india

Updated: Jul 06, 2019 22:50 IST

State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh Saturday hit out at Nobel laureate Amartya Sen for his comment on the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan, saying the economist is not aware of the ground realities.

“He (Sen) stays abroad, he is not aware of the ground realities. It will be good for everybody if he continues to stay abroad,” said Ghosh. His comments come a day after Sen, speaking at an event in Jadavpur University, said unlike ‘Maa Durga’, the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan is not associated with the Bengali culture and is used as a “pretext to beat up people”.

“There are a few intellectuals who are saying that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is a political slogan used to lynch people. But the fact is that in Bengal dozens of our party workers are being killed and beaten up everyday for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Why are they (intellectuals) silent on the issue of political killings? The fact is that they can’t act impartially and are prejudiced against the BJP,” Ghosh added.

TMC leader Purnendu Bose said: “The ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan has nothing to do with religion. It is a political slogan used by the BJP to serve its purpose.”