‘Read Gita’ event attracts over a lakh; more about promoting BJP than reading Gita
Nearly a lakh people from diverse backgrounds, adorned in traditional attire, collectively chanted sacred verses from the Bhagavad Gita on Sunday, December 24 at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. The participants were spread across almost all age and social groups, including sages.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier scheduled to attend the event, had already announced he would not be coming, instead, he sent a message of best wishes.
Though touted to be a non-political event, it was anything but. It was supported and widely promoted by the BJP across media and social media; and on the day, prominent figures from the Bengal BJP unit and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) participated in the event.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, reflecting on the event, said, “Bhagavad Gita is the biggest gift of India to the world. … Those who are trying to divide the Hindus will fail in their endeavours.”
Another prominent BJP participant, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said, “After this event, the Hindus of the state will rise and unite against the divisive forces.”
Reacting to the happening, the spokesperson and state general secretary of Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in Bengal, said, “We have nothing against the Gita recitation event. But the BJP leaders should not try to use it to serve its political purposes.”
Opposing the use of religion to divide the people, the state Congress unit organised a ‘Read Constitution’ near the Birla Planetarium, close to the Brigade Parade Ground, on the same day.
