A bunch of like-minded Twitterati have come together to promote the hashtag #DurgaPuja4All to make the point that the festival is for everyone, irrespective of their religion.
We live in times, where some are hell-bent on living up to the British legacy of ‘divide-and-rule’ to tear communities apart based on their religious choices. Even though for years, people, irrespective of their ideological or religious beliefs, have celebrated festivals together, we now hear instances of Muslims being banned from entering garba premises in Kutch, Gujarat.
In case anyone thinks the rise of intolerance is a figment of our imagination, even President Pranab Mukherjee was prompted by recent events to say, “Our collective strength must be harnessed to resist evil powers in society. Indian civilization has survived for 5000 years because of its tolerance. We have a Constitution that accommodates all these differences. Hope Mahamaya - the combination of all positive forces would eliminate the Asuras or divisive forces.”
It also prompted Twitter user Priyashmita Guha to tweet against sidelining communities from festivals.
But what followed was a round of abuse that dissenting voices on Twitter are often subjected to by people who claim to be the sole flag-bearers of religious tradition/nationalism.
This led to a bunch of like-minded Twitterati to come together to promote the hashtag #DurgaPuja4All to make the point that the festival is for everyone, irrespective of their religion. The group included several Twitter users like @priyashmita, @arup_c, @pratyush1909, @saileenasarkar, @deep_anchor, @rahuldindian, @riyalovezu, @Ch0tp0t, @RangaSiyaar, @orphean_warbler, @akshi183, @sobhon1409, @enigmalush77, @virkamu, @iammsk, @bekoofa and @neelavsamrat.
Since they started the initiative, the hashtag has over 3000 tweets (according to topsy.com).
Talking to dna, Priyashmita Guha explained the rationale behind the move. “Durga Puja in Kolkata is called Sarbojonin Durgatsab, which means it is very inclusive. There are many stories of Muslims organising Puja and we have Puja held in typical Muslim areas in Kolkata like Park Circus etc. However, beyond that, there are also personal stories. We have friends who are Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, who have not just participated in Puja, but have also bought new clothes like us to celebrate the festival.”
When asked if there was a negative backlash to their initiative, she said, “We did receive a few negative responses, but it was not even 1%. Some called us terrorists for asking non-Hindus to be made a part of the festival. Some felt we were bringing in religion, when Durga Puja was never about it (and its true) and some just felt Puja was about religion and we were trying to undermine that.”
Some tweets from the group:
When asked if the group had any real-world meet-ups planned, Priyashmita said, “That is the best part. No one has ever met anyone. As a matter of fact, we all got to know each other 10 days ago, when I first put out a general tweet saying that in our Durga Puja no one is barred, including Muslims. That tweet stemmed from the fact that some groups said non-Hindus were barred from attended Garba and I saw a fellow citizen, who incidentally is a Muslim, lamenting that this wasn't the India she knew.”
The tweet earned her some trolls, but also a lot of kudos. Like-minded Bengalis were absolutely surprised that such a message still needed to be said in 2015, she says.
The team then went on to tag people and invite them to Puja pandals to show the inclusiveness of the festival. They also sought to to explain the concept of Sharbojonin Durga Puja (Puja For All) to those who don’t reside in Bengal.
Priyashmita believes India is generally a tolerant country and says, “Most people not only loved our initiative, but said they will be a part of the festival. I guess that's the best part of India. Most people by and large are positive, barring a few who will find fault in whatever you do. Even atheists promoted our twitter hashtag as they felt it was a positive message in this day and age!"
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