Kolkata— BJP’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led government, accusing it of presiding over the “murder of little girls’ dreams” in a state now recording the highest rate of child marriages in India.
Citing data from the recently released Sample Registration Report, Malviya pointed out that 6.3% of girls in West Bengal are married before reaching the legal age of 18—the highest percentage in the country.
“A Bengal that now leads India in child marriage cannot be called Vidyasagar’s Bengal, nor Tagore’s Bengal. It is Mamata’s Bengal, and the shame is entirely hers,” Malviya said in a sharply worded statement posted on social media.
“This Is Not the Bengal of Vidyasagar or Tagore”
Malviya drew historical parallels to social reformers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, who championed the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 and fiercely opposed child marriage. He also invoked Rabindranath Tagore, who used his voice and pen to confront entrenched social evils.
“Tragically, in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal, child marriage has surged. Little girls are being denied rights, dignity, and agency—undoing the very reforms Vidyasagar fought for,” he said. “This is not the Bengal that Vidyasagar envisioned, nor the Bengal of Tagore.”
Malviya said the statistics represent not just a social failure but a violation of Indian law and constitutional values, accusing the state government of undermining both.
“Ma, Maati, Maanush – Now Just a Hollow Slogan”
The BJP IT Cell chief also took aim at Banerjee’s oft-repeated slogan, “Ma, Maati, Maanush”, calling it “hollow” in the face of such grave social backsliding.
“The decline and fall of a progressive people, once inspired by the ideals of Vidyasagar and Tagore, rests squarely on her shoulders. Her coarse, abusive politics desecrates the memory of Bengal’s greatest heroes every single day,” Malviya said.
He concluded his remarks by suggesting that under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, West Bengal has regressed socially, betraying its rich legacy of reform and intellectual progress. (Source: IANS)
