BJP leader’s gaffe over Matangini Hazra gives Trinamool a fresh handle

Even before the controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks referring to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as Bankim da has died down, a fresh row has erupted over another Bharatiya Janata Party leader calling freedom fighter Matangini. Hazra, a Muslim.

Participating in a debate in the Parliament, BJP MP Dinesh Sharma had said that despite being a Muslim, Matangini Hazra has raised the slogan of Vande Mataram. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (December 11, 2025) raised the issue and said that the BJP leaders know nothing about West Bengal.

“Yesterday, a BJP leader said that Matangini Hazra was a Muslim. Do you [BJP] even know Bengal?” Ms. Banerjee said. The Chief Minister claimed that from calling “Khudiram Bose a terrorist” the BJP leaders have called Raja Ram Mohan Roy is being called a ‘British agent.’

“Bankim Chandra Chattopadhay, who wrote Vande Mataram, is being called 'Bankim Da”. As if [BJP] shares tea with him. Master Da Surya Sen is being called Master,” the Trinamool Congress chairperson said, referring to the Prime Minister’s remark where he had called the writer of Vande Mataram “Bamkin da”.

Matangini Hazra, a 73- year-old woman from Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, had become a symbol of defiance against British rule when she led thousands of protestors and died with the Indian flag in her hands during the Quit India movement in September 1942.

The Trinamool Congress also took to social media and said that @BJP4India has finally “confessed what Bengal always knew: they do not know our history, they do not respect our icons, and they certainly cannot pronounce our martyrs’ names”.

Criticising Dinesh Sharma, who was Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Trinamool Congress said, “demonstrates that political rank does not equate to knowledge”.

“Their MP, Dinesh Sharma, stood in Parliament and butchered the name of Matangini Hazra, exposing the BJP’s chronic, deep-seated disconnect from Bengal in a single, shameful moment. This is what happens when Bangla Birodhi Bohiragotos try to act like custodians of patriotism,” the Trinamool Congress said.

The development provided an opportunity to the Trinamool Congress to call BJP leaders “Bohiragotos (outsiders)”, a term which the Trinamool has been using against BJP since 2021. “Bohiragotos who cannot even pronounce our martyrs’ names have no right to lecture us on patriotism,” the Trinamool said.