Mother Teresa's portrait removed from Municipal Board office

The newly elected BJP-led Silchar Municpal Board has removed Mother Teresa's portrait from the Chairman's office evoking wide-spread protests in Assam's Cachar district.

Mother Teresa's portrait, which had earlier hung alongside Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, has been replaced by Jana Sangh leader Shyama Prasad Mookherjee on Friday.

The civic body's newly elected Chairman Niharendra Narayan Thakur said he had removed Mother Teresa's portrait as "it was not fit to be placed alongside Tagore, Islam and Bose." "The political parties are trying to make it a political issue for the vested interests," he added.

Opposition Congress, Students' Federaion of India and Democratic Youth Federation have taken out rallies in the town since Friday protesting against the removal of the portrait.

Congress MP from Silchar Sushmita Dev on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led board was indulging in divisive politics instead of working for the development of the town and this was "really very unfortunate."