Subhas sees no sin' in hymn

KOLKATA: Wherever West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty goes, controversy is sure to follow.
This came true again on Friday when an innocuous programme arranged by the minister''s wife to honour city-based sitarist Jaya Biswas turned into a platform of debate over Goddess Saraswati.
Chakraborty distanced the party from higher education minister Satyasadhan Chakraborty''s decision to walk out of the inauguration of the National Book Fair over the chanting of Saraswati Vandana, and indicated that he wouldn''t have done the same thing had he been in his colleague''s shoes.
"It was the minister''s (Satyasadhan''s) personal decision to walk out of the programme, and the matter has not come up for discussion in the party," the transport minister said. Even Bade Ghulam Ali had been forced to leave Pakistan within 24-hours after singing Hari Om Tat Sat, he recalled, adding, "I do not let my personal preferences or ego come to the fore during a public function."
The minister was responding to Jaya Biswas'' observation that Saraswati was not for Hindus alone but the Goddess of art and culture.
"Ustaad Allauddin Khan and Ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan were devout Muslims yet they invoked Saraswati. Other countries also have their goddesses of art and culture. It has nothing to do with a particular religion," Biswas said.
Biswas, a disciple of Ravi Shankar will leave for Berlin on Monday to participate in the Asia Pacific Festival. "Kolkata used to be the cultural capital of the country. Unfortunately, things have gone on the downslide with the younger generation turning to other forms of entertainment" Chakraborty said.