‘Cultural insensitivity’: Mamata slams PM Modi over ‘Swami’ prefix to Ramakrishna’s name

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched a scathing attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for adding an “unprecedented and improper prefix” to Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadeva’s name while paying tributes on his birth anniversary.Mamata accused the Prime Minister of “aggressively displaying his cultural insensitivity to great figures of Bengal.”

“Yet again, our Prime Minister aggressively displays his cultural insensitivity to great figures of Bengal. Today is the janmatithi of Yugavatara (God’s incarnation in our age) Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadeva. While trying to hail the great saint on this occasion, our PM added an unprecedented and improper prefix to the great saint’s name, ‘Swami’!” Mamata said in a social media post on X.“As is well known, Sri Ramakrishna was widely revered as Thakur (literally, God). While his ascetic disciples constituted the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission after their Master’s demise, and those monks were then called ‘Swami’ as per Indian traditions, the Master, the Acharya, himself continued to be referred to as Thakur. The prefix ‘Swami’ was meant for his disciples in the Ramakrishna Order; but the holy trinity of the Order remained Thakur–Ma–Swamiji. Thakur is Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadeva, Ma is Ma Sarada, and Swamiji is Swami Vivekananda,” she added.Earlier in the day, PM Modi paid tributes to Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa on his birth anniversary and said his noble thoughts will forever remain a source of inspiration.“Humble tributes to Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa on his birth anniversary. The way he established spirituality and meditation as a vital life force will continue to benefit humanity in every era. His noble thoughts and messages will forever remain a source of inspiration,” Modi said in a post on X in Hindi.Ramakrishna Paramahansa was born on this day in 1836.Ramakrishna Paramahansa, who served as a priest at Kolkata’s Dakshineswar Kali Temple, is known for his teachings on the harmony of religions.The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission were brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna and his chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda.The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are worldwide, non-political, non-sectarian spiritual organisations that have been engaged in various forms of humanitarian and social service activities for more than a century.