How some Durga puja pandals in Kolkata are addressing R G Kar incident & protests

“Even the mighty lion we have shown in a different avatar. Here the lion has its head down in shame. We have used red colour to denote blood and the recurrence of bloodshed in Bengal,” said Biswajit Sarkar, the organiser of “Lojja”, meaning shame.

Sarkar says he chose to use the pandal to highlight the “prevailing shame and outrage” around the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August this year.

His brother, Abhijit Sarkar, a BJP worker who died in post-poll violence last year, founded the club in 2020. Since then, Biswajit has taken over.

In the pandal, a pot with a pasted Rs 500 note is meant to critique the “practice of Lokkhi Bhandar” (the TMC’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme) — which provides financial assistance to women in the state.

The pandal also has an “original form” Maa Durga statue which will be worshipped for four days.

Meanwhile, the R G Kar incident and protests are also a small part of the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja committee theme this year, in the form of a light show, said Sajal Ghosh, a BJP councillor and one of the puja organisers.

This year’s pandal theme for them is inspired by the iconic “Sphere of Las Vegas,” a famous music and entertainment venue in Nevada. Located near College Street, Santosh Mitra Square pandals have in the past explored themes ranging from the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya to “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.