Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari: only followers of Sanātana Dharma will handle Durgā idols at Hooghly immersions
While reviewing immersion arrangements at Babughat in Kolkata on Wednesday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said only followers of Sanātana Dharma would touch the idols.
- The Tribune (PTI)
While reviewing immersion arrangements at Babughat in Kolkata on Wednesday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said only followers of Sanātana Dharma would touch the idols. He told the Police Commissioner to keep identity records of everyone carrying idols into the Hooghly.
He said "There is no communal matter in it" and that the rules follow "the traditions, the scriptures". The Week reported that cranes will not be used to lift idols, DJs are banned from processions and immersions must end by 24 October.
Key data
18 IPS officers supervising across 4 police commissionerates (12 in Kolkata) from 21 to 24 Oct. The 17 Oct Chorbagan stampede killed 19; families get ₹25 lakh per death and the injured ₹5 lakh each. 7 arrests so far (ETV Bharat).
Why it matters
This is the first Durgā Pūjā under a BJP government in Bengal, and the state is now writing ritual rules into immersion policy. Legal and political challenges over its constitutionality are likely.
GK: did you know?
UNESCO added Durgā Pūjā in Kolkata to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2021.
