Suvendu: Only Sanatanis Can Touch Durga Idol For Immersion
He sermonized that only the followers of Sanatan Dharma can touch the idols to perform the ritual.
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari triggered a massive controversy on Wednesday when he issued a diktat for the Durga Puja immersion on the occasion of Bijoya Dashami. He sermonized that only the followers of Sanatan Dharma can touch the idols to perform the ritual.
Mr Adhikari also informed that he already shared a list of such names with Kolkata police commissioner Ajay Nand for their identification. His remarks soon earned him an all-round criticism from the opposition leaders to civil rights activists. In the morning, the CM, along with Mr Nand and others, reviewed the idol immersion preparation at the banks of Hooghly river.
Mr Adhikari later told the media at Baje Kadamtala Ghat, “I have told the police commissioner the names and details of those who will carry the goddess for immersion. They need to be identified also. Only those who abide by Sanatan Dharma can touch the idols. There is no communalism in it.”
He underlined that heritage, traditions and rules practised for years have to be complied to maintain the sanctity of the ritual. Slamming his sermon, CPI(M) leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya alleged, “The CM is acting against the country and its constitution. He is doing both for Hindu right-wingers in a bid to establish Hindu fundamentalism.”
The former Kolkata Mayor claimed, “Does the CM have a list of who is Sanatani and who isn't? He has no answer to it. All he has is an order from RSS to parade its cadres who vandalise bookstalls.” Baishwanor Chatterjee, a Trinamul Congress loyalist of former CM Mamata Banerjee, argued, “Mr Adhikari asked non-Hindus not to touch idols during immersion. Does it mean a non-Hindu labourer can't touch idols due to his background?”
State Congress spokesperson Suman Roychowdhury said, “No word of condemnation is enough for someone who talks like this while holding an administrative chair after taking oath in the name of the constitution based on secularism.” Association for Protection of Democratic Rights vice president Ranjit Shur demanded Mr Adhikari in a statement to withdraw his ‘discriminatory and communal’ sermon immediately.