The theme of a Durga Puja in Behala revolves around the genocide unfolding in Gaza and the famine that has been deliberately created by systematically restricting access to food — highlighting one of the most significant humanitarian crises of recent times.

The organisers have called for a “Free Palestine”, and drawn a parallel between the current deprivation and the Bengal famine of 1943, reportedly triggered by British colonial policies.

Visitors to the Behala Friends pandal are greeted by the poem Face to Face, written by Naama Hassan, a Palestinian poet based in Gaza.

A voiceover by Raeda Ghazaleh, a Palestinian theatre director, speaks of the devastating reality facing famine-hit Palestinians.

The first few lines of Hassan’s poem read:

“I indulge my hunger,
I imitated a spike of wheat
in its dance,
I kissed the mouth of a bird
that visits my arbor each morning,
Yet I could not become a loaf...”

Crafted in a motif style, the poem is placed beside an image bearing the word “Genocide”. Opposite it is the call to “Free Palestine”, a demand that has sharply divided global opinion.

Between the words “Genocide” and “Free Palestine”, a vending machine has been set up, dispensing weapons as if they were canned drinks.

Rajnarayan Santra, one of the artists behind the pandal, said they had reached out to Naama Hassan and had her approval for the concept. Hassan, currently displaced with her seven children in a tent in Al-Mawasi, resists war through her work with vulnerable communities, as well as through writing and art.

Raeda Ghazaleh, a theatre director and actress, co-founded Inad Theatre and Al-Harah Theatre in Beit Jala, where she served as artistic director until 2016.

Pradip Das, another artist associated with the puja, said he knew Ghazaleh and had contacted Hassan through her.

Santra said: “What is happening in Gaza, 5,500km away, is akin to what ravaged Bengal in 1943 — a crisis engineered by the imperialist British and now repeated by Israel, backed by the imperialist US. As artists like Chittaprosad and Zainul Abedin then took up brush and paint in rage and protest, we too have decided to protest the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent times.”

At the entrance to the pandal, near the Route 14 bus stand, a banner quotes George Orwell: “All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

Visitors enter through a ribcage-like structure that opens into a space where rice sacks are hoarded, reminiscent of famine images from 1943.

“The ribcage gives you a feel of the excruciating pain that people in famine experience,” said artist Das.

Overhead, ball press machines holding rice sacks hang from the ceiling above the Durga idol. A replica of a broken warplane rests nearby, with rice bags stacked against the blades.

The walls are adorned with scratch paintings of Chittaprosad and Zainul Abedin, depicting hunger triggered by the hoarding of food.

An empty royal cabinet represents how the British looted Bengal during World War II.

The goddess and her entourage are stripped of grandeur, reflecting how famine has touched even the divine.

“In 2021, singer Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted about the farmers’ protest in India, and the Internet ban imposed by the Union government to silence dissent. Their words drew global attention to the movement,” said artist Santra. “Protests by artists cannot be confined to boundaries.”

Asked whether calling for a free Palestine was risky, considering the Indian government’s stance, Das responded: “We knew we took a risk. But if artists do not respond and amplify their voice during a crisis, they are not artists.”