Muslims join hands with Hindus to celebrate Durga Puja in Tripura

Kulubari, Tripura: Muslims in two villages bordering Bangladesh in Tripura are jointly celebrating Durga Puja with Hindus.

Dominated by Muslims, Kulubari and Durgapur villages in western Tripura’s Sepahijala district attract people of all religions across the northeastern state for their rare show of religious harmony in celebrating Durga Puja, which began on Thursday with the ‘Bodhan’ — welcoming the idols of Godess Durga.

“The festival is for all. Why should we not organise this with everyone else? This is Tripura. We would like to live here together, die together and also like to share everything among us,” Mujibur Rahman Chowdhury, an elderly Muslim leader in Kulubari village, said.

“Men, women and children, Muslims and Hindus, have been jointly organising Durga Puja for the past few years,” Chowdhury told IANS.

Over 90 per cent of the total population of both Kulubari and Durgapur villages are Muslims, who comprise around nine per cent of Tripura’s 3.7 million population.

Proceeds from Muslims

Kulubari Durga Puja Organising Committee secretary Ratan Das said: “Our puja budget is around Rs100,000 [Dh6,018]. The majority of the money is given by Muslims. Hindus are not in a minority in the village, but they are poor.”

“Muslim youths are helping us collect the materials for the puja. Elderly Muslim men are also conscious about the rituals of Durga Puja,” Das told IANS.

Like Kulubari, less than 10 per cent Hindus live in Durgapur, 70km south of Tripura’s capital Agartala, located adjoining the Gomati river that flows into Bangladesh.

Durgapur villagers have been celebrating Durga Puja, thanks to the active support of Muslims.

“We are really happy that Durga Puja is celebrated in our village with the active help of Muslims. This is incomparable in many parts of our country,” Swapan Saha, a Hindu villager and a government school teacher, said.

He said: “Without the support of Muslims, we can’t dream of celebrating the festival in such a big way as the Hindu population is very less.”