Food, Faith, Politics: Bengal’s Durga Puja, VHP’s Non-Veg Diktat And More | Prasang

Why has Durga Puja, a deeply rooted cultural and religious tradition in Bengal, become the subject of a fresh political and social debate? The Vishva Hindu Parishad’s recent guidelines ahead of Durga Puja, urging organisers to keep non-vegetarian food away from puja pandals, have sparked questions about religion, tradition and who gets to define religious sanctity. But where does tradition end and diktat begin? The episode also looks at the controversy around actor Swara Bhasker’s remarks on ‘Jauhar’ in Padmaavat, and the larger debate over how historical practices are represented and interpreted in popular culture. From food and faith to tradition and identity, what do these controversies tell us about the ways culture and politics intersect in contemporary India? Watch