The Durga Puja in Kolkata is known for its syncretism. Here, celebrations cross religious and communal boundaries, and people, irrespective of their religions, visit the puja pandals (decorated pavilions) dotting the city, something which we, the natives of the city, are proud of.
Even in these times of commercialisation of the festival, many of the so-called “theme” pujas focus on themes of communal harmony and other socially progressive topics. In the background of this inter-communal amity, the replica of the upcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya being celebrated as a major puja destination in central Kolkata hits a highly dissonant note.
This puja pandal, lit by psychedelic lights and lasers, has apparently been drawing record crowds from even before the pujas formally began on October 20. The puja is organised by Sajal Ghosh, a Bharatiya Janata Party councillor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (who is also the son of an ex-Congress leader who was the original organiser of the puja). Union home minister and BJP bigwig Amit Shah especially flew in from Delhi to inaugurate the pandal on October 16. In his speech during the inauguration, he specifically mentioned that the puja pandal was a preview of the actual Ram temple coming up in Ayodhya.
Since then, along with thousands of people, a long lineup of BJP leaders including the Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and MP and head of the BJP youth wing Tejaswi Surya have visited the pandal. So have the governor of West Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose, and the Chief Justice of the Kolkata high court, Justice T.S. Sivagnanam.
In the midst of this ostensible popularity and celebrity visits, what is lost is the fact that the pandal celebrates a religious place that is being established upon the destruction of another place of worship.
Also read | Ayodhya: Once There Was A Mosque
Forgotten is the fact that the final construction of this temple is a culmination of a process marked by many years of communal discord, riots, loss of lives and the misery of people of both communities of Hindus and Muslims. That it finally marks the subjugation and disrespect of a religious community in a country constitutionally declared to be secular and democratic. It is true that the Supreme Court in its verdict in November 2019 handed over the disputed land on which the mosque once stood to the Hindu side for the construction of a temple. The court also ordered that a trust be formed by the government of India to which the land would be turned over and which would build the Ram temple on the land.
Rear view of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya before it was demolished. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Many people have questioned how the government of a constitutionally secular state can set up a trust which would build the place of worship of a particular religion. Irrespective of such questions, it is a fact that the court also ruled that the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the desecration of the Babri Masjid in 1949 was in violation of law. Therefore it is now a matter of stated Supreme Court ruling that the temple in Ayodhya is being built upon the original foundation of events which are illegal. We know how the mandir-masjid dispute has been used over the last decades by a particular set of people and by a particular political party for gaining power and how the denouement of this dispute will be milked by the same set of people to continue to remain in power.
Although it is widely represented as something representing the “sentiment” of Hindus, it is not something any right-thinking Hindu would be proud of.
In this backdrop, it is not surprising that a puja associated with a BJP leader would build a pandal representing the Ram temple in Ayodhya, especially as the BJP has not been able to make much inroads into the puja organising scenario of Kolkata, dominated by Trinamool Congress stalwarts.
The puja organised officially by the BJP at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in Kolkata was a non-starter and was discontinued from this year. Except for some frivolous attempts by some Hindutva-affiliated organisations to organise pujas and draw some public attention (last year one such attempt by the Hindu Mahasabha in Kolkata involved representing Mahatma Gandhi as Mahishasura and had to be changed in the middle of the pujas after a public outcry), the RSS-BJP has not had much participation in the Durga Puja celebrations in Bengal.
Therefore, it is understandable that they have latched on to this puja pandal representing the Ram temple to show that they have arrived in the Durga Puja scenario and use it for further communal polarisation and political gain.
What is not understandable is why a single word is not being said by anyone – either the ruling Trinamool Congress or even the opposition CPI(M) and Congress, or the media, or the culturally sensitive intelligentsia of Bengal. No one has said yet that such a puja pandal actually goes completely against the traditions and the ethos of Durga Puja in Kolkata, which has always celebrated communal amity and friendship.
A pandal marking the subjugation and dishonour of a particular community cannot or should not be a centrepiece of the Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata. There are multiple Durga Pujas in Kolkata which are organised jointly by Hindus and Muslims, there are even Durga Pujas held in areas such as Khidirpur and Metiaburuj where the entire organising committee is Muslim.
Has anyone thought about what these organisers may be thinking of when they see lakhs of people visiting this pandal and the news reporters gushing on television about it?
Will Muslim families who pandal hop in Kolkata, just like Hindu families, want to visit this pandal or are Muslims not welcome there at all?
It is a troubling sign of the times that mass sentiment, itself moulded carefully by propaganda in mainstream and social media, can wash away all conscientious thought and opinions. The reason why the TMC, CPI(M) and Congress, have remained silent about this travesty is that none of them would probably wish to alienate what they consider “Hindu voters”. The intellectuals have kept quiet because no one wants to get into trouble.
No one bothered when constitutional functionaries were visiting the pandal because it was considered to be a matter of personal faith. But it does not change the fact that such a celebration is in complete dissonance with what the Durga Puja festival in Bengal stands for. Unless acknowledged as such, it will open the floodgates for this very festival to be used for communal polarisation and destruction of communal harmony in Bengal.
Partho Sarothi Ray is an academic and activist.
