Protesting saffron colour, Chhattisgarh lawyers break lavatories in court

“We want to tell the contractor responsible for this; whatever his mindset may be, to never play with religious sentiments,” advocate Vishwadini Pandey said.

“To paint a lavatory saffron is affronting our religious beliefs,” she added.

The group of lawyers, led by advocate Ashish Soni, also approached the district judge and asked him to look into the matter. “We have been assured that the lavatory tiles will be changed into a different colour,” Pandey said.

According to court officials, the lavatories were made last year. “Why was it coloured saffron, I don’t know. But they will be changed,” said a senior official requesting anonymity.

The matter came to light after people posted pictures of the saffron lavatories on social media. “We don’t know when it was made, but a couple of days ago, we saw pictures doing the rounds on social media. We can’t accept such insults to the saffron colour,” Pandey said.

In November last year, a similar case was reported from Uttar Pradesh, where people had been conducting rituals outside a toilet complex after mistaking it for a temple.

The toilet complex was later painted in a shade of pink to avoid confusion.