Trinamool Congress’s Ashoknagar MLA Narayan Goswami on Tuesday urged Durga Puja organisers in his district of North 24-Parganas to ensure additional grandeur in the utsob (festival) this year to counter those calling for shunning festivities this autumn.
With his remarks that came to light in a video clip widely circulated on Wednesday, Goswami joined the ever-growing list of ruling party leaders making tone-deaf remarks amid the undying fire of the RG Kar fallout.
“We challenge those who say they will not participate in the utsob. This year’s celebration will be even bigger — in a disciplined way — compared to last year,” Goswami declared during an administrative meeting in Barasat on Tuesday.
This came 15 days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s “utsobey phirun (return to the festival)” public appeal to those protesting for justice in the wake of the grisly crime at RG Kar
This had drawn scathing criticism from countless quarters for alleged insensitivity and was seen as being part of the ruling camp’s diversionary tactics. It generated counter-slogans such as “Utsobey phirchhi na (Not returning to the festival)”.
Thespian Chandan Sen, who recently returned his Dinabandhu Award in protest, said: “These comments are not only insensitive but also irresponsible and inhuman. This is what is to be expected from leaders who are out of touch with people’s emotions.”
In his speech, Goswami urged Puja organisers to introduce meals for distribution and folk music programmes in areas that didn’t have them last year, saying: “Anyone needing support can contact me.”
His remarks prompted widespread disapproval, particularly given the demands from civil society groups and others to observe a Durga Puja with the rituals but no grandeur this time as a mark of protest against the RG Kar rape and murder.
A private sector employee and an organiser of the Reclaim the Night protests in Nadia, said: “I am shocked! What does he want to prove? Does he think he can erase the memory of Abhaya? He will never succeed.”
A week before MLA Goswami, minister Swapan Debnath launched a verbal attack on those participating in protests, particularly the women, alleging that many of them get drunk in the name of reclaiming the night. In a statement reeking of misogyny and moral policing, Debnath urged the parents of the women to monitor the activities of their daughters, because if anything untoward happened, the Trinamool Congress-led government would be blamed.
Earlier this month, Mamata’s nephew and heir apparent Abhishek Banerjee had issued a public appeal to the Trinamool ecosystem, urging everyone against speaking ill of anybody from the medical fraternity or the civil society — sections that have been up in arms against the ruling dispensation in the wake of the tragedy — while endorsing their right to protest and freedom of expression.
Despite Abhishek’s appeal. MLA Goswami and
minister Debnath are part of the ceaselessly growing list of insensitivity,
unbridled negativity, misogyny, and biting sarcasm — even threats — from several mid to senior leaders of Trinamool (including over a dozen MPs and MLAs in public) towards protesters, even as the agitation for justice refused to
die down.
Despite the controversy, MLA Goswami seemed unshaken.
“We too demand justice for the victim. The investigation must be swift, and the guilty punished. But we must also celebrate Durga Puja, which represents the triumph of good over evil,” he said, adding that the festival should be grander than ever, in response to those trying to “disrupt” the state’s cultural heritage.
“We must prove that Bengal stands with its utsob,” he said, urging more fanfare.
BJP state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar condemned Goswami, calling his remarks “callous and insensitive”, and accused Trinamool leaders of using ill-gotten wealth to fund the celebrations.
CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty virtually echoed him, saying: “It’s no surprise coming from a Trinamool leader. They are afraid of the growing demand for justice.”