Biplab Kumar Deb stirs controversy, says 'Tagore returned Noble prize to protest British atrocities

Added to his growing list of controversial statements, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday said that the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore had given away his Nobel Prize to protest against British misrule.

And if the facts are to be believed, Rabindranath Tagore renounced Knighthood conferred on him by the British after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He did not return the Nobel Prize.

Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day-long Rajarshi festival at the Bhubaneswari temple in Udaipur, Deb said: "Besides being a world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore is also known for rejecting the Nobel Prize in protest against the British government."

Mridula Mukherjee, Historian said,''I am surprised by Biplab's imaginary thinking. Leaders like him are only a laughing stock for people.''

Deb recently hit the headlines for a string of controversial remarks.

Earlier, he had said mechanical engineers must not opt for for civil services and added that civil engineers are more suitable for the job.

The chief minister had also questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as "Miss World" in 1997 and alleged that international beauty contests were a farce.

Earlier this month, Deb, an arts graduate, claimed that internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata, drawing criticism from Twitterati, intellectuals and his political adversaries.