Central forces and police on Saturday evening surrounded a book stall set up for Durga Puja by the CPM near 8B bus stand in Jadavpur as a team from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation came to demolish the stall, which was set up four days ago.
“We have permission from the Kolkata Police, the corporation and for the electricity consumed at the stall,” said Sudip Sengupta, CPM state committee member. “Now, after the court went on vacation, the officials have come here and want us to vacate the place. They can run bulldozers if they want to.”
CPM leaders like central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, Nandini Chakraborty, a number of party supporters and students from Jadavpur University had surrounded the book stall at the time of filing this report.
Book stalls set up by Left parties including the CPM, the CPI M-L (Liberation) and SUCI (Communist) have been a part of Bengal’s largest festival for over five decades.
In the 15 years under the previous Mamata Banerjee government, book stalls set up by the Left parties for Durga Puja never came under attack.
The incident in Jadavpur follows the template displayed in the nearby locality of Dhakuria where a book stall on Raja Subodh Mullick square was demolished by a similar team from the municipal corporation accompanied by a police contingent earlier in the day.
Tension over the book stalls started and escalated at least a month before the festival after Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari issued a warning to the Left parties.
“You consider Sanatan Dharma to be merely cultural. You do not say Durga Puja; You call it ‘Sharadotsab’. I will tell all Durga Puja committees that if these so-called communists come to set up stalls and do not write Durga Puja, do not allow a single stall,” Adhikari had stated.
As Durga Puja drew closer several stalls, especially in the districts, were attacked even before the books had arrived.
The CPM's Bongaon unit moved court to get permission to set up a book stall. A lower court's decision to allow the book stall was stayed by the Calcutta High Court.
On Friday book stalls in wards 113 and 114 under Jadavpur came under attack.
“We have been setting up this stall for 49 years. Every year we inform the local police station. As an added measure we wrote to one of the joint commissioners of Kolkata Police this time. There was no objection,” said CPI leader Prabir Deb, also a resident of Dhakuria. “Our stall was demolished on Friday. The CPM and the Liberation’s stall were demolished today. Why can’t we sell books?”