Mamata blames 'political diplomacy', 'religious monopoly' for cancellation of her foreign visits

Using poems to blame the BJP-led central government for cancellation of her foreign visits, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said 'political diplomacy' came in way of her China tour while a 'religious monopoly' shut the door on her wish to visit Chicago to commemorate 125 years of Swami Vivekananda's famous address there.

A day after criticising the BJP on the Assam NRC issue in a poem, Banerjee today posted two more poems on her Facebook page, in which she virtually put the blame on the saffron party for cancellation of her proposed visits to China, Chicago and St Stephen's College in Delhi.

The two poems - 'Untouchable' in English and 'Naam Nei' (name not there), an almost identical one in Bengali, also carried her signature.

She had yesterday written a poem titled 'Identity' in Bengali, in which she slammed the BJP government over the complete draft of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said those who protested against the saffron party had no place in the country.

Her 'Untouchable' poem goes as: "Do you want to go to China, no comments please. Political diplomacy cancelled it.

"Want to visit Chicago to commemorate 125 years of Swami Vivekananda's address. Religious monopoly shut down the door".

It further says: "Accepted the invitation of St Stephen's College, not allowed friends. See the class struggle".

The organisers had withdrawn an invite extended to Banerjee to attend an event and interact with students of the college.

Banerjee had cancelled her first China visit in June just hours before embarking on the journey, saying political meetings at the "appropriate level" were not confirmed by that country's government.

On her opposition to the NRC in Assam, she wrote, "Want to protest for Indian citizens in Assam, you are anti-national. Fortunately you were born in West Bengal, otherwise you would have been called intruders."
In her Bengali poem 'Naam Nei', she has written: "Where do you go? Go digital. ATM is marching ahead. Have your name in Aadhaar card."