Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy, farmers' protest find a place in Durga Puja

A community club, which is in the limelight for the last few years for its innovative theme Durga Pujas, has adopted contemporary issues like the ongoing farmers' protest and violent incident at the Lakhimpur Kheri. The organisers Dum Dum Bharat Chakra, however, claim that there is no politics involved with the theme, and they have brought in only humanitarian angle

Kolkata (West Bengal):The word protest is often synonymous with the spirit of West Bengal. Probably for the first time, this phenomenon is finding a place in a Durga Puja theme in the outskirts of state capital. The ongoing farmers' protest and the violent incident at the Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people were moved down by an SUV allegedly driven by a minister's son, have found a place in this year's Durga Puja programme organised by a community club in Dum Dum Park, in the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

The basic theme of this community puja this year is “Neither we will give up our paddy nor our self-respect.” The theme is the brainchild of artist Anirban and the organiser is Dum Dum Bharat Chakra, a community club that has been in the limelight for the last few years for its innovative theme Pujas.

The entrance of the puja pandal has a tractor connected with huge wings bearing names of agitation and agitators on small pieces of paper. Several worn-out and torn slippers lying in a heap at a side or stuck to the pandal's inner wall like footprints, bear testimony to a gathering that had seemingly been scattered by force. It includes 3D and 4D paintings on the wall. A printed car attached with two actual tires shows farmers being run over, highlighting the recent incident in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri.

The organisers Dum Dum Bharat Chakra, however, claim that there is no politics involved with the theme of the Puja this year. “We are looking at it from a humanitarian angle,” said an office-bearer of the committee.

The themes of songs directed by legendary music director, Salil Chowdhury on the farmers’ movements in India over periods have also found a place in the theme of this Puja. The cracked heels of the farmers are also being presented as a symbolic representation.

Artistic representation of contemporary issue makes this year’s Puja of Dum Dum Bharat Chakra unique.