Launched a national mission to protect culture, heritage of India: PM Modi in Kolkata

The PM also unveiled a statue at Old Currency Building in Kolkata in the presence of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and other dignitaries.

KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that his government has launched a national mission from Kolkata to protect the culture and heritage of India. He also unveiled a statue at Old Currency Building in Kolkata in the presence of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and other dignitaries.

"Today is a key day for India's culture and heritage, not just for West Bengal but for entire India. We're starting a national mission today from Kolkata to re-invent, replan, re-innovate and protect the culture, traditions and heritage of India," the PM said.

PM Modi says, "It is the endeavour of the Central Government to keep India's cultural potential in a new form before the world so that India emerges as a major centre of heritage tourism in the world. It has also been decided that 5 iconic museums in the country will be made of International Standard. It is being launched from the Indian Museum Kolkata, one of the oldest museums in the world."

While stressing that revolutionaries from Bengal should get respect, the PM said, "The demand for declassification of the files on Netaji was on for several years. Our Govt declassified them. In the new year and decade, the country feels that other revolutionaries from Bengal should get the deserved respect and regard." 

The PM further stated that the renovation work to modernise 4 iconic galleries of Kolkata has been completed.

The PM also attended a cultural program at the Old Currency Building in Kolkata. PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, arrived here in the evening amid severe protests by the Trinamool Congress and Left-wing students.

PM Modi has come to Kolkata to take part in 150th-anniversary celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust. He was received by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, Mayor of Kolkata and Minister Firhad Hakim and other dignitaries at the airport. 

Minutes later, the PM met with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Raj Bhavan, ahead of attending the sesquicentenary celebrations of Kolkata Port Trust. The visit took place at a time when West Bengal has been witnessing protests against the amended Citizenship Act.  

During their meeting, Mamata told Prime Minister Modi to rethink and withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. 

Speaking to the media outside Raj Bhawan, Mamata said, “I told him that maybe this is not the appropriate time for me to say this. But we have been agitating against CAA and NPR. I told him we are against dividing people. No one should face atrocities. Please rethink on CAA. Please withdraw it. He said he is here to attend some scheduled programmes and that such matters can be discussed in Delhi later.

Soon after meeting PM Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended a TMC students wing sit-in demonstration in Kolkata against CAA where she said, "CAA notification will be only on paper, it will never be implemented, we would not allow it."

However, hours before his arrival in Kolkata, students and political parties started protests in West Bengal shouting "Go Back Modi" and also burnt his effigy.

Student arms of various Left parties, including the CPI-M affiliated Students Federation of India (SFI) held large gatherings in five points of the city - Golpark and Jadavpur 8B bus stand in South Kolkata, Esplanade in central Kolkata and Hatibagan as also the metropolis` education hub College street in North Kolkata, displaying posters and banners ridiculing the Prime Minister.

Coming together under the banner "Students Against Fascism", the protestors, joined by those of the Congress-affiliated Chhatra Parishad, held aloft the tri-colour and publicly read the Preamble to the Constitution as they staged demonstrations in each of the venues.

Black banners, posters and hoardings were dominant at the protests, where none of the organisations carried their own flags. The protest at College Street saw a large number of students take out a march from College Square to Presidency University.

"We want to give a message that the politics of violence which the BJP has started in campuses across the country, we won`t tolerate that in Kolkata. There is a need for a united protest cutting across political lines. That`s the reason we have assembled here," said a girl student of Presidency University.

In Gol Park, the students flew black balloons with "go back" slogan, obstructing traffic. They also wrote, "No NRC, No CAA, No NPR" on the road. "So now, even the streets of Kolkata are asking Modi to go back," said another protestor.

CPI-M activists carrying black flags, demonstrated at the iconic Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge), floating a large number of black balloons in the air with posters proclaiming "Modi go back".

Same slogans were also heard near the NSCBI Airport as a small group of Congres activists gathered displaying the tricolour and waving black flags. They also cried "Tanshahi nehin chalagi, nehi chalegi (will not accept dictatorship)", "Modi Hatao Desh Banchaoa", and staged a sit-in as police personnel put up guard rails to prevent them from proceeding any further.

The SUCI (Communist), a Left outfit, demonstrated at Durgapur city of West Burdwan district and burnt an effigy of the Prime Minister. "Modi an `unwanted guest` go back," they shouted. PM Modi will dedicate four renovated heritage buildings to the nation and inaugurate the sesquicentenary celebration of Kolkata Port trust during a 21-hour stay.

The PM is also scheduled to launch an interactive light and sound show of Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) and go to the Belur Math - global headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission - on his first visit to the state after the Lok Sabha polls.

Stringent security was put in place for the Prime Minister`s tour amid apprehensions of large-scale protests.

(With Agency Inputs)