Kolkata rape-murder: Durga Puja organiser calls upon others to decline Bengal govt's Rs 85,000 honorarium

Kolkata: Amid protests against the rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata, BJP leader and chief organiser of crowd-puller Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee, Sajal Ghosh on Saturday called upon all Durga Puja committees across West Bengal to decline the state government's Rs 85,000 honorarium as a mark of protest against "failure to ensure women safety".

Ghosh, who has been organising the puja for several years in north Kolkata showcasing various themes drawing lakhs of revellers, told PTI, "Women are being violated, raped, killed in public places, in workplaces and at homes under the regime of Mamata Banerjee who has failed to ensure their safety. When faced with mounting public anger, she is blaming everyone but herself for the situation."

"A young woman medic was allegedly raped and murdered in the most savage manner while she was on duty in her own hospital but only one person has been arrested so far. It will be a paradox if under the prevailing circumstances, the puja committees accept the Rs 85,000 dole from this government which has shown a lack of concern for the issue," the BJP councillor said.

Asked if the puja committee would in some way pay tributes to the victim, Ghosh said, "We are thinking... However, we have not yet changed our original plan to organise the puja as people want to forget all depression, sorrow, stress and pain on these four days." The pandal is being built around a spectacular sphere of lights with dazzling illumination as per the initial plan devised long before the rape-murder incident.

Ghosh said his puja committee did not accept the state's honorarium in the past, with the sole exception of the first year when Rs 10,000 had been given to every community Durga Puja by the West Bengal government.

"Since then, we refused any financial help from the state," he claimed.

Countering Ghosh, chief organiser of crowd-puller Tridhara Sammilani and TMC MLA Debashis Kumar told PTI, "Sajal Ghosh must take an initiative for a vote among all the Durga Puja committees on the issue of whether they want to accept the honorarium or not." "Let him elicit responses from the puja committees if he is so sure about the opinion of puja committees on the matter. If he does not take such an initiative but instead spreads falsehood, we will assume he is doing politics over a festival like Durga Puja," he said.

"Secondly, by drawing parallels with the shocking incident of crime against a woman and Durga Puja celebrations, Ghosh is insulting the sentiments of lakhs of Hindus and thousands of puja organisers in the state," Kumar said.

Partha Ghosh, president of another crowd-puller Shivmandir Puja Committee and Forum for Durgotsab's founder member, said that the matter of whether to accept the honorarium should be left to every puja committee to decide.