Kolkata Police say puja committees, not police, will decide who touches Durgā idols; Chorbagan idol cleared for immersion
The city's police chief has handed the "only Sanātanīs" rule back to the puja committees, while the stampede pandal's idol goes to the Hooghly under guard on Saturday.
- ThePrint (PTI)
- Millennium Post
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Nand said on Friday that the police have no role in deciding who may take part in the immersion of Durgā idols, and that the responsibility rests with the puja committees, Millennium Post reported. "Police have no role here.
Police look after law and order. The Puja committees decide among themselves who will come for the immersion," Nand told a press conference.
Asked how anyone would identify followers of the Sanātana faith, he said it was not the police's job to determine that, though committees had been asked to follow the Chief Minister's instructions. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, inspecting preparations at Baja Kadamtala Ghat, had said only those who follow Sanātana Dharma should touch the idols and that the identities of those carrying them into the Hooghly should be recorded.
Adhikari said the directive was not communal and was meant to protect the sanctity of rituals followed for thousands of years. Separately, PTI reported that the idol of Chorbagan Sarbojanin, where a stampede on the evening of Mahāsaptamī, 17 October, killed 19 people, will be immersed at Nimtala Ghat on Saturday under strict police supervision.
The immersion was cleared by the Special Investigation Team set up under the Calcutta High Court, whose head, retired judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, asked that the pandal be preserved as it is for the probe. Police say an announcement that the pandal was collapsing set off the crush, and preliminary post-mortem findings reportedly point to asphyxia.
Two announcers linked to the committee were arrested on Thursday and Friday, taking total arrests to nine. A handwritten note later posted on one arrested announcer's Facebook page claimed a police officer had told him to make the announcement; PTI said the claims could not be independently verified.
Key data
19 dead in the 17 Oct stampede; 9 arrested, including 2 announcers. Immersion at Nimtala Ghat on 24 Oct. Forensic experts examined a 134-tonne air-conditioning system at the pandal.
Why it matters
The State has set a religious test for a ritual role, and its own police say they will not enforce it, which leaves puja committees to decide who counts as a Sanātanī. The Chorbagan case will shape crowd-safety rules for every large utsav in Bengal.
GK: did you know?
Article 26(b) of the Constitution gives every religious denomination the right "to manage its own affairs in matters of religion", subject to public order, morality and health.
