The chief minister has asked the city to return to festivities, but most people are in no mood. They are still haunted by the rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and do not feel it appropriate to partake in elaborate celebrations.

Some plan to visit pandals only to pray for the departed doctor and many are pressuring their puja committees to decline the government grant offered for the festival. Ganesh puja last weekend was a similar mixed bag of emotions, with some pujas sombre and some creative, and it was perhaps a harbinger of the Durga puja mood to come.

Ganesh shows the way

The Yubak Sangha Ganesh puja at the entry to BB Block had worked around the theme of fighting against rape, with posters and a canvas for visitors to sign with messages.

“We cancelled our cultural programme and celebrity visits. Even Chandernagore lights, for which we’d already paid an advance, have been called off,” said Anindya Chatterjee, president of the club who was earlier the local Trinamul Congress councillor but did not get a ticket to contest in the last election. “We held an emergency meeting on August 16 and decided to tone things down. This is a non-political puja, and we are one with the public sentiment. Now is not the time for merry-making.”

The Yubak Sangha Ganesh puja at PNB Island. Brinda Sarkar

Across the footbridge from Salt Lake, another puja had planned an RG Kar theme, complete with a figurine of the slain doctor. But, at the eleventh hour, they were advised by well-wishers to cancel, fearing political repercussions.

Executive Palace Complex in Baguiati presented a theme puja with a 13-ft Adiyogi backdrop for Ganesha but cancelled their usual dance and cultural events. “We only had aarti and devotional songs, and even the DJ and band were called off during the immersion,” said Ankit Agarwal, secretary of the complex.

Another group named Yubak Sangha performed puja in BA Block at PNB Island and president Ratna Bhaumik, the local councillor, said it was more about rituals this time. “We have cancelled cultural programmes in view of the RG Kar incident,” she said.

Live it up

Salt Lake Maitri Sangha’s Ganesh Puja pandal resembled Kedarnath temple. “I read the puja president Sabyasachi Dutta say in The Telegraph on Sunday that the puja would only have rituals, but I was shocked to see film songs being sung on stage on Monday,” said a CF Block resident. “It’s in poor taste under the circumstances.” Singer Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta performed on Tuesday.

Under Tank 10, EE Block Sampriti Sangha had built a Ganesh puja pandal resembling the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. “We present themes every year and did so this time as well.

The EE Block Sampriti Sangha Ganesh idol near Tank 10. Brinda Sarkar

We are all upset about the RG Kar incident and have been attending protest walks but there are others to think about too. Out of our puja budget, we donated saris to needy women,” said secretary Partho Chakraborty.

Puja grant decline

Some residents have decided to protest against the government’s role in the RG Kar incident by declining the Rs 85,000 grant offered by it for the pujas. One such is CA Block.

“For evil to prosper, all that is necessary is for the good people to do nothing.

Under Tank 10, EE Block Sampriti Sangha had built a Ganesh puja pandal resembling the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. “We present themes every year and did so this time as well. We are all upset about the RG Kar incident and have been attending protest walks but there are others to think about too. Out of our puja budget, we donated saris to needy women,” said secretary Partho Chakraborty.

Ours may not be a huge puja but we will stand up to injustice by declining the grant,” says the spokesperson for the CA Block puja, Snehashis Mukherjee. “We refuse to wait for justice through the ballot box two years later, especially when scandal after scandal is crashing out of the closet. We won’t delay justice this time.”

PEOPLE POWER: Junior doctors march from Karunamoyee to Swasthya Bhawan in Sector V to demand justice on Tuesday. Sanat Kumar Sinha

“I was one of the Mohun Bagan fans who planned the joint protest at the stadium with East Bengal. We were getting threat calls for our attempts. But like then, today we can muster the courage because the entire block is with us,” Mukherjee says.

Critics have been saying that if a puja declines the grant, they should also reject the electricity subsidy and police protection during the pujas. To this, Mukherjee retorts: “We could have rejected the electric subsidy but we only get the final amount in the bill, without clarity on the subsidy. As for the police, we hire our own guards too. “

CA Block’s decision sparked attention from an opposition party that has offered support, but the block has declined that too. “If the government claims the grant would have percolated to ancillary industries, it is free to send them the money directly,” Mukherjee says.

DA Block too voted against the grant at an extraordinary general meeting. “This protest is symbolic. We’re not thinking about losses or gains,” said block president Samares Das. “We’ll continue with puja rituals but a modern music troupe we had booked for Vijaya sammelani has been cancelled. We are sticking to in-house Rabindrasangeet songs and shows with a social message.”

A Sector II Block has also voted and as per majority, has decided to shun the dole. But they wish to remain anonymous.

The Adiyogi and Ganesh idols at Executive Palace Complex in Baguiati.

Grant is welcome

Some residents feel the puja should be separate from the protests. “We have been planning a massive puja this time, for months. Our budget exceeds 2.5 crores, and the goddess will be adorned in jewellery worth 15 crores,” says Sudipto Mukherjee, IB Block’s puja coordinator.

“Residents are very excited. Some are contributing extra subscriptions and more than 30 have applied as volunteers, including youth and homemakers who seldom come forward otherwise. Not only are we accepting the grant but are also joking that should any other puja decline it, it may be directed towards us,” Sudipto says.

At CK-CL Block, residents initially considered rejecting the grant, but secretary Shanti Ranjan Paul laid out the facts. “This money isn’t the CM’s; it’s ours. If we refuse this, should we also reject electricity and water provided by the government? And what about the labourers, musicians, and dhakis who rely on the puja season for their livelihood?”

Besides, Paul says refusing the grant will have implications. “We’ll get in the bad books of civic authorities. How do we turn to them next time we need help? We’ve decided to accept the money and use it - not on the pandal or food but – to uplift needy women,” he says.

Tapas Sengupta, secretary of AE (Part 2)’s association, says if one protests against a corrupt government, it makes no sense to decline its money and hand it back to the same authorities. “Also, we do some charity with this money, and hire laborers, cooks, and dhakis who wait for the pujas to charge a little extra. We also need this money for our own welfare,” he says.

“During the pandemic, we spent lakhs in sanitising; we have to clean our green verge as the authorities don’t do it, so where will this money come from?” asks Sengupta, although he admits some residents are trying to wriggle out of paying subscription by citing the RG Kar issue.

The BB Block Yubak Sangha puja with a theme protesting violence against women.

Wait and watch

For many blocks, the decision remains in limbo. “Everyone in our block wants to reject the money, and some residents have even offered to compensate the Rs 85,000 out of their own pockets. But our councillor is furious, and will not help us with anything hereafter if we snub the government,” said a Sector I block secretary. “I don’t know what to do!”

BE (East) does not have a consensus either. “Some residents want to decline the dole, and some even want to slash their subscription so the puja scale is smaller,” says Arindam Bhattacharya of the committee. “But we cannot take a whimsical decision, given that the very plot we perform puja in is government land that had got fenced this year. We had to take special permission to perform puja there. We have next year to think about too.”

At GC Block, over 90 per cent of residents want to decline the dole, but the committee’s decision is on hold. “We would rather write to the government to cancel the entire grant scheme altogether,” said block president Sujoy Saha. “Why offer this when the state finances are in the red?”

Either way, the puja’s Chandannagore lights, gates, guest arstiste have been cancelled and they are wondering if the mutton feast should be called off too.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BYSUDESHNA BANERJEE