Mumbai: The Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti has demanded a probe and criminal action against members of the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal’s executive committee after the idol’s immersion took place during a lunar eclipse on Sunday, September 7, at Girgaon Chowpatty. The committee said the incident deeply hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Hindu devotees.
The fishermen’s body has accused the Mandal of subjecting devotees to physical and mental harassment during darshan. It has also demanded a revamp of the idol’s viewing arrangements.
In an email complaint sent on Monday to Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, ACS Home, Joint Commissioner (Law and Order), and DCP (Zone 3), Committee President Devendra Damodar Tandel called for an inquiry and registration of criminal cases against those responsible.
The committee reminded that Lalbaugcha Raja was first established in 1934 by Koli fisherwomen, who had pledged the idol for the survival of their livelihood. Over the decades, the idol came to be revered as a “wish-fulfilling” Ganpati.
“What was once a symbol of people’s faith is now being commercialized by the Mandal, which has forgotten the common devotees who made the festival so popular,” said Tandel.
The complaint also refers to a recent viral video showing a young girl allegedly being mistreated by a Mandal volunteer, which sparked outrage among devotees.
“This incident has ended the patience of devotees. Such inhuman acts cannot be tolerated,” the committee stated, demanding arrest and criminal action against the volunteer. If the person is a police officer or private security guard of an industrialist, the Samiti said he must also be dismissed from service.
The Samiti has called for, a probe into the delay that led to the immersion coinciding with the lunar eclipse, criminal cases against Mandal officials for hurting Hindu sentiments, limiting VIP darshan to just one day, dismantling barricaded pandals to avoid stampedes, easier access for the general public, reserving one day of darshan exclusively for the Agri-Koli community.
The Samiti strongly criticized the Mandal, saying the festival is being controlled by “wealthy capitalists” rather than the community that founded it.
“Ganpati belongs to everyone, not to any rich man. The idol came into being through the devotion of humble fisherwomen, not industrialists. Yesterday’s events showed that despite the Mandal’s power, nature itself ensured the immersion was carried out with the hands of Koli fishermen, restoring the true spirit of the festival,” Tandel said.
The fishermen’s body has demanded that, in the future, immersion rights be formally returned to the Koli community, in keeping with the tradition and history of Lalbaugcha Raja.
