In the midst of Durga Puja and Gandhi Jayanti celebrations, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha created an idol of Mahatma Gandhi that depicted him as Mahishasura in their Puja Pandal near Ruby Crossing in southwest Kolkata. This caused additional controversy.
People indignant at the placement of a Mahishasur idol resembling the Father of the Nation at a pandal close to Ruby Crossing in southwest Kolkata turned to social media to call for the organisers’ immediate arrest. Police filed a case against the Puja Pandal where the idol was kept in response to a complaint made by one Ratan Dey (44), S/o Lt Tarapada Dey.
Notably, the Durga puja organisers in that area changed the appearance of the idol on Sunday as per guidelines after receiving complaints from several political parties and police intervention. Chandrachur Goswami, the interim president of Hindu Mahasabha, claimed that the modification was implemented “forcibly.
According to Sundar Giri, the state head of the Hindu Mahasabha, Mahatma Gandhi did not accomplish anything that made him a “Mahatma.” It is significant to note that Nathuram Godse is regarded as a “patriot” by the Hindu Mahasabha, which honours Black Day on Gandhi Jayanti.
The state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar also denounced the act. The Kolkata Police intervened and altered the image after uproar over the representation of a dhoti-clad bald guy with a walking stick, resembling Mahatma Gandhi as “Asur” at a Durga Puja Pandal organised by All India Hindu Mahasabha.
At a Puja Pandal near the Ruby-Bypass connector on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata, people from all walks of life and practically all political parties expressed their disgust with the depiction and asked the government for help.
Asura’s appearance had been altered by the police, who took off his glasses and added a moustache and hair. All major political parties criticized the attempt to portray a Gandhiji-like figure in a negative light.
At Titagarh Police Station, part of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, state Congress leader Kasustav Bagchi reported the organisers to the police. According to Mr. Bagchi, such an effort to defame Mahatma Gandhi is sedition and harmful to the integrity of the nation.
Md. Salim, the state secretary of the CPI(M), tweeted on Sunday asking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Kolkata Police to get involved in the situation. “On #GandhiJayanti2022, our country’s founding father, #MahatmaGandhi, was depicted as an “Asura” in one of the pandals in Kolkata. Mr. Salim has shared a picture of the Puja Pandal’s idol and urged @KolkataPolice & @MamataOfficial to seriously consider this case and punish the miscreants.