Mamata, TMC leaders change Twitter profile pic to Vidyasagar's image in protest against statue vandalism

A college named after Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, a key figure in the Bengal renaissance, was ransacked in the clashes that ensued between the BJP and TMC during BJP president Amit Shah's road show in the state capital.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior Trinamool Congress leaders have changed their Twitter profile pictures to Vidyasagar's image as a mark of protests against BJP workers who desecrated  the bust of the 19th-century social reformer during clashes at Amit Shah's rally in Kolkata on Tuesday. A college named after Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, a key figure in the Bengal renaissance, was ransacked in the clashes that ensued between the BJP and TMC during BJP president Amit Shah's road show in the state capital. Attacking the BJP, Trinamool spokesperson, Derek O'Brien called Amit Shah "ignorant" and asked him to "try his luck somewhere else". Now, Mamata Banerjee, Derek O' Brien, MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Abhishek Banerjee and several others changed their profile pictures on Twitter to condemn the vandalisation of Vidyasagar's statue. Sharing videos of violence, he said, "Irrefutable evidence that BJP goons, part of Shah’s roadshow, went on rampage and even desecrated Vidyasagar’s bust showing no respect or love for Bengal’s culture." "I do not have words to condemn the incident. I am myself ashamed... that, as people of Bengal, we cannot respect Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar because of these BJP goons. These leaders will be leaders of the nation? Those who cannot respect icons?” Banerjee said in a statement shared by O'Brien.