A Kolkata-based Durga Puja committee sprang a surprise on Friday by rejecting the annual donation from the West Bengal government as a mark of protest against the recent rape and murder of the woman doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.
The decision was announced through an official statement by the community club "Mudiali Amra Ka Jan" in the minority-dominated Garden Reach area on the southern outskirts of Kolkata.
"We are rejecting the Rs 85,000 donation from the state government this year. This decision has been made in protest against the rape and murder of a junior doctor from R.G. Kar on August 9. We demand justice for the victim," it said.
The rejection of this governmental donation, increased this year from Rs 70,000 last year to Rs 85,000, is turning out to be an important form of peaceful protest against the tragic incident.
Earlier, four clubs in Hooghly district also decided to reject the donation amount. Uttarpara Sakti Sangha Club in Hooghly was the first to do so, followed by a women-run community Durga Puja committee based in Uttarpara.
Knowing full well that it would entail scaling down some of the expenses involved, the Puja organizers seem to have taken a conscious decision to register their protest this way.
Not to be outdone by these community Pujas, a theatre group from Malda district, Malda Somobeta Prayash also turned down a Rs 50,000 donation extended by the state government for arranging a "theatre fair" in the district.
These acts of denial have received widespread kudos on social media, with many asking more Puja committees to emulate such examples.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress leadership has appealed to the public not to link the R.G. Kar tragedy with West Bengal's biggest festival. The Forum for Durgotsab-an association of community Puja committees-also issued a similar appeal.
