Bengal lyricist Kabir Suman seeks apology from journalist

Kolkata, Jan 30 (IANS) Few hours after the West Bengal BJP unit lodged a complaint with the police against Kabir Suman, a former Trinamool Congress MP and National award-winning singer, musician and lyricist, for allegedly using abusive language against a television journalist, Suman wrote a long Facebook post seeking apology from the fellow journalist.

"I thought the abuse to a fellow citizen over the telephone is an abominable act in the eyes of civil society. It didn't work out at all. Nothing transpired out of it but many people got angry and excited. As there is the problem of Covid-19 and I don't want to aggravate it. So, I apologise to the journalist, BJP, RSS and the Bengalis," Suman said in his social media post.

"If there is anyone else to whom I should apologise, please contact me -- I will beg for pardon with my bowed head," he added.

"If anyone thinks that I am scared and so I apologise -- please think. I am weak and incapable of doing anything and so I abused the journalist. If I was strong and capable then I would not have abused. Our forefathers who drove the British out of the country didn't abuse because they were strong and had the courage to change. I don't have it and so I abuse," the lyricist and the singer said.

Making it a point that he couldn't accept the way Sandhya Mukhopadhyay was humiliated by giving her the Padma Shri award, the former TMC MP said, "I want to assure the law-enforcement authorities that I will keep quiet from now onwards."

On Saturday, the state BJP unit had lodged a complaint with the police against Kabir Suman allegedly for using abusive language against a television journalist who asked for his reaction on a particular issue.

"While watching and surfing social media in my house, I came across a news where Kabir Suman is being heard speaking to a journalist over the phone and seen abusing him. When the journalist said that as a Bengali, he was asking Kabir certain questions, the latter abused the former using filthy language, which was not expected from a cultural person like him. He was giving rape threats to the Bengali mothers and inciting communal clashes and violence," wrote BJP leader and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Councillor, Sajal Ghosh in his complaint.

Not only the KMC Councillor but there was widespread protest even by TMC against Suman's choice of words and use of language to a journalist who was merely doing his duty.

Bengal TMC Spokesperson Kunal Ghosh wrote on his twitter account, "The audio that is circulating -- if it is of Kabir Suman then it is disturbing and should be strongly condemned. He should apologise for this. Because he is an intellectual and creative artist that doesn't give him the license to say all these things."

Bengali author and intellectual, Srijato Bandyopadhyay in his Facebook post protested against Kabir Suman's behaviour.

"An artist is a common man like everybody and his creativity doesn't give him the liberty to write or say anything -- particularly that which is not approved by the society. We should protest against this," Bandyopadhyay wrote.

Suman, who was even unfazed on Saturday evening, suddenly wrote a Facebook post seeking apology.