Left to rally in Siliguri against attack on Hill Cart Road bookstall during Durga Puja

The Darjeeling district Left Front will organise a rally in Siliguri on Saturday to protest against the hooliganism of people who attempted to create a disturbance in front of its Hill Cart Road bookstall during the Durga Puja festivities.

The rally will begin at 4pm from Siliguri's Bagha Jatin Park and culminate at Mahatma Gandhi More near the Mahananda Bridge.

Addressing a news conference on Friday, senior CPM leader and former Siliguri Municipal Corporation mayor Nurul Islam said some people tried to create a disturbance in front of the party's bookstall in the heart of Siliguri during the Puja days.

“However, they failed in their attempt due to the presence of the police and resistance from our party workers and members of the public. We have decided to organise a protest rally against such hooliganism in the city. Through the procession, we will appeal to residents to follow the message, ‘Boi porun, boi bachan ar Banglar oitijhya sanskriti ke rokhha korun (Read books, save books and protect Bengal's culture and heritage),” Islam said.

According to Islam, the CPM had set up 20 bookstalls across the Siliguri subdivision during this year's Durga Puja, five more than the previous year. The Hill Cart Road one in the city was the most prominent.

Last year, the total book sales across the subdivision amounted to around ₹1 lakh. This year, book sales reached around ₹3 lakh, he said.

"The public response and the growing number of books sold at the stalls indicate that the Left remains extremely relevant in politics,” he added.

This year, CPM bookstalls across Bengal faced vandalism. In most cases, the CPM blamed Right-wing groups and claimed the police did not do enough. However, in the case of Siliguri, the local Left leaders did not accuse any specific group of hooliganism.

Violence continues

A CPM bookstall at a fair at Gadearkuthi, under Dhupguri block of Jalpaiguri district, which is around 39 km from the district headquarters, was attacked by alleged BJP supporters on Thursday night.

The attackers could not do much damage to the books in the face of resistance by CPM workers, the stall was partially vandalised. Pijush Mishra, the CPM secretary of Jalpaiguri district unit, said: "They came to attack our stall because the books expose the evil designs of the RSS-BJP. However, our comrades repelled the attackers. We have lodged a complaint against 40 BJP supporters."

The BJP, however, denied the allegation.