West Bengal: In a nice gesture on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, sex workers in Kolkata's Sonagachi tied rakhi to the passers-by in the city.
"All our sex worker sisters celebrated Raksha Bandhan... There is no discrimination, and everyone is happily tying Rakhi... We also received sweets and gifts from our brothers...," said Secretary of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, Bishakha Laskar.
Meanwhile, environmentalists tied rakhis to elephants while taking an oath to protect and safeguard the gentle giants in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.
Four ‘Kunki’ (trainer) elephants of the forest department lodged at Ramshai Medla Camp in Mainaguri block of got the Rakhis.
“Human-elephant conflict is going on all around. We wanted to spread the message of conserving elephants. So on this day, we handed over Rakhis to forest department officials for four elephants - Shilavati, Amna, Raja and Aranya,” environmentalist Anirban Majumder said.
The four elephants were bathed and dressed up for the occasion.
Mahouts of the forest department tied the Rakhis to the animals who were also provided with their favourite food.
Forest department officials were present at the function.
Majumder said, “We have been celebrating Rakhi Purnima in a similar way for the past few years.”
Politicians across the country also celebrated Raksha Bandhan with their loved ones.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also tied rakhi to Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also celebrated the festival with school children at his residence in New Delhi.
The Prime Minister interacted with children and school teachers in a special gesture.
With inputs from agencies
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