No Durga Puja for Sonagcahi sex workers

Kolkata: When the whole of the city is busy preparing for Bengal's biggest festival just about 10 days away, sex workers in Sonagachi have been left in the lurch. Unhappy with refusal from various authorities to hold the Puja in an open space, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) has decided to stay away from the festival this year.
"We are weary of running from one authority to another.When local clubs are allowed to organize Kali puja, Ganesh puja and other celebrations by erecting big pandals at Dalpatty, why do we have to run from pillar to post to get that space? This is unfair. We do not want to run to the court again and have decided to stay away from organizing the event," said Bharati Dey, general secretary of DMSC, which works for the sex workers in Asia's biggest red light area.The sex workers have been organizing Durga Puja for three years. But each time, they have had to approach the court after refusal from police. In 2013, the Puja had to be moved inside a medical clinic run by DMSC when Dalpatty Byabshayee Samity moved court against the event being organized in the open. The next year, police denied permission. In 2015, it was held in a small KMC-owned plot without fire-safety systems. saying it would block the road. DMSC had to move the court again in 2015 to organize the festival. It was finally held on a plot owned by KMC. The organizers, however, said the place was too small to install a fire safety system.
The decision however not to have their own puja this year however has left sex workers saddened.
"There had been occasions where we were turned away when we went to offer anjali at pandals in the neighbouring locality. The last three years we could perform rituals without the fear of being ridiculed at or turned away. But this is also a fact that we are wary of approaching the court every Durga puja," said a sex worker.