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| - Fact Check: Did Presidency in Kolkata allow Iftar but refuse Saraswati Puja? Viral claim is misleading
An alleged iftar party in Kolkata's Presidency University has generated controversy with several social media users claiming that the varsity did not celebrate Saraswati Puja because of iftar.
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India Today Fact Check
Iftar Party was organised in Eden Hindu Hostel, not inside the University's main premises. Eden Hindu Hostel also hosts Saraswati Puja celebrations every year. No religious ceremony is allowed inside the varsity’s main premises.
An Iftar party in Kolkata has generated controversy with several social media users criticising Presidency University for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments.
An image supposedly taken from at the Iftar party was shared alongside tweets like: “#WestBengal Today evening, Dawat-e-Iftaar organised at Presidency University, Kolkata. Most of the students joined this Iftar. For information, this University didn't allow to do Saraswati Puja inside campus. Left students orprotested [sic] against Saraswati Puja. This is #Secularism.”
A spokesperson of West Bengal BJP, Keya Ghosh, shared a collage of two images supposedly from the Iftar part and tweeted, "Dawat-e-iftar in Presidency College's Eden Hindu hostel. Plz remember, Presidency University did not allow Saraswati Puja within the compound citing it goes against "secular" nature of the institution." An archived version of this tweet can be seen here.
OpIndia published an article on April 6 with the headline: "Kolkata’s Presidency University allows Dawat-e-Iftar to ‘uphold the spirit of plurality’, never gave permission for Saraswati Puja to ‘maintain secularism’."
The article cited social media users who also claimed that the varsity granted permission for the Iftar party but denied the same for Saraswati Puja. However, the article was later edited. An archived earlier version of this article can be seen here.
India Today's investigation found that the Iftar party was organised in Eden Hindu Hostel and not inside the University campus. Also, Saraswati Puja has been organised regularly in Eden Hindu Hostel.
OUR PROBE
In the viral posts, some claimed that the Iftar was held on the University campus. Others, however, noted that it was organised at Eden Hindu Hostel which accommodates Presidency University students.
So first, we tried to check where the event was held. Upon locating both places on Google Maps, we found that the campus of Eden Hindu Hostel is not connected to the Presidency University campus and is located between institutions like Hare School, University of Calcutta, and the Darbhanga Building. The approximate distance between both campuses is 500 meters.
In the first image of the viral post, there is a white fence in front of a red-and-white building. We searched for images of the Eden Hindu Hostel on Google Maps. Results led to photos of a similar-looking place.
When we compared the image with the viral one, the colour of the fence, the design and colour of the building, and even the shape of the trees matched, making it clear that the Iftar party was indeed held at the Eden Hindu Hostel and not inside Presidency University premises.
We searched for news on Saraswati Puja not being allowed to be performed at Presidency University and came across several news reports from the last week of January 2023, published in Anandabazar Patrika, ABP Ananda and ETV Bharat.
Per these reports, the student body of Trinamool Congress, the TMCP, sought permission to organise Saraswati Puja inside the university campus, which was denied by the university body citing grounds to uphold the secular values of educational institutions. These reports also suggested that no religious practices have been observed inside the university premises to date.
IS SARASWATI PUJA NOT ALLOWED IN EDEN HINDU HOSTEL?
When we searched for news reports on whether Saraswati Puja is observed in Eden Hindu Hostel or not. We found a social media post in Bangla from a page named “Stand With Hindu Hostel” It featured images of Iftar and Saraswati Puja allegedly being celebrated there.
We also came across a video posted on Facebook by a person called Shuvajit Sarkar on January 26. Sarkar identified himself as the assistant secretary of the West Bengal SFI. This clip was shot during Sarawasti Puja on a similar-looking ground.
When we compared a screenshot of the ground with the viral image and with a video we found on Google Maps, we could confirm that it was from Eden Hindu Hostel.
We reached out to Anit Baidya, a resident of the Eden Hindu Hostel and a student at Presidency University, who confirmed to India Today that Saraswati Puja is one of the oldest practices in the hostel and it has been observed since the late 19th century. Baidya sent us exclusive pictures of this year's and previous years' Saraswati Puja alongside the invitation card for it.
Thus, it is clear that the images of the Iftar party held in Kolkata's Eden Hindu Hostel were wrongly shared with a communal twist.
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