The pandal built by Jhankar Club in Malda. Picture by Surajit Roy

Islampur/Cooch Behar, Oct. 15: The bond between the communities is always strong, the villagers claim, but it becomes all the more evident only during the Pujas.

For residents of Kotgach in Chopra block of North Dinajpur or those at Gitaldaha on the India-Bangladesh border, Durga Puja is an occasion for different communities to come together.

Kotgach has only 15 Hindu families. Muslims who are in a majority in the locality actively participate in the celebration and work shoulder to shoulder with the Hindus to prepare the festivities.

“Barring pushpanjali (offering flowers to the deity), people of both the communities jointly take part in every ritual during the Durga Puja,” said Rafikul Islam, secretary of the Durga Puja committee in Kotgach. “Right from the collection of subscriptions to immersion, the Hindus and the Muslims work together.”

Khokon Das, president of the committee, echoed him. “On Dashami, a fair known as Debir Bazar is held in our village. People swarm the fair to buy goodies, share food and to exchange greetings. We have never felt any divide between Hindus and Muslims. No villager would be absent from the celebration during the celebrations. Like the Puja, we Hindus throng in large numbers a fair held during Muharram at Amtala, our neighbouring village.”

Rafikul, while elaborating on the initiative of the Muslim community, said: “Hindus are minorities in our village. Hence, as the majority community, we feel it is our responsibility to preserve and protect their culture and religion. Durga Puja is the Hindus’ main festival and over the years, it has turned into an annual event for every villager, irrespective of his or her religion.”

Anwarul Haque, the minister of state for health and the Chopra MLA, appreciated the communal harmony in the village. “These initiatives are the proof of the strong bond between the two communities which cannot be broken by any means. We want it to continue and see more such initiatives in future,” he said.

Same is the story at Gitaldaha, 55km from Cooch Behar, where Hindus and Muslims strive to make puja celebration a grand success.

“There is nothing new in Muslims’ participation in the Durga Puja celebration here. Villagers in Gitaldaha collect subscriptions and share food together. This has been the practice for decades and even today, right from the decoration of pandals to the arrangements for cultural events, Muslims come forward for every task and consistently work to make the Puja a success,” said Sumitra Burman, the pradhan of Gitaldaha I panchayat. Bilkis Begum, the upa-pradhan of the panchayat, has said Muslims take part in even aarti competition and share dais with Hindus at cultural events.

Sirajul, a Class X student of the locality, said he and his friend Sariful had been practising for the past one month for the aarti contest to be held on Dashami. “We had participated in the contest last year, but could not be among the top three. We are determined to win the first prize this year.”