A season of puja and protests begins in Kolkata

Protests by doctors and citizens on Tuesday mark the start of a new agitation, as many people ignore CM’s call to “return to the festivities”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee marked the beginning of Durga Puja festivities on Tuesday by inaugurating a community puja at the Sreebhumi Sporting Club in Kolkata. The arrival of festival season, however, does not mean the end of protests in the State capital, which has been witnessing an unprecedented agitation against the rape and murder of a junior doctor on August 9.

Hours after Ms. Banerjee kicked off the big ticket Durga Puja organised by her cabinet colleague Sujit Bose, thousands of people joined junior doctors in a protest march from the city’s College Square to Esplanade. Earlier in the day, the resident doctors announced a ‘total cease work’ again, protesting against the failure of the West Bengal government to ensure their safety and security in State-run hospitals. Resident doctors from 23 medical colleges have presented a 10-point list of demands to the State government.

Further protests have been planned on Wednesday, celebrated as Mahalaya, and on the subsequent days of the Durga Puja festivities.

Betrayed, seeking justice

The agitation marked the beginning of a different kind of ‘Debi Pokkho’, where the spirit is not of festivities or celebration. The protesting doctors said that they felt betrayed and vowed not to return to the festival unless justice is done in the case of the slain doctor.

Clearly, the people of the city, supporting the doctors, have not agreed to the CM’s call to “return to the festivities”. As the strike resumed in full force, Ms. Banerjee said people look forward to the festival throughout the year. “People of the State wait for Durga Puja festivities throughout the year. Durga Puja in Bengal marks the beginning of the festive season. After that, there will be Diwali, Kali puja, and Chhath puja,” she said.

Among those who participated in the protests in Kolkata on Tuesday was former Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar, who decided to resign over the State government’s inaction in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case. “Protests and puja” can go on simultaneously, Mr. Sircar said.

Economic implications

Durga Puja in Kolkata is not only a cultural extravanganza which brings people on the streets, but also a critical economic activity, accounting for 2.58% of the State’s GDP. The economic worth of the creative industries around Durga Puja in West Bengal in 2019 was pegged at ₹32,377 crore, which is the size of the economy of many smaller countries across the world.

The West Bengal government has allocated ₹85,000 to each of the 40,000 community Durga Pujas in the State. “There are clubs that don’t need the financial assistance provided by the State government. But there are several small clubs, for whom this grant of ₹85,000 is very helpful,” the Chief Minister said.

In a season of protests, several Durga Puja organisers are using art to highlight the agitation, but that too has its challenges. At least two Durga Puja organisers, one in Kolkata and one in Howrah, had displayed a replica of the human spine as a mark of protest. However, the Puja organisers were forced to remove these installations under pressure from the ruling establishment.

Trinamool Congress MLA from Bhatar Mangobinda Adhikari has urged the Durga Puja committees to display photographs of Mamata Banerjee at their pandals or forget the State’s festival grant of ₹85,000. “The Chief Minister is providing the money (Puja grants), so it should be ensured that her photographs are displayed in each pandal. She may belong to a political party, but the Chief Minister is the head of the government,” the MLA noted.

Published - October 02, 2024 12:30 am IST