Pune COEP Invites Sex workers to take part in Dandiya Nights Navratri festival

Pune COEP Invites Sex workers to take part in Dandiya Nights Navratri festival

Students of College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) are inviting sex workers to participate in nine nights of dandiya raas and garba.

COEP students are also inviting the people who are suffering from fatal diseases.

The nine day event will start on September 28 and end by October 6.


The first 4 days will be open for students of COEP only and remaining days others will be invited and will join the celebrations.
The remaining days will be open free of cost for girls and women from only in and around the city.

Madhuri Sahastrabuddhe, the chief organiser of the Aarya Raas programme said that
"Aarya Raas is for everybody in the society, and we are doing it for Goddess Durga. Class barriers do not exist for her. Everybody is equal before the Goddess."

Why not include everyone be they physically challenged or sex workers? We are calling the most stigmatized classes in the society like sex workers and women afflicted with serious diseases. Do these women not have a right to dance with other women?"
We are inviting the sex workers for our programme, but are not sure if they will attend this big gathering,"

Padmaja Kulkarni, final-year student, CoEP told that CoEP has been organizing the Aarya Raas event since 2007, but it was on a smaller scale and at the college level.
This year the entire event has been planned and organized by 60 female students and 15 women faculty members of the college,"

Komal Khandelwal, another student from CoEP who is in the organizing committee, said, "Everything is being organized by the girls and women from CoEP, and we have not taken help from any outside professional organization.

Professor Anjali Dharme, electrical department, CoEP, said: "We have many social programmes, including a free-medical check-up for participants and stalls for the handicapped."

Its very good idea by COEP students to invite sex workers and disable to their programmes.

I hope other collages will also invite sex workers and disabled people to their programmes.

Reality views by sm –
Friday, September 23, 2011

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