so, it was his personal observation to which the party has nothing to say”.

  • Swami Vivekananda’s land will never allow BJP’s ‘hate politics’ to triumph: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI
    .KOLKATA: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee Tuesday mocked the BJP for claiming to be a follower of Swami Vivekananda and said the people of the state will never allow “hate politics” of the saffron camp to triumph in Bengal, where the monk was born in 1863.

    The BJP has no right to celebrate Swamiji’s birthday, the Trinamool Congress MP from Diamond Harbour said while addressing a rally in south Kolkata.

    “West Bengal, which is the birthplace Swami Vivekananda, has no place for hate politics imported from Gujarat”, he said.

    The 158th birth anniversary of the monk, a key figure who had introduced Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and established the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, is being celebrated on Tuesday.

    Calling the BJP as “fake Ram Bhakts”, he accused the saffron party of “following the principles of Nathuram Godse who had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi”.

    “They claim to be followers of Lord Ram. They are not followers of Ram, they are followers of Nathuram (Godse). They are followers of divisive politics,” he said.

    Abhishek Banerjee is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew.

    “I don’t want to politicise today’s event. But, I must say one thing that a political party is trying to portray itself to be a follower of Swami Vivekananda. I want to tell BJP members that Swamiji never preached hate politics and communalism, which is the basis of the saffron party,” he said.

    Accusing the BJP of insulting icons of Bengal such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Banerjee said, none of them propagated pitting one religion against other, like the BJP.

    “The people of Bengal and the land of Vivekananda, which is his birthplace, will reject the hate politics practiced by the saffron party.”

    “The BJP has passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) according to which a person will get citizenship based on religion. Did Swamiji ever say that citizenship should be granted after determining one’s religion?” the MP asked.

    According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

    The Trinamool Youth Congress, led by Abhishek Banerjee, took out a five-km long rally in the city on Tuesday commemorating the birth anniversary of the 19th-century monk.

    The TMC and its youth wing also took out rallies in various parts of the state.

    The monk’s birth anniversary has triggered a war of political one-upmanship between the TMC and the BJP, with the saffron party also lining up several programs across the state to celebrate the day.

  • The Governor laid a wreath at the statue of Swami Vivekananda, located in the assembly premises

    Governor Ms. Anusuiya Uike laid a wreath on the statue of Swami Vivekananda, located in the Chhattisgarh Assembly Complex on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Assembly Speaker Shri Charan Das Mahant, Agriculture Minister Ravindra Chaubey, Senior MLA Shri Satyanarayana Sharma and MP Smt. Jyotsna Mahant were present on the occasion. The Governor said that today is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. I salute him on this occasion. Swami Vivekananda had given this message to the whole country that only the younger generations of the country can make the country powerful. He used to tell the youth that wake up, do not stop till the goal is achieved. Today, our young fellow Swami Vivekananda is engaged in the service of the nation as an inspiration.
    The Governor visited various places of the assembly. He visited the Kadamb tree planted by former President Mrs. Pratibha Patil in front of the Central Hall. Also instructed him to do beautification. At the same time, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Shri Mahant honored the Governor by giving him a shawl and a memento. MLA Mr. Kuldeep Juneja, former MLA Gurmukh Singh Hora, Raipur Development Authority Chairman Mr. Subhash Dhuppad, Principal Secretary of Legislative Assembly Mr. Chandrasekhar Gangarade were present in the program.

  • Swami Vivekananda’s 158th birth anniversary celebrated across Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Swami Vivekananda’s 158th birth anniversary was celebrated on Tuesday across West Bengal with political leaders and people making a beeline at his ancestral house here to pay tributes to him.

    Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and party leader Suvendu Adhikari garlanded the statue of Swami Vivekananda at his north Kolkata residence.

    Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and state minister Sashi Panja also paid floral tributes to him, whose birth anniversary is celebrated as National Youth Day.

    Months before the assembly elections, both the BJP and the TMC are involved in a political one-upmanship over claims on Bengal’s culture and heritage.

    A towering spiritual philosopher, Vivekananda, was born in 1863 in Kolkata and is credited for popularising the Vedantic ideas.

    Taking to Twitter, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is scheduled to visit Swamiji’s ancestral house during the day to pay tributes, said, “Youth empowerment is key to Bharat becoming Vishwa Guru (world leader).

    ” Paying tributes to Swamiji, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “His message of peace and universal brotherhood is of utmost relevance today and inspires all of us to strive hard in safeguarding these ideals in our beloved nation.

    ” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, said the spirit that the great saint imparted to the world is eternal.

    “The solution of all human problems lies in his noble and divine thoughts,” Chowdhury wrote on the microblogging site.

    Trinamool Congress youth wing president and MP Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to hold a rally here to pay tributes to Swamiji.

  • Chief Minister said- Swami Vivekananda showed the world the way to serve the entire mankind

    Bhupesh Baghel has greeted the people of the state on ‘National Youth Day’ on 12 January, the birth anniversary of the great philosopher and noted spiritual saint Swami Vivekananda. Chief Minister Baghel has said in his greeting message that Swamiji showed the world the path of service to the entire human race. Swamiji believed in putting all his consciousness and power in human upliftment and used to learn from it. The Government of Chhattisgarh is also moving forward on Swami ji’s liberal, practical and reformist guidelines. Raipur has the privilege that Swamiji spent significant years of his life here too. It is a matter of great honor and pride for the people of Chhattisgarh. The Chief Minister said that the State Government is working to save and cherish the precious memories of Swamiji as a heritage, so that the light of his personality can reach the generations to come. The building of Rai Bahadur Bhoothnath Day Charitable Trust Budhapara, the residence of Swamiji in Raipur, is being developed as Swami Vivekananda Memorial. The idol installed in the meditative posture of Vivekananda ji has decorated Shobhamana Budhatalab, now known as Vivekananda Sarovar. The airport at Raipur is named Swami Vivekananda Airport. These monuments associated with Swamiji give Raipur a special identity in the world. Chief Minister Baghel said that the teachings of Swamiji such as ‘Get up, wake up and do not stop till the goal is achieved’ still add renewed vigor to thousands of youth. The incredible legacy of Swamiji’s thoughts that has been handed over to us at a very young age, will continue to guide the coming generations.