Kolkata(West Bengal): This Viswakarma Puja, Kolkata will be witness to a different type of kite festival amid the ongoing protest demanding justice for the horrific incident of rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-owned RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, more than a month ago. Kite manufacturers have incorporated various protest messages in their craft and the demand for the specialised kites is much higher than their normal versions.
After ‘Reaclaim The Night’ protests rocked Kolkata and several parts of the country, this seems to be the perfect moment to “Claim The Sky’ with those specifically crafted kites. The ‘Justice for RG Kar’ message has been doing the rounds in every possible means of communication, from the doctors’ prescriptions, receipts of online food delivery to the donation bills for the upcoming Durga Puja. This year the theme for all pujas seems to centre around the nocturnal brutality at RG Kar.
Heartwrenching slogans like ‘Tilottama won’t lose’(the symbolic name for the deceased doctor), ‘Bring Abhaya’s Perpetrators to Justice’, and ‘Aar Kobey’(the symbolic song penned by singer Arijit Singh) are finding space on the kites, which will dominate the Kolkata sky on Tuesday on the occasion of Visawarma Puja.
Subhajit Garai, a kite seller at Hatibagan market, said, “Buyers want to show their protest by flying those kites, embedded with those slogans. So we have made these special kites which are selling Rs. 15 apiece. There is a good demand for the kites”.