President calls for preserving Bengal`s heritage

President Pranab Mukherjee called for preserving West Bengal`s rich heritage and lauded the efforts of the state chief minister in this direction.

Midnapore: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday called for preserving West Bengal`s rich heritage and lauded the efforts of the state chief minister in this direction. Mukherjee emphasised while inaugurating the 175th anniversary of the prestigious Midnapre Collegiate School here that it was everybody`s duty not to let the state`s rich heritage be ruined. The President said that Mamata Banerjee was doing a commendable job in keeping alive the heritage and assured her of help in "whatever small measure" he could. Midnapore Collegiate School is one of the oldest schools not only in Bengal, but India as well. Some of Bengal`s luminaries were associated with this school like freedom fighter Khudiram Bose and writers Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay and Rishi Rajnarayan Basu. The famous "Anusilan Kendra", the nursery of Bengal terrorist movement against British rule, which was started by revolutionaries Hemchandra Kanungo and Anath Bandhu Panja, had its origin here in this school. PTI