Ire at Yogi-day poem

TT, Siliguri, March 21: A college student in Siliguri has lodged a police complaint against poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay alleging that some lines of a poem uploaded on Facebook were "objectionable".

A source at Siliguri cyber crime police station said Arnab Sarkar's complaint had been received and was being looked into. The police have not registered a case.

Sarkar, a second-year commerce student of Bagdogra College, said he was a member of Hindu Samhati, which claims to be an apolitical organisation.

The poem titled "Abhishaap (Curse)" was uploaded on March 19.

On March 19, Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

"I found a couple of lines in the poem objectionable. That is why I filed the police complaint," Sarkar said. He said certain items that were "quintessential part" of religion had been "mentioned in an undesirable manner" in the poem.

Till 10.30 tonight, 10,000 people had reacted to the poem on Facebook. It had been shared 2,178 times and had received over 2,000 comments.

Contacted tonight, Srijato said: "The way freedom of speech has been attacked is quite alarming. I feel this is an example of a new kind of fundamentalism that has gripped the world. It is really disappointing to see that a young person has filed a complaint against me. I am worried about the next generation and the atmosphere they are growing up in."

Composer and singer Anupam Roy tweeted: "You can't silence our voices when we still have the freedom to express! #InSolidarityWithSrijato."

CPM legislator Sujan Chakraborty condemned the move to lodge the police complaint.

"We condemn the step taken by a representative of a religious group against the poet. Today, we held a protest march in Siliguri. Tomorrow, we will organise similar protests in Calcutta," said Chakraborty, the leader of the CPM in the Assembly.