Kolkata Puja Sparks Controversy As Asura With Curly Hair And A Beard Who Resembles “Gandhi” Was Hired By Organizers
The police intervened on October 2 to reshape the Durga Puja idol in Kolkata where Mahishasura was a lookalike of Mahatma Gandhi, and the organizers were charged on October 3 with a number of offenses under the IPC.
A torrent of police complaints was filed across Bengal the day after the Hindu Mahasabha puja sparked outrage, and there were vociferous online protests against the organizers.
After police swooped on the puja in south Kolkata’s Ruby Park neighborhood, the earlier idol of a bespectacled bald guy wearing a dhoti and sticks—seen as an apparent attempt to insult Gandhi—was changed within hours to have curly hair, a mustache, and somewhat darker skin. Any resemblance between Gandhiji and the Asura deity, according to the organizers, is totally coincidental.
The police suo motu filed an FIR at the Kasba police station in response to the complaints.
To find out what precise directions were given to the idol creator, police have gotten in touch with him. The police claimed that the organizers did not have the formal approval that is required of all puja organizers.
Many called for a more forceful response. “Make sure that similar situations don’t occur in other parts of the state. It is necessary to file a lawsuit against the Hindu Mahasabha “said Dwaipayan Banerjee, a filmmaker.
The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha’s acting president, Chandrachur Goswami, said: “Any similarity between Gandhiji and the Asura statue is totally accidental. But it’s true that we don’t subscribe to Gandhi’s political views.”
News Mania Desk
