A day after ‘accidentally’ removing the controversial poem of noted Bengali poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay, Facebook authorities have restored it.
“The post was accidentally removed and has now been restored. This was a mistake, and we are sorry,” a Facebook spokesperson said on Monday.
The 12-line poem titled ‘Abhishap’ (Curse), posted in Facebook on March 19, was removed after a Siliguri student lodged a criminal case against the poet for allegedly hurting the sentiment of the Hindus.
The student, a member of a group ‘Hindu Samhati’, had in his complaint said the poem, particularly its last two lines, hurt Hindu sentiments. Srijato was trolled on Facebook after the poem was posted and the poet sought police protection saying some of the comments were threatening in nature.
Meanwhile, in another post on Monday, Srijato thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the media and others for standing by him.
In the post, he said that he faced a lot in the past one week –
“From argument to censure, from censure to quarrel, from quarrel to insult, from insult to threat”.
But, besides that, he said that he also got support from people many of whom he did not know. “These people were not just supporting me. They were raising their voice in favour of democracy…. They were taking a stand against fundamentalism and for freedom of speech. I am indebted to them,” said the poet.