No attempt to malign Tagore's poem: Rangasamy

Puducherry, Oct 26 (UNI) Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy today said there was no attempt to denigrate the heritage or the works of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in the poem ''Tagore on Pondicherry'' written by a senior IAS officer here.

A reply in this regard was faxed to his West Bengal counterpart Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee tonight following his letter to Mr Rangasamy, registering his protest against what he reportedly felt distortion of Tagore's poem 'Gitanjali' by the IAS official in a publication of the department of art and culture titled ''Tagore on Pondicherry'' which was released at a festival of Puducherry in Paris some time back.

Mr Rangasamy said the purpose of the poem was to highlight the distinct features of Puducherry. If Mr Battacharya still felt that he was not convinced, the Puducherry administration was prepared to delete the concerned poem from the publication, he added.

The Chief Minister said he had received an explanation from the concerned officer that there was no attempt on his part to denigrate or distort the poem 'Gitanjali' and had chosen the title ''Tagore on Pondicherry'' out of due respect and to pay rich tributes to the Nobel Laureate.

There was no intention on his part to belittle Tagore in any manner, he added.

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