Durga In No Man's Land: Kolkata Pandal Highlights NRC, Migrant Crisis

South Kolkata's Barisha Club has come up with the theme 'Bhager Maa' (Division of Mother) for this year's Durga Pua pandal

A Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata, West Bengal, highlights the plight of those excluded from the National Register of Citizens. South Kolkata's Barisha Club has come up with the theme 'Bhager Maa' (Division of Mother) to focus on the subject of the National Register of Citizens and the hardships of migrants for this year's Durga Puja pandal. The pandal, which last year depicted the migrant crisis, has become a big draw in the city.   West Bengal | South Kolkata's Barisha Club has come up with the theme 'Bhager Maa' (Division of Mother) focussing around the subject of National Register of Citizens & the hardships of the migrants for this year's Durga Puja pandal pic.twitter.com/r0xfRXQKrx Pallab Bhowmick's Ma Durga for the Pujo this year, as a migrant worker with her children.Very evocative. pic.twitter.com/aAlJVI9XKO

This year, the pandal has been divided into two parts. While the left side depicts Bangladesh, the right side represents the Indian border. In between the two sides, in no man's land, stands the sculpture of a woman carrying an idol of Goddess Durga. The woman, surrounded by her four children, embodies refugee families in detention camps. She sits inside a truck, all her earthly belongings scattered around her. Dusty portraits, a colourful saree on the floor and voter ID cards dangling from the ceiling form the backdrop of the installation, which aims to highlight the fears of the people over loss of citizenship. 

"Losing citizenship is like an existential crisis. The Partition and its human tragedy are far from forgotten in Bengal. I have tried to recreate that sense of loss at a time people are afraid of losing everything all over again," said Rintu Das, the architect of the puja, told Telegraph India.