The spate of attacks on Left bookstalls from the saffron ecosystem continued across Bengal through Durga Puja, triggering a legal challenge and condemnation by the CPM.
Incidents of vandalism were reported on Sunday night in Phulia in Nadia, Usthi and Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas, Naihati, Barrackpore and Noapara in North 24-Parganas, Nazirpur in Dinhata and several places in Howrah, Hooghly and other places across the state. In several locations, Left activists reinstalled the stalls after the attacks, vowing not to retreat.
The CPM’s Jadavpur area committee has approached Calcutta High Court over the vandalism of two party bookstalls in Jadavpur over the weekend, seeking compensation for the financial losses and an urgent hearing. The move comes amid mounting allegations that Left parties are being prevented from selling books during a festival in which temporary bookstalls have long been a familiar feature. The matter is expected to be mentioned before the court’s vacation bench on Tuesday.
In Phulia, a CPM bookstall near the Rangmanch area on the Phulia-Taherpur Road was allegedly vandalised and set on fire late on Sunday night. CPM supporters caught one of the alleged attackers and handed him over to the police, party sources said.
The incident followed objections from local BJP workers on Saturday, prompting the CPM to relocate the stall. A local CPM leader said the stall had been set up at the festival fair with the organisers’ permission and after informing the district administration. “Nevertheless, they destroyed it,” he said.
At Usthi, near the junction adjoining Diamond Harbour Road, suspected BJP supporters allegedly attacked a CPM bookstall before ransacking it again after it was relocated in front of the party office. A complaint was lodged with Usthi police station.
Local BJP leader Gour Ghosh denied his party’s involvement, claiming that pedestrians had objected because the stall obstructed a walking zone. “Our party has no role behind this objection. The stall was illegally set up without the necessary permission of the administration,” he said.
In Chapra, Nadia, a bookstall set up by the SUCI was allegedly vandalised on Sunday evening. According to Anjan Mukherjee, secretary of the SUCI’s Nadia South unit, a group identifying themselves as BJP functionaries arrived around 7.30pm and demanded that the stall be removed. When the activists refused, the group allegedly vandalised the stall and assaulted party supporters. SUCI activist and lawyer Mozammel Hossain was injured and had to be hospitalised, Mukherjee said.
In Khirpai village in Chandrakona, East Midnapore, a CPM bookstall was allegedly demolished after attackers kicked away tables displaying books and ordered the organisers to leave.
CPM North 24-Parganas leader Gargi Chatterjee said the repeated attacks had strengthened the party’s determination to continue its activities. “Attacks have made our resolve stronger,” she said.
Amid the confrontation, Ashok Kumar Bhakat, an eye specialist in Berhampore, Murshidabad, devised a different form of protest. He visited a CPM bookstall on Sunday night and bought books worth nearly ₹25,000 to distribute as gifts, particularly among young people, at a Puja venue.
“It is my way of protesting against those who are afraid of books and people having knowledge. So I just tried to make books reachable to people,” the doctor said.
BJP MLA Ritesh Tiwari accused those behind the alleged vandalism of helping the CPM regain political relevance by targeting its bookstalls.
“The CPM remains idle throughout the year. They read so much but deliver zero in elections. So let them sell books; it hardly matters. The more they sell books propagating their ideology, the more people will reject them,” said Tiwari, the MLA from Kashipur-Belgachhia.