Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Durga Puja, one of the most inclusive festivals of Bengal, is celebrated to depict “good triumph over evil,” Goddess Durga killing demon Mahisasura to end the rule of evil in the universe.
But a puja pandal organised by the Hindu Mahasava deliberately attempted to create some controversy to attract attention. On Saturday evening, the first day of the four-day long celebrations, in its website photo of the Durga idol installed at its little-known kerbside pandal in Kolkata saw Mahisasura replaced by a statue resembling Mahatma Gandhi.
The city was shocked as the information of Gandhiji depicted as the demon spread like a wildfire and overnight made the pandal, organised by the right wing group that idolises Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, famous.
Political parties across the board, including the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP, vociferously condemned the depiction and the idol was changed after a visit from the police.
The organisers offered some very weak explanations to the apparent deliberate “mistake.” It said the idol only “resembled” Gandhi suggesting it was not him while continuing anti-Gandhi propaganda.
“Definitely it resembles Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. That is a fact. But a bald-headed man, wearing a chashma (spectacles) — is he Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi? You cannot find his name written or anything. So, it is a created controversy,” insisted Chandrachud Goswami, working president of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, West Bengal.
The far-right organisation has been criticised for promoting Godse and their strong anti-Gandhi views. A huge placard of the organisation placed on the top of the pandal displays photos of Bengal icons like Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose next to that of Nathuram Godse.
Pandal hoppers found the image offensive.
“Rabindranath and Swami Vivekananda embody the spirit of nationalism in our freedom movement and not Godse. Godse is known to be a killer. This is absolutely lamentable and pathetic. There is no conditional justification to this,” said one of the visitors.
“It is an insult to the father of the nation,” said Kunal Ghosh, spokesperson of the ruling Trinamool Congress. “It is an insult to every citizen of the country. What would the BJP say about such an insult? We know the assassin of Gandhi ji belonged to which ideological camp,” Mr Ghosh said.
The state BJP distanced itself from the matter. “If such a move had been made, it is unfortunate. We condemn it. This is in poor taste,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar commented.
