West Bengal: It is the forth year that a small village in Birbhum district of West Bengal will not celebrate Durga Puja. The half done idols of Goddess Durga stand testimony to the fact that the desires of the villagers to organise a puja in their village may not be realised, for the district administration has denied permission for the celebration for the forth consecutive year.
The reason for the uncertainty is that a few Muslims in the village have been objecting to the celebrations over the last three years and the district administration has been obliging to the objections of a few undermining the wishes of the majority.
The incident came to light at Kanglapahari village under Nalhati police station in the district, a Hindu-dominated village located near Bengal-Jharkhand border under Rampurhat sub-division.
Though pleas were filed before authorities concerned on September 1, it evoked no response.
All the district administrative machinery repeatedly denied permission to the puja committee, Kanglapahari Durga Mandir Committee, following objections by about 25 Muslim families in the village. In the past three years, the local administration, panchayat and Nalhati police jointly prevented puja organisers from hosting the puja on the grounds of law and order issues, reported Mail Today.
“I don’t know about the matter. I have not received anything as of now. Once I get it, I will definitely consider the matter,” Birbhum SP N Sudheer Kumar told Mail Today on phone. The appeal was first submitted to the offices of the DM and SP on September 1 this year, and again followed up on September 23.
