Mahatma Gandhi 'lookalike' as asura: Why Kolkata pandal in trouble

A pandal in southwest Kolkata installed a a Mahishasur idol that "resembled" Mahatma Gandhi - with a bald head and dressed in a white dhoti and round glasses - prompting many to demand an arrest of the Hindu Mahasabha leaders who organised it.

As photos of the Durga Puja pandal went viral on social media, Kolkata Police reportedly told the organisers to change the appearance of the 'asura' and they responded by putting moustache and hair on it.

The Kolkata Police also asked journalist Indradeep Bhattacharyya, who shared it on Twitter, to delete the photograph as it "may create tension", PTI reported.


The news agency quoted Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha state working president Chandrachur Goswami as saying there was no attempt to hurt anybody's sentiments.

"The Durga idol that was worshipped here initially had a Mahisasur whose face looked similar to that of Mahatma Gandhi. The similarities are just a coincidence. After photos of it went viral, a police team visited the pandal and asked us to make changes to the face," he said

Many users on social media refused to buy the argument that it was a coincidence and saw it instead as an attempt to insult the father of the nation

"Nope, this isn't coincidence. This is a deliberate attempt to change the narrative to suit the current narrative of demonising our freedom movement heroes. We have truly lost our moral compass as a nation," Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena alleged.

A report on the Indian Express website on Monday afternoon quoted Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Murlidhar Sharma as saying that an FIR has been against the organisers of the All India Hindu Mahasabha Durga Puja pandal.