Rajdeep Sardesai peddles TMC propaganda on Rath Yatra, The Indian Express claims ‘competition’ between Puri Jagannath Dham and new temple constructed by Mamata govt
Controversial ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai has stirred the hornet’s nest by comparing the Jagannath Dham in Puri town of Odisha to the newly inaugurated Jagannath temple in West Bengal’s Digha.
In a tweet on Friday (27th June), Sardesai brazened out, “Jagannath Yatra now has 2 addresses: original in Puri in Odisha, a new one in Digha in West Bengal.”
It was part of a well-thought-out plan to draw ‘false equivalence’ between the 900-year-old Jagannath temple in Odisha to a temple, built by the ruling TMC government in West Bengal, which was inaugurated on 30th April this year.
Screengrab of the tweet by Rajdeep Sardesai
For the unversed, Rajdeep Sardesai is the husband of former ‘journalist’ and current TMC Rajya Sabha MP, Sagarika Ghose.
On the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra, the ‘journalist’ turned propagandist wanted to give the impression that the TMC government has created a ‘new destination’ for Lord Jagannath in West Bengal.
This cheap attempt at ‘agenda setting’ and ‘narrative building’ in favour of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government comes ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Vidhan Sabha election.
The ruling party is desperately trying to woo the Hindus before the crucial State polls after having antagonised them for all these years.
TMC have realised that ‘Muslim appeasement’ alone and ‘Bengali Vs outsider’ narrative will not alone sail the boat for the party.
Rajdeep Sardesai thus exploited ‘Rath Yatra’ festival to remind Hindus in West Bengal of the Digha Jagannath temple, built by the Mamata government.
Screengrab of the news report by The Indian Express
National daily ‘The Indian Express’ peddled a similar rhetoric in an article published on Saturday (28th March). The piece was titled, ‘As competing Jagannath temple emerges in Digha, Odisha pulls out all stops for Rath Yatra in Puri.’
No real comparison or competition between Puri Jagannath Dham and temple constructed in Digha
There is no ‘comparison’ or ‘competition’ between the Jagannath Dham in Odisha with the newly inaugurated temple in West Bengal.
The Puri Jagannath Temple was built by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva in the 12th century. It is also one of the oldest Hindu temples, which is still in use by devotees.
It is known for Kalinga Style architecture and is managed by a committee, chaired by the Gajapati Maharaja. The Puri Jagannath Temple embodies the culture and tradition of 900 years, ensuring the continuity of Hindu civilisation and beliefs.
The Digha Jagannath Temple is a replica of the Puri Jagannath Temple, which is built and and managed by the Government of West Bengal.
It was inaugurated less than 2 months ago and has already courted controversies for serving ‘Halal prasad’ and using the temple festivities for Muslim appeasement.
Mamata govt is already turning it into a religiously motivated, political issue by deliberately calling the newly inaugurated temple at Digha as ‘Jagannath Dham’ and undermining the 900 year old temple in the neighbouring State.
Conclusion
The West Bengal government has openly flouted scriptural injunctions and long-established traditions in its brazen appropriation of the Puri Jagannath Dham.
The same TMC government has pulled the plug on a 629-year-old ‘Rath Mela’ in Muslim-dominated Malda district of West Bengal.
It comes as no surprise that Puri Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati has clearly stated that the Digha temple “has nothing to with devotion to Lord Jagannath”.
The subsequent propaganda of charlatans in the media to draw false equivalences between Puri Jagannath Dham and the newly constructed temple in Digha is thus infuriating.
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