Miscreants ransacked Darjeeling’s historic Roy Villa, where Sister Nivedita breathed her last on October 13, 1911, police said on Thursday.
Caretakers of the four-storied building found the donation box in the house broken and photographs thrown on the floor. The heritage house, located on Lebong Cart Road, was handed over to the West Bengal government by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2013. It was later handed over to the Ramakrishna Mission for renovation and restoration.
Born Margaret Elizabeth Noble in 1867 in Ireland, Sister Nivedita was one of Swami Vivekananda’s important disciples. She played a prominent role in the freedom struggle and for the education of girl children.
According to reports, monks from the Ramakrishna Mission, who were staying at the house, had gone to Siliguri, leaving the building to the supervision of a few caretakers. “I think it was an attempt at theft and burglary,” Darjeeling Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhilesh Chaturvedi told The Hindu . Mr. Chaturvedi said investigations are on and no arrests had been made.
“This is a historical heritage building. We are celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita. I do not have words to condemn such an act,” the State’s Tourism Minister Gautam Deb said.
GJM denial
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has denied any involvement in the attack and condemned the development.
The impasse in Darjeeling, which is now over 90 days old, has cast its shadow on heritage structures in the hill town. Renovation of a house in Mungpo, where Rabindranath Tagore once lived, has been halted for over three months.
The violent protests have also caused damage to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, between Siliguri and Darjeeling. Not only have the services of the mountain railway been suspended, two stations at Sonada and Gayabari have been torched.
