Why A Saraswati Puja Celebration At Tripura College Invited ABVP Row

Saraswati Puja celebrations at a government college in Agartala, Tripura, were marred by a huge row when a video of the idol without a saree started circulating online. According to an Asian News International report, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bajrang Dal held a protest citing "vulgarity" as the idol, crafted by the students, was not wearing the traditional attire. Dibakar Acharjee, the general secretary of the ABVP unit in Tripura, spearheaded the protest, expressing strong objections to what he considered a "misguided portrayal of Goddess Saraswati."

The protestors compelled the institute to drape a saree on the idol and demanded strict action from Chief Minister Manik Saha. Acharjee told ANI, "In the very morning, we all got the news that in the Government Art and Craft College, the idol of Goddess Saraswati was sculptured in a very wrong and vulgar way."

Tripura College Saraswati Idol Considered "Vulgar"

Videos of the Saraswati Puja celebrations at the Government Art and Crafts College, Agartala, were circulating online and the allegedly unclothed idol caught the eye of the ABVP, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated student body, and Bajrang Dal that morning. 

They then made their way to the college and caused a ruckus, accusing the institute of hurting religious sentiments. Festivities to a halt when a group of protestors from the ABVP demanded the idol be clothed in a traditional saree. The protestors said that the idol was a misguided portrayal of Goddess Saraswati as she was not wearing a saree. 

The idol, which was made by the students of the institute, was then draped with a saree, as protestors demanded strict action against them. It was ultimately replaced by college authorities and veiled with plastic sheets, placed behind the puja pandal. The college authorities told the Asian News International that the idol adhered to traditional sculpture forms observed in Hindu temples and had no intention to offend religious sentiments.

ABVP demanded strict action against the college authority, and also urged the State's Chief Minister, Manik Saha, to intervene. As the outrage worsened, police visited the scene but no formal complaint was lodged by the college or the ABVP and Bajrang Dal. A similar incident occurred at Pune University recently, where several students were arrested for a Ram Leela 'parody' where Ram and Sita were portrayed smoking cigarettes.