By IANS,
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tied rakhis on state secretariat officials, ministers and journalists to celebrate Raksha Bandhan – the festival of brother-sister bonding – Saturday.
On the occasion, a brief but touching ceremony was organised inside the secretariat – Writers’ Buildings.
Banerjee also paid floral tribute to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who had used the festival of Raksha Bandhan to promote brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims when the erstwhile British rulers proposed to divide Bengal on caste and religious lines in 1905.
Along with her ‘brothers’, Banerjee sang the popular Rabindra Sangeet “Banglar mati Banglar jol” which Tagore had composed to stir emotions and inspire people to protest against the British bid to partition Bengal.
The festival of Raksha Bandhan connotes the vow of a brother to protect his sister, who ties the rakhi on his wrist, from all misery and pains. Banerjee too has similar hopes from her “brothers, who include several Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers”.