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Calcutta High Court

Kolkata Durga Puja Organisers Got Legal Notice Over Slippers in Farmers’ Protest Pandal

A lawyer alleged that slippers in a Kolkata Durga Puja installation hurt religious sentiments. Organisers said they symbolised farmers’ protests; the High Court declined removal at the interim stage.

By ThatPainter Team 2 min read
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In October 2021, a farmers’ protest-themed installation at Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra Durga Puja in Kolkata drew objections over a heap of slippers. A lawyer’s legal notice alleged that the display hurt religious sentiments; the organisers said the footwear was part of an artwork about the farmers’ movement and was set apart from the worship area. On October 14, the Calcutta High Court declined to order its removal at the interim stage.

Why slippers appeared in the pandal

The slippers were part of a broader installation about farmers’ protests and the three farm laws passed in September 2020. The committee described the heap as a symbol connected to the protests and said it was at a distance from the actual pandal.

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The Wire’s October 11, 2021 account described other elements of the installation: a tractor with gunny bags at the entrance, posters supporting farmers, references to earlier agrarian movements and a depiction of a farmer under a car. Artist Anirban Das told The Wire, “Art always speaks of the times we live in. We have done exactly that, nothing extraordinary.”

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What the legal notice alleged

Scroll reported on October 10, 2021, that Kolkata-based lawyer Prithvijay Das had sent a legal notice to the organisers of the Dum Dum Bharat Chakra Durga Puja Committee. The notice alleged that using slippers in the farmers’ protest-themed pandal hurt religious sentiments. That was the lawyer’s allegation, not a finding by a court.

Scroll said the notice followed objections from BJP members, including West Bengal Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, who called for the footwear to be removed. The organisers rejected the demand. Committee general secretary Pratik Choudhury told The Wire, “We will not be changing the pandal or removing anything because of this false propaganda which is clearly done with political intentions.” That statement was his response to the controversy, not an independently established finding about the objectors’ motives.

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What the Calcutta High Court decided

A separate petition asked the High Court to direct removal of the shoes. In its October 14, 2021 interim order, the court recorded the petitioner’s allegation that the display disrespected Goddess Durga. The state submitted that the footwear was in the thematic area, not the sanctum sanctorum, and that the two spaces were separated by a distance.

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Justice Kausik Chanda declined to order removal at that stage, explaining: “At this ad-interim stage, I am not inclined to pass any order on this application for removal of the shoes since such order may amount to grant of the final relief.” The court directed Lake Town Police Station to report on the investigation’s progress and listed the case for October 25.

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Was there a final ruling on the slippers?

The October 14 order was an interim procedural decision, not a final ruling on the merits of the dispute. The available accounts establish that the court did not order the shoes removed at that stage; they do not establish the eventual outcome of the petition or police investigation.

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