Dance with dead bodies and the administration's silence

Published on Friday, 24 April 2009

forwarded by Sumitra Padmanavan

Have you ever seen people dancing with holding different parts of dead bodies in hand? If not, then visit Kurmun, Parui, Palashie, Kubajpur, Arachi and some other adjacent areas of those villages in Burdwan on the occasion of 'Gajon' which is helo on Chaitra Sannkranti ( Last day of Bengali month chaitra ) and you will find nearly hundred of 'Gajon Sanyasis'(Gajon monk) are dancing with holding different parts of dead bodies particularly head on their hands and thousands of spectators assembles there to see the awesome dance of those Sannyasis (monk). According to villagers, this practice is going on for more than hundred years. But police and district administration do very little to stop such unscientific things. According to SP Burdwan Rajaram Raj Sekharan, 'I have no knowledge of such in cident. I'll enquire about the matter and take necessary steps to prevent such activities.

From where the Gajon Sannyasi (monk), collects those bodies? According to a Sannyasi (monk), they collects those bodies from the different burial grounds. Those who could not of burn the dead bodies due to financial reason, put those bodies in the graveyard. Some times the relatives of child dead bodies does not burn the bodies and put that in the graveyard. Sannyasi (monk), collects those bodies from different places and put them on trees. On the very day of Gajon, the Sannyasis(monk) brings decomposed body from the tree and moves from one village to another with the dead body in their hand. Large number of people gathers around the fair area and enjoys the awesome scene.

Bad smell comes out from the decomposed body. But who cares? According to General Secretary of the central committee of Science and Rationalists' Association of India (Name of the organization in Bengali is "Bharatiya Bigyan O Yuktibadi Samiti) Mr. Prabir Ghosh, "our organization is fighting against all these things. These activities should be stopped. Our Burdwan District wings has submitted memorandum to the district administration so that such unscientific activities are stopped. But the district administration is doing nothing."

General Secretary of the central committee of Humanists' Association Sumitra Padmanavan told that, "this type of activities should be stopped. These acts affect children minds."