E-Paper
Bondhu Mahal puja pandal lends voice to ‘women safety at workplace’
Organisers and devotees will not only deck up the pandal, but also set up a special pavilion displaying banners related to the issue
LUCKNOW Awareness over women’s safety at the workplace will be at the heart of celebrations organised by the Bondhu Mahal Durga Puja Pandal this year. Organisers and devotees will not only deck up the pandal, but also set up a special pavilion displaying banners related to the issue.
Together, they will seek social justice for the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata on August 9 — a shocking incident that shook the entire nation.
“We chose the theme after hearing about subdued Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal following the RG Kar rape-murder case. The brutal murder of a woman who was helping patients at her workplace was saddening. We are trying to promote the idea of having a safe workplace for women this year,” said Sushanto Ghosh, secretary of the samiti.
The puja was started by a group of friends in 2013. Prior to that, their first major programme was a blood donation camp on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in 2010.
With the passage of time, the samiti was formed with an idea to contribute to the society.
“Initially, the committee had to deal with financial crunch. After arranging a ‘bhandara’ during Bada Mangal in 2010, we ended up saving some money, which inspired us to start a small Durga Puja celebration. We thought of utilising the funds for serving society,” said Biswajeet Banerjee, member of the committee.
“The money is used for sponsoring education of children at Boys’ Anglo Bengali Inter College. Last year, the group sponsored the education of 38 students in high school and intermediate classes,” he added.
He shared that the puja was started from the compound of one of the founder members PS Chatterjee and it was later shifted to a park at Indira Nagar, Bhootnath. This year, ‘Chandipath’ will be held on October 9 from 7.30pm onwards and a 6-ft-tall Durga idol decorated in the traditional Sholar Daker Saaj (white decorations) will be part of the puja. It has been sculpted by a city-based based artist.
