Durga Puja 2024: Organisers refuse West Bengal govt grant to protest against RG Kar rape-murder

Durga Puja, the biggest cultural festival in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal — indeed, the biggest annual occasion for the Bengali diaspora everywhere — is preceded by a very black mood in the state this year. Civil society protests have erupted like never before over the gruesome rape-murder of a trainee doctor on August 9, 2024, at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the state capital Kolkata, and one of the major fallouts is the refusal of many Durga Puja committees to accept the state grant of INR 85,000 (USD 1,014) from the Mamata Banerjee-led administration.

The religious festival has been placed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The state-government grant is given to boost the Durga Puja economy, which, as per The Times of India report, had reached an estimated INR 50,000 crore (USD 5,961,435,000) in 2023.

As news spread of the rape and murder, which was the administration first tried to hush it up as a “suicide”, protests broke out, first in Kolkata and then in other parts of India. Though a series of allegations and counter allegations have followed the rape-murder of the doctor, one thing has emerged as clear as daylight, the inaction from the state government and the apparent lack of empathy from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who herself is a woman. Angered by this attitude, Durga Puja committees have staged this protest – refusing the grant given by the government.

The first to declare such was Shakti Sangha in Uttarpara. The Durga Puja committee reportedly said no to the INR 85,000 grant in protest against the state government’s approach to the rape-murder case.

Soon, the Hiland Park Utsav Committee in South Kolkata followed. Speaking to Connected to India on condition of anonymity, an office bearer from the HPUC said: “We want this [Durga Puja grant] money to be utilised in improving the safety of women in the state. Build more restrooms for women, not just in the medical field, but also in other sectors where women are employed and work night shifts. Instead of giving us the money, use it to ramp up those.”

As per reports, the West Bengal government will spend more than INR 340 crore (USD 40,567,916) in grants to Durga Puja committees in 2024.

An office-bearer of the Durga Puja organised by Neelachal Abasan Co-op society Ltd. in Kasba, Kolkata, told Connected to India on condition of anonymity that refusing the Durga Puja grant of INR 85,000 this year had a dual reason — one, a mark of protest against the RG Kar case; two, a desire to see the state funds utilised for enhanced statewide security for women.

The decision to turn down the West Bengal government grant was taken unanimously by the complex residents, after 135 women and men from the housing complex took part in the statewide night march on August 14.

The march saw thousands of people walk the streets in protests in three places in Kolkata — Jadavpur, College Street and Academy.

Speaking to Connected to India, a Kolkata doctor, who wanted to be identified only as SR, said, “My take is: 1) The Durga Puja committees should either refuse the grant of INR 85,000 from the Government of West Bengal, or they should take the grant and give it to the victim’s parents; and 2) let the Durga Pujas follow the earlier format: open the pandals on Sashthi. Newer trends like defying the religious protocol; traffic disruption; and inauguration of various Durga Pujas by VIPs from Mahalaya day should be banned forever.”

Another Kolkata doctor, who wanted to give only the initials AB, told Connected to India that all the Durga Puja committees in the state should not only refuse the West Bengal government grant as a mark of protest, but should also “tell the administration to pool the funds and use it for enhanced women’s welfare and improved safety of women doctors in all hospitals”.

A doctor who gave her initials as SD said that Durga Puja committees in West Bengal could register a symbolic protest by not having a Durga idol in their pandals and could limit the worship to Ghat Puja only without the usual festivities.

OP, who walked in the protest march in Bardhaman, told Connected to India: “Why do you want to celebrate ‘Nari Shakti’ (woman power), when you fail to protect women in the first place?”

OP also called out the lack of empathy from the West Bengal Chief Minister. “It’s baffling that being a woman, she totally mismanaged the situation,” she said.

The mood is sombre not only in Kolkata, but also across the state of West Bengal. The protests were also not limited to West Bengal. Doctors all over the country took part in the agitation, demanding safety. The ripples of the Kolkata rape and murder horror were also felt 5,000 kilometres away in Singapore.

Speaking to Connected to India, Shirshendu Bhattacharya, an organiser of Singapore Indian Puja Association (SIPA), said, “We were the first ones to call this [the Kolkata rape and murder] out.”

In an official statement, the Singapore-based Durga Puja committee said: “Dear SIPA family,

“As we celebrate the festival that honors the bond between siblings, cousins, and friends, we express our sisterhood with the young doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, who was tragically and brutally killed. In her memory, we are changing our profile pictures to black for the day.

“We are deeply saddened, angered, and feel a profound sense of helplessness over this tragedy. We pray to Ma Durga, the embodiment of feminine strength, to ensure that justice is served for the victim and her loved ones. We stand with her family, condemn such atrocities, and strive collectively for a safer community and workplace for all.

“At SIPA, we believe in the power of our collective prayers and remain hopeful for justice.”

Bhattacharya, who is the Submarine Product & Service Innovation Lead & Singapore GGN Site Lead, said the organisation is trying to arrange a protest march this weekend (August 24-25). “During Durga Puja we will do something to show the problems,” he said.

The Kolkata rape-murder case has already been taken up by India’s Supreme Court. A three-judge bench presided by the India’s Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has rapped the state government over delay in filing the FIR in the case.

So far, one person has been arrested, while the erstwhile RG Kar principal, Sandip Ghosh, has faced multiple rounds of questioning from the CBI.