Kolkata, Oct 8 (PTI) Demonstration over the rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar hospital rocked a top community Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata on Tuesday evening.
The incident happened at the Santosh Mitra Square puja pandal in the heart of the city.
A group suddenly started raising slogans such as “We want justice” and “Justice for RG Kar” as people jostled to get a glimpse of the idols in the crowded pandal, modelled on the Las Vegas Sphere. A video of it also went viral on social media.
The puja committee’s secretary Sajal Ghosh told PTI that every day many visitors were chanting slogans at the pandal, demanding justice for the doctor.
“People are free to raise slogans. It is people’s festival where the pain and anguish of the people should not be throttled,” said Ghosh, a BJP leader.
“We believe in enabling people to make their voices heard. Like some other pujas in south Kolkata, we don’t believe in raising the volume of the sound system to drown the people’s voices. We believe in hearing people’s voices,” he said.
At a meeting with the police ahead of the puja, some organisers had expressed apprehension about such protests.
Even as the Durga Puja rituals are yet to begin, people have started thronging pandals across Kolkata. The incident at Santosh Mitra Square is also significant as it is the only major community Durga Puja in Kolkata with which a BJP leader is associated, while the others are helmed by TMC leaders.
Protests over the rape and murder of the doctor, whose body was found at the hospital on August 9, have rocked the state over the last two months. PTI SUS SOM
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