Chappals in Durga pujo pandal? A walk through Bengal’s past will shock you more

Is Durga pujo a cultural construct more than a religious one? A carnival that brings people of all faiths together? Let us go back to 1757.

In the grand tradition of doing things differently from the rest of India, some gent from Bengal has come up with the idea of putting chappals in a Durga pujo pandal this year. He says this is to highlight the farmers’ agitation in Uttar Pradesh. Many are aghast, but the man is unapologetic and has declared war with not just the government at the Centre but the very idea of capitalism. "Maa Durga in hijab"By artist Sanatan Dinda. He knows he can get away with it because many intellectual Bengalis are going gaga over it.@Rajput_Ramesh @MODIfiedVikas kindly look into it. @HinduITCellFb link- https://t.co/kzPc7ATwKG pic.twitter.com/srSZ7y3Mfj Azaan being played in Durga Puja Pandal ! Are the organisers desperate to prove their "secularism" to someone in particular? Shame on Beliaghata 33 Pally. @rishibagree @MrsGandhi @TajinderBagga @ShefVaidya @tathagata2 pic.twitter.com/lmzpjrcCAb

“The image of a farmer hit by a car was thought of by us three months ago. We placed it like that, that farmers are dying in the capitalist era, but practically it came into force,” says Gautam Biswas, president, Dum Dum Seva Sangha puja pandal.