This is also 'secular' India: Hindus not allowed to hold Durga Puja in Bengal village

Kolkata: It will be hard to imagine but it's a fact that there's a village in West Bengal where Hindus are not allowed to organise Durga Puja festivities!

As per reports, Hindus in Nalhati village of Birbhum district have not been able to celebrate Durga Puja since 2012. It is not that the Hindus there do not want to celebrate the festival; they are in fact denied permission by the administration to hold Durga Puja.

As per reports in Navbharat Times and News X, the Muslim community in the village has pressurised the administration not to grant permission to the Hindu community to organise Durga Puja.

Also Read: Muslims celebrate Durga Puja in Tripura

And the administration, unofficially, argues that giving permission for Durga Puja could lead to communal tensions in the village.

This is because the administration had earlier denied permission to Muslims to carry out cow slaughter.

And in a tit for tat, the Muslim community demanded that the administration should not grant permission to Hindus as well to organise Durga Puja.

State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has expressed her opinion on growing instances of intolerance in the society, has so far maintained silence on the issue.