Bengali poet Srijato Bandopadhyay on Monday faced police complaint for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.
Bandopadhyay, a Bengali poet in North Bengal’s Siliguri town posted the controversial 12-line poem in Facebook on the day BJP MP Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19.
Soon after, the poem went viral in the social media networking site. Although many expressed support, others slammed the 42-year-old poet for using such sentimental and disgraceful words.
Arnab Sarkar, a resident of Bagha Jatin colony in Pradhan Nagar area, filed a police complaint claiming the poem hurt “the feelings of each Hindu through the use of distasteful words”.
Bandhopadhyay, however, dismissed the alleged claims, saying “degree of freedom of speech still exists in this country”.
“I will not give much importance to the issue. The majority of people in this country believe in freedom of speech," the poet said.
"A degree of freedom of speech still exists in this country. Our country has not become Pakistan or Bangladesh, and one has the right to speak here. Since the past two days I have been trolled in Facebook after I posted the poem,” Bandopadhyay added.