‘I was, I am and I will continue to be secular’

Thank You @iskconkolkata for the invite. It would be my pleasure to be associated with this inclusive event. https://t.co/GyzY03JyHA — Nusrat (@nusratchirps) 1562047935000

KOLKATA: The stand taken by Trinamool Congress’s Basirhat MP, Nusrat Jahan , on religion and inclusiveness has prompted the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to invite her as its special guest for the inauguration of the Rathayatra festival this Thursday.Jahan, who recently got married to businessman Nikhil Jain, has been trolled — online and offline — for marrying someone outside her community and sporting “non-Muslim” signs of her marital status. The feisty actor, too, has given it back to her detractors, winning support from across the political spectrum for stating that she belongs to an inclusive India and no one should question her faith.Iskcon’s decision on Monday follows Jahan’s response to the criticism. “It (her stand) matches ours. We are not strictly religious despite being a spiritual organization that promotes Bhakti and Vaishnav ideals,” Iskcon spokesperson Radharaman Das said. “We have people of all faiths from across the globe as our devotees, who bring their varied ethnicities to Iskcon and enrich it. We find Jahan’s stand to be totally in sync with our ideals and have decided to celebrate it,” he added.“We allow devotees of all religions to congregate at our kitchen, where prasad is cooked. The three chariots are maintained by Muslims. So, in Jahan, too, we have found an ideal Indian who believes in inclusivity. As a new leader, she definitely inspires young India,” Das said.An excited Jahan released a video in the evening, congratulating Iskcon for organising the Rathayatra, and requested Kolkata residents to join her on Thursday morning at the inauguration and be with her through the celebrations. “I was, I am and I will continue to be secular till the end, come what may. My thought process of respecting all religions does not change,” she told TOI, adding that she had “attended Rathayatra as an actor before as well”.Her video prompted a Tweet from Iskcon spokesperson Das. “Thank you for showing the road forward,” it read.Jahan will share the dais with Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who will be the chief guest and inaugurate the eight-day spiritual journey. The 48th edition of the Iskcon Rathayatra will be on from July 4 to 11. The three chariots of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra will follow a set route across the city, starting from Minto Park and ending at the Brigade Parade Ground, where a fair has been organised.The Kolkata Iskcon Rathayatra is considered to be the second largest rathayatra after Puri’s and is attended by at least 15 lakh people over eight days. The chariots are specially crafted, the tallest being that of Balaram’s (called Taladhwaj), which is followed by Jagannath’s (Nandighosh), the smallest being Subhadra’s (Debdalana).The focus of this year’s festival is on encouraging the youth to be more responsible towards the elderly and not to abandon their aged parents. There will be counselling sessions, encouraging professionals to structure their lives around their ageing parents.