CPI(M) book stalls’ sales cross ₹1 crore across 12 West Bengal districts amid targeted attacks

The book stalls affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) witnessed record sales in West Bengal during Durga Puja. They sold books worth over ₹1 crore even as many of their stalls faced repeated attacks.

The CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, SUCI (Communist), and other Left parties have a decades-old tradition of setting up book stalls during the Durga Puja festivities.

“The people have shown immense resistance against the hooliganism and attacks on the book stalls. Miscreants attacked over 292 stalls in Bengal, but this only helped us. The footfall increased and our sales shot up,” senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty told The Hindu on Saturday (October 24). He added that Bengal’s core reading culture cannot be changed through attacks.

On October 17, one of the biggest CPI(M) book stalls in south Kolkata’s Jadavpur came under attack when a bulldozer tried to raze it. Left leaders and citizens stood in front of the bulldozer and forced it to retreat.

Meanwhile, visuals of a young man picking up Pather Dabi by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay from a CPI(M) book stall in north Kolkata’s Nagerbazaar went viral. As the man tore up the book, walked over it, and shouted at the stall workers, an old man was seen trying to reason with him and pleaded, “Don’t do this, brother. Please do not ruin the book. The books are for everyone.”

As the two visuals went viral on social media, Opposition leaders and citizens started visiting the stalls in large numbers and posted about their experience on social media, leading to a further rise in sales.

“It became about bulldozers vs. books, and people showed up for the books,” Mr. Chakraborty added.

“The ₹1 crore sale is from 12 districts alone; the numbers will be higher once the sale figures come in from the other 11 districts,” CPI(M) leader Satarup Ghosh said. He added that they had over 1,000 temporary book stalls across the State.

Massive solidarity

“I love books. As kids, one of the things that excited us the most about Pujo was that we would be gifted books by an aunt, and I never thought there would be a day where I would see State-sponsored attacks on books. So, I bought books from the stalls that were attacked,” visual artist and cartoonist Bob said. He also posted about his book haul on social media.

“This time, it was not just about buying books. As the State is ruled by hooligans now, who are afraid of free thought and prefer a less educated populace, I felt it necessary to stand in solidarity with those who are constantly resisting,” said Subha Deb, an avid reader.

Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh and Congress State president Subhankar Sarkar were among the few Opposition leaders who showed up at the stalls in solidarity.

The CPI(M) has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and other right-wing groups for these attacks. However, BJP State president Samik Bhattacharya condemned the attacks and said that people are using the party’s name for this vandalism.

RSS leader Jishnu Basu and BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta also condemned the attacks. Meanwhile, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari continued his verbal attacks on the book stalls.