DIMAPUR, Oct 21? A South Kolkata Durga Puja pandal depicting Hindu gods and goddesses draped in traditional Naga attire drew strong revulsion and outrage in Nagaland. Several organisations in the state have called on the concerned Puja pandal committee to apologize and immediately remove the pandal terming it as an insult to the Naga tradition and culture.
?The shameless depiction of gods and goddesses adorned with Naga shawls is an epitome of insult and has hurt the sentiments of all the Nagas,? said Dimapur Naga Women Hoho president Tiala Sapuh and general secretary Hukali Akato while expressing deep shock over the depiction.
The Anthropological Society of Nagaland (ASN) also took strong offense to the Puja pandal depicting ?goddeses Durga and her family dressed in traditional Naga attires?, in South Kolkata. ?For the Nagas, dress and ornaments are not just items of clothing and personal adornments but each motif, design, color combination, etc. have specific cultural significance and social values unique to each Naga tribe,? said the president of the ASN Dr. I Anungla Aier and general secretary of ASN Moasangla Jamir in a statement.
The release further said, ?To the Nagas, it is more than aesthetics and there are various cultural norms attached to their traditional attire, which are gender specific and cannot be used otherwise at any time. In the said picture, the goddess who is a female is shown wearing male attires which is a humiliation of the menfolk of a particular naga tribe.?
Stating that the society (ASN) was appalled by such insensitive juxtaposition of Naga cultural heritage in a context that distorts the cultural pride of the Nagas, it said that ?even in the pre-Christian era, the Nagas were never idol worshippers?.
Earlier, the Dimapur Naga Women Hoho demanded for ?immediate removal of the ?dirty pandal? and a written apology by the groups concerned in South Kolkata to be published in all leading national newspapers.?
The Women Hoho warned that it would resort to strong course of action if the organization concerned fails to take these steps. Condemning the Ajeya Sanghati Group, Kolkata for its ?deliberate and malicious attempt? in distorting the Naga people and their culture by dressing certain statues in Naga attires at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata, some frontal Naga organizations of Nagaland demanded an immediate unconditional apology from the Group to the Naga people.
Expressing anger over the ?motivated attempt aimed at instigating the good relationship the Nagas have with other diverse peoples?, the Naga organizations in a letter addressed to Ajeya Sanghati also demanded that the Naga attires be immediately removed from the statues as corrective measures.