The Medical Council of India (MCI) and Indian Medical Association (IMA) have taken a strong exception to a Durga Puja idol made by the authorities of the Muhammad Ali Park, one of the famous Puja committee in Kolkata.
The idol of the puja is a clay model which shows a doctor coming out of Asura’s stomach. The doctor has a stethoscope around his neck and he is taking money from an ailing patient. Plagued by severe criticism, the puja committee is planning to change its theme of the Puja.
Durga Puja is almost five days away and the puja committee showcased the idols for the viewers already. As it attracted huge visitors already, news had spread all over the city that Muhammad Ali Park made fun of corrupted and inhuman doctors.
This provoked a delegation of IMA to rush to the pandal, located off the central avenue in North Kolkata.
The medical team then reported to top the brass of IMA that the Puja committee defamed the doctors' community by showing an idol coming out of Asura and forcing a patient to cough up money.
“It’s highly derogatory. We cannot accept defamation of doctors in this way. We have decided to lodge protest,” said Sajaj Roy, a member of the IMA, Kolkata.
Situation has gone to such a level that IMA even lodged a complaint with the MCI. And its Kolkata chapter has already written to the puja authorities to correct the theme of the puja.
“What can I say? Even we don’t have freedom of speech and expression. We did not name any doctor or defame anyone. It was addressed to fake doctors who were arrested recently in West Bengal,”said Dinesh Bajaj, chairman of the Puja Committee.
Interestingly, Muhammad Ali Park puja is held just besides Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. The trainee doctors' hostel is located just opposite to the Durga Puja venue.
Bajaj said it would not be possible to remove the idol. “But we might decide to attach some banners and hoardings explaining for what reason the model was installed. The decoration is still incomplete,” he added.
But why MCI got into such a matter, which has got nothing to do with its jurisdiction, is still unknown.
The council has refused to make any official comment. A member, however, said, “Even doctors' prestige is also an area of concern for the council.”
