Festivity, populism and power
Those who fret that community pujas in Calcutta are getting highly politicized must remember that they had been started in 1910 to support a political ideology. The first community Durga Puja at Balaram Basu Ghat Road in the Baghbazar area coincided with the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. Bal Gangadhar Tilak had led the way by organizing large-scale Ganpati Pujas in Maharashtra to attract the masses to the new creed of nationalism. Calcutta adopted this model of utilizing festivities for a political purpose.
Jawhar Sircar
Published 17.01.18, 12:00 AM