Kolkata, 09 November (H.S.) : Following the Durga Puja festivities, incidents of attacks on bookstalls set up by Left parties have continued into the Kali Puja celebrations. In a recent incident in West Bengal's Bankura district, a bookstall operated by the Students' Federation of India (SFI) was vandalized. Former state minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary Deblina Hembram was allegedly heckled and manhandled when she tried to intervene.

The attackers reportedly snatched her mobile phone and smashed it on the ground. While the Left has pointed fingers at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the violence, the BJP has outrightly rejected these claims.

According to available information, the SFI had set up a bookstall right opposite the CPM district office in the Schooldanga area of Bankura town. The students' wing claimed that around 2 PM on Monday, a group of four to five individuals arrived at the spot and began hurling abuses at the handful of workers present. Upon facing resistance, the miscreants broke chairs and tables and scattered the books all over the place. It is further alleged that a portrait of the late SFI state committee member Sudipto Gupta, which was displayed at the stall, was torn down and kicked by the attackers.

Former minister Deblina Hembram was inside the party office when the incident occurred. Hearing the massive commotion outside, she rushed to the bookstall to stop the miscreants but was allegedly subjected to physical harassment. Personnel from the Bankura Sadar police station reached the spot much later after receiving the information and brought the situation under control. Accusing the BJP and RSS of orchestrating an unprovoked and pre-planned attack, SFI leader Mousam Nandi strongly criticized the delayed response of the police. He warned that if the culprits are not brought to justice, the students' wing would organize a massive protest and gherao the police station in the coming days.

Reacting to the incident, the heckled former minister stated that bookstalls of the Left parties are being systematically targeted across the state, terming the Bankura incident as a part of this broader design. Conversely, the BJP dismissed all allegations as entirely baseless. BJP state leader Sougata Patra took a jibe at the Left, stating that the CPM has been reduced to a political cipher in the state and is now resorting to leveling false allegations against the BJP merely to stay in the media spotlight.

Notably, similar attacks on Left bookstalls were reported on Sunday in Naihati and Habra of North 24 Parganas district, for which the ruling party was similarly blamed.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh