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Kolkata rape-murder to feature in Puja pandals through graffiti
In the wake of the gruesome incident, many puja organisers here are tweaking their themes to incorporate the message of women’s safety and to protest crimes against them . Arun Kumar Banerjee, president of Bengali Club and Youngmen’s Association, said, “We are putting up a flex to register our protest with a caption: We want justice. To encourage creative protest, we plan to create a wall where we will invite people to send a drawing, painting or slogan on this episode and the fall-out thereafter.
LUCKNOW: The cry for justice for the raped and murdered doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata will resonate in several Durga Puja pandals here .
In the wake of the gruesome incident, many puja organisers here are tweaking their themes to incorporate the message of women’s safety and to protest crimes against them .
Leading the way is more than a century-old Bengali Club which has taken the initiative to stand in solidarity with the victim woman doctor of Kolkata. “As it had happened with Nirbhaya incident in Delhi, the heinous nature of the crime at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has made us stand up to demand justice. If Maa Durga represents women power, it would be a crime if we do not seek justice for one of her daughters when we get together to worship the eternal mother,” said Arun Kumar Banerjee, president of Bengali Club and Youngmen’s Association.
He said, “We are putting up a flex to register our protest with a caption: We want justice. To encourage creative protest, we plan to create a wall where we will invite people to send a drawing, painting or slogan on this episode and the fall-out thereafter. The city of joy (Kolkata) is witnessing a huge protest to demand justice for the victim . Here we are doing out bit in memory of the young doctor who fell prey to those engaged in a dastardly act.”
“Abhaya or Tilottama, as the RG Kar victim is being referred to, has become a symbol of how women continue to be brutalised and through protests stretching from Kolkata to Lucknow to the global sphere, the society wants to send the message that “enough is enough” and the people must rise in rage to demand punishment against the perpetrators of such crimes,” said a puja organiser in Lucknow .
During the five-day long Durga puja festival, Ramakrishna Math in Nirala Nagar will worship a six-year-old girl as a deity as a part of its traditional Kumari Puja on Ashtami day on October 11 (Friday) from 9 am onward.s
“During Kumari Puja, Goddess Durga will be invoked in a six-year-old girl and will be worshiped by sanyasis of the Ramakrishna Order. It has a significance as it symbolises the special presence of the Divine Mother within every woman and infuses a sense of respect and dignity to be accorded to all women,” said Swami Muktinathananda, Adhyaksha, Ramakrishna Math.
“The sensitization against such crimes should start from our homes and we thought the Durga Puja pandal will be the best place to start from as people in large numbers turn up to take part in the festivities. But this time a sense of sadness has gripped us and it will stay with us till those who committed the crime are punished,” said a college student who had been part of protests that were held in Lucknow to demand justice for the raped and murdered Kolkata doctor.
“We will play Arijit Singh’s song ‘Aar kobe (if not now, when?)’ at our Durga Puja pandal. The song reflects our collective conscience against continuing crime against women. We cannot worship the Mother Goddess and at the same time turn a blind eye to the brutality that women have to face. If we do not demand justice for Abhaya and sensitise ourselves against such crimes then we will have no right to worship Durga, who is an embodiment of fight against evil and women empowerment,” said Shankar Bhowmik, general secretary, Benglai Club, Shivaji Marg.
“If Ma Durga had killed Asura to defeat evil, during this festive season the society should raise its collective voice to demand slaying the demons who commit crimes against women. We should not forget our social duty even in our celebrations. This is why we will make the demand for justice a part of our Durga Puja,” Banerjee and Bhowmik added.
