South Kolkata's Barisha Club is famous for selecting variegated themes of Durga Puja Pandal. This year, they have come up with the theme called 'Bhager Maa' (Division of Mother) focussing on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the hardships of the migrant people.
Last year, the club dedicated the theme to migrant workers, and this year they have prepared the Pandals focused on the theme revolving around the subject of NRC.
The whole structure of Pandal is separated into two divisions. The left side depicts the Bangladesh border and the right side of the Puja Pandal shows the Indian border and in between a huge cage-like structure is placed showing a woman carrying an idol of goddess Durga as she along with her four children is left in the detention camp.
Speaking to ANI, the event organiser Debaprashad Bose described that the woman's statue at the pandal is kept achromatic to depict that the woman's life has turned colourless after she has been separated from her home. A vibrant coloured saree lying on the floor denotes the same saree the woman wore while she first entered the house of her in-laws. But, now she has thrown it finding it worthless after being separated from them.
"Our aim is to request government that these kinds of things should not happen because it only brings sadness to people as they will be left homeless," said Bose.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register containing names of all genuine Indian citizens. At present, only Assam has such a register. Its purpose is to document all the legal citizens of India so that the illegal immigrants can be identified and deported. The final draft of the NRC was published in 2019.
The register, which was first published in Assam in 1951, is being updated on the top court's orders to segregate Indian citizens living in the state from the people who illegally entered India from Bangladesh.
( With inputs from ANI )
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