The Sampadak Express News Desk
Attacks on book stalls run by Left parties continued across West Bengal, with fresh incidents reported in Ashoknagar and Siliguri over the past 24 hours, The Hindu reported on Wednesday.
In Siliguri, right-wing groups objected to the contents of some titles on display, triggering verbal altercations with stall workers. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) additionally alleged that one of its stalls in Islampur, Uttar Dinajpur district, was attacked on Tuesday night, leaving several workers injured in a scuffle.
The continuing incidents drew condemnation from several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries, even as West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari maintained his criticism of the Left’s presence near festival venues. “We are all book lovers, but you do not follow any Sanatani Hindu rituals and oppose the traditions, yet want to set up book stalls in front of Durga Puja pandals,” he said, adding that the Left parties should sell their books from inside their party offices.
State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said he could not support vandalism of the stalls, citing Bengal’s literary culture and Hindu pluralism. “It is precisely because we have imbibed the traditional Bengali reverence for books that we are appalled. That is why the BJP defended the likes of Salman Rushdie (he got his visa back during the Vajpayee govt) & Taslima. This tradition of Hindu pluralism has guided us and not those who feign a liberal inheritance,” he wrote on X on Wednesday.
Jishnu Basu, a prominent RSS leader in the State, also said there was no pride in destroying books or vandalising book stalls. BJP State president Samik Bhattacharya condemned the attacks, stating that some individuals were misusing the party’s name to carry out such activities and that the party would not tolerate it.
Opposition leaders have visited Left-run stalls to demonstrate support. Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh and West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar were among those who stopped by to express solidarity and buy books.
Left-affiliated stalls — including those of the CPI(M), SUCI (Communist) and CPI(ML) Liberation — have been targeted in several parts of the State in recent days. Reported incidents have included dismantling of kiosks, arson and threats to stall workers.
On October 17, a bulldozer was brought to a temporary CPI(M) book stall in Kolkata’s Jadavpur area, apparently to demolish it. Residents and party workers stood in front of the vehicle, forcing it to retreat.
The CPI(M) said it would continue operating stalls, while BJP leaders reiterated that any vandalism carried out in the party’s name would face action.
