The Santosh Mitra Square and Mohammad Ali Park Durga Puja found themselves locked in a row with the police on Panchami night.
BJP leader and puja organiser Sajal Ghosh of the Santosh Mitra Square puja alleged that Kolkata Police were deliberately blocking visitors from accessing the pandal. He threatened to shut down the celebrations and immerse the idol before Vijaya Dashami if restrictions continued.
“If police don’t stop their atrocities and if the audio-visual is not allowed for the visitors, then we will close the puja and immerse the idol before Vijaya Dashami. Is performing Durga Puja a crime in this state? The wide lane of 40 feet is reduced to 15 feet by police by erecting barricades. We have abided by every rule set by the Calcutta High Court in setting up the pandal,” Ghosh complained.
Speaking to local media on Shashthi, Sajal Ghosh doubled down on his claims, alleging a larger conspiracy.
“Police [are] trying to orchestrate the plot...asking locals to dial 100 and lodge fake complaints.
It is really very disheartening. I don’t want a spar of words. If the police send a letter I will immediately stop the pujo, if they instruct me to. If audio-visual has to be stopped then pujo will be stopped,” he said.
Santosh Mitra Square theme this year is an elaborate audio-visual show titled “Operation Sindoor.”
Replicas of tanks, fighter jets, and missiles line the approach, while the pandal also highlights women officers like Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
The audio-visual, organisers argue, is essential to the theme’s impact. Any restriction on it, they say, would compromise the very idea of this year’s puja.
The organisers of the neighboring Mohammed Ali Park puja, one of North Kolkata’s oldest and most popular, shut down their pandal on Saturday (panchami) night.
The puja organisers alleged that police had diverted the usual visitor route, leading to a fall in footfall.
With crowds spilling instead toward Santosh Mitra Square and College Square, the organisers switched off the mandap lights in protest and closed entry to visitors.
“The police have diverted the route that visitors used to take to our puja mandap last year. As a result, the mandap is not crowded. They are going to other pujas,” the organisers said.
Police dismiss allegations
The Kolkata Police have denied both the allegations.
“No roads have been diverted for the visitors. We are allowing them to come up to College Square-MG Road. After that, anyone can go to Mohammed Ali Park via Central Avenue. The police cannot force anyone to go anywhere,” Police Commissioner Manoj Verma said.
Deputy Commissioner (Central) Indira Mukherjee added that the complaints lodged by the Mohammed Ali Park organisers were under review but insisted that no deliberate diversion had been enforced.
The fate of two of North Kolkata’s marquee pujas remains uncertain in the middle of the city’s most celebrated week.