#DurgaPuja4All: How some Twitter users are reclaiming festivals from religious fundamentalists
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
Wednesday, 21 October 2015 - 7:00pm IST | Agency: dna webdesk
Nirmalya Dutta
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.”
- snip -
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.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-durgapuja4all-how-some-twitter-users-are-reclaiming-festivals-from-religious-fundamentalists-2137075
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga_Puja
