Kolkata’s Durga Puja, the city’s most celebrated festival, faces an unexpected disruption this year as sex workers from Sonagachi, the country’s largest red-light district, have refused to provide the traditional sacred soil used in idol-making.
This decision is a direct protest against the recent rape and murder of a junior doctor within the premises of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital earlier this month.
For generations, Kolkata’s idol makers have considered soil from brothels to be an essential ingredient in crafting Durga idols, symbolizing the shedding of one’s virtues upon entering the domain of a sex worker.
This year, however, the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a prominent association representing the state’s sex workers, has declared that they will not partake in this tradition.
“Our refusal to provide courtyard soil is a form of protest,” stated a representative of the committee. “We have been advocating for legal recognition of our profession for years. The horrific rape and murder of a woman doctor, and the continued injustices faced by rape victims, compel us to raise our voices. This is our way of standing against such crimes.”
The sex workers’ protest is part of a larger movement within Kolkata, where rallies have been organized in various red-light districts, united under the slogan, “If necessary, come to us, but do not rape a woman.”
The refusal to provide soil has already begun to affect the city’s Durga Puja preparations.
Some community Puja committees have responded to this growing discontent by refusing the annual donations offered by the state government, which this year were increased from ₹70,000 to ₹85,000.
The tragic incident that has spurred this protest occurred on August 9, when the body of a female doctor was discovered under suspicious circumstances in the seminar hall of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The crime has sent shockwaves through the city, fueling widespread calls for justice and systemic change.
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