Kolkata, Jan 26 Respecting the traditional belief that Saraswati Puja is the most auspicious occasion for 'Hate Khori', a ritual to mark the beginning of learning, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose took his first lesson of learning Bangla on Thursday in the presence of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was the chief guest on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Bose also chose to speak a few lines in Bengal, expressing his love and admiration for the language.
"I will learn Bengali. Bengali is a sweet language. I love Bengal. I love the people of Bengal. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the national leader, is my hero. Jai Bangla. Jai Hind," the Governor said at the programme, which was conducted on the lawn of the Taj Bhavan.
Despite being invited, the leader of the opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Subendu Adhikari, did not attend the event.
According to Adhikari, the 'Hate Khori' programme was "cunningly orchestrated" by the state government and the Chief Minister to camouflage the scams in the education sector for which several officials of the education department, including the former Education Minister, are behind the bars.
The BJP leader also said that in future, the Governor should be careful of being part of such cunningly orchestrated programmes of the state government.
Meanwhile, speaking at the 'Hate Khori' function, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recollected how Mahatma Gandhi started learning Bangla in 1940.
"Even the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and former West Bengal Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, was keen about learning Bangla. Bangla is the second most spoken language in India. But we Bengalis are keen on learning other languages too. I always insist on learning the local language of any place since it helps," she said.
Veteran CPI(M) leader and Left Front chairman in West Bengal, Biman Basu, was also invited to the vent, though he left the venue before the rituals could start.
"Hate Khori is a ritual that we took part in during our childhood. I do not find any reason to participate in the ritual at this age. There are certain things that need to be avoided. This was such an avoidable event," Bose said.
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