From Tagore's Nobel to Mahabharata: 7 gaffes by Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has claimed that Rabindranath Tagore had refused to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature to protest against the British rule in India

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb came in for fresh criticism after he said Rabindranath Tagore had rejected his Nobel prize in protest against the British government.

The opposition was quick to react to the chief minister's folly.

Speaking in Bengali at a programme in Gomati district on the occasion of Tagore's birthday on Wednesday, the chief minister had said, "Rabindranath Tagore not only rejected the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government, but also got Biswosrestho (world's best) award for Gitanjali. However, Tagore cannot be confined to the (Gitanjali) award". Tripura's royal scion, Pradyot Kishore Devburman, who is also the TPCC working president, said he was "very unhappy" with the chief minister's comment. "Tagore surrendered the knighthood conferred on him in 1919 to protest against the massacre at Jallianwalabagh in Punjab. My grandfather was also very perturbed at the incident. I found it in his diary. It is not good if our chief minister said like this. It does not have any sense," he said.

Tagore had visited Tripura seven times and was close to four successive kings - Birchandra, Radhakishore, Birendra Kishore and last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, said Panna Lal Roy, a writer, who wrote a number of books on Tagore's relation with Tripura kings. Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Birajit Sinha told a press conference today, "Even we are receiving phone calls from abroad and people are laughing at his comments. He has tarnished the image of our state and made us feel ashamed". TPCC vice-president Tapas Dey said, "Tripura is a state where 98 per cent people are literate, but I wonder what the people of our country or abroad are thinking about our state now. Our beloved chief minister's comment is embarrassing for us". CPI-M state secretary, Bijan Dhar said, "I can only laugh at his comment".

Tagore was conferred the Nobel Prize for Literature for his work 'Gitanjali' in 1913. The poet had refused to accept Knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. The Tripura chief minister has been riding waves of controversy with a slew of remarks such as the existence of the Internet during the Mahabharata war, whether 1994 Miss World Diana Hayden should be considered an Indian beauty and the questionability of mechanical engineers joining the civil services.

Here are six other instances when the Tripura CM kick-started a controversy by making irresponsible remarks:

Nails of my govt's critics should be pulled out: In a recent video that had gone viral on social media, Biplab Deb was heard saying that nails of his government's critics should be pulled out.

Comparing his government to a bottle gourd that gets rotten due to repeated digging of nails, Biplab said that he will not allow this to happen with his government.

" If someone pierces or interferes, his nails should be pulled out. No one can touch my government,” Biplab is heard saying in a video that surfaced on Monday.

Buddha walked to Japan and Burma: Speaking at a programme in Agartala, Deb recently said Gautam Buddha walked across India and went to countries like Japan, Myanmar and Tibet to spread the message of peace and harmony.

There is no evidence that he himself travelled to these countries. "Buddha didn't travel to either of these countries during his lifetime. Buddhism spread to these places much later through other people," Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty, a former professor of history at the erstwhile Presidency College in Calcutta told The Telegraph.

Open paan shops or raise cows, don't chase govt jobs: The BJP leader, in a bizarre career advice to jobless youth of his state, suggested that they should set up paan shops and rear cows instead of chasing government jobs.

"The youth here runs after political parties for several years to get a government job and wastes the vital time of their life, had the same youth instead of running after parties set up a paan shop he would have by now had a bank balance of Rs 500,000," said Deb.

Mechanical engineers shouldn't join civil services: The Tripura CM had recently said that Mechanical Engineers should not go for civil services.

“One should not opt for civil services after studying mechanical engineering. Civil engineers have the experience and knowledge to help build administration and society. Civil engineering gives that kind of knowledge.”
 

Internet existed in the days of the Mahabharata: Speaking at a function on April 17, 2018, Deb had claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata.

"Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of Mahabharata. Sanjaya (the charioteer of king Dhritarashtra) using the technology gave a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of Kurukshetra," Deb said while inaugurating a two-day workshop on computerisation of Public Distribution System (PDS).

He further said that Europeans and Americans were wrong in claiming internet as their invention as it was invented by Indians lakhs of year ago.

"How could Dhritarashtra see through Sanjay's eyes? There was technology available at that time... Internet was there, satellite communication was there," the 47-year-old Chief Minister said very confidentially and repeatedly.

International beauty contests were a farce: Questioning the rationale behind crowning Diana Hayden as Miss World 21 years ago, Deb claimed that the international beauty pageants were a farce as their results were predetermined.

"Whoever contested the international beauty pageants won. For five consecutive years, we won the Miss World/Miss Universe awards. Diana Hayden won it too. Do you think she should have won the title?" Deb had said.

These beauty pageant organisers are international marketing mafia, who spotted a huge market in the country. Today, there is a beauty parlour in every corner of the country," he said.