Three arrested for assault on Muslim chicken patty seller during Gita recital event in Kolkata – Alt News

Kolkata Police on Thursday arrested three persons in connection with the alleged assault on Muslim vendors selling chicken puffs in the Maidan area on December 7, where a large crowd had gathered for a Gita Recital event. The three were identified as Soumik Golder (23), Swarnendu Chakraborty (32) and Tarun Bhattacharya (51). All of them were produced in Bankshall CJM court and released on bail.

At least two Muslim vendors were allegedly assaulted and humiliated by saffron-clad vigilantes for selling non-vegetarian food during the ‘Gita Path’ event at the Brigade Parade Grounds in the heart of the city on Sunday. Visuals of the ‘assault’ soon went viral and sent ripples across the state.

The event during which the ‘attacks’ took place was called ‘Panch Lokkho Kanthe Gita Path’ (Gita Chanting in Five Lakh Voices). It was organised by the Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad, a collective of monks and Hindutva leaders from multiple states and institutions. Hindutva ideologue Dhirendra Krishna Shastri alias Bageshwar Baba, prominent Right-wing faces such as Sadhvi Ritambhara and Kartik Maharaj, as well as senior BJP leaders, including West Bengal chief Samik Bhattacharya, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar and Dilip Ghosh attended the event. Bengal governor Dr C V Ananda Bose, too, was in attendance.

Amid the large-scale gathering, two similar instances of violence were reported from the spot.

Sheikh Reyazul assaulted and humiliated by a mob for selling chicken patties at Gita Path

A day after the event, a clip of a man being heckled and beaten up by saffron-clad attendees went viral on social media. In the video, the mob can be seen rounding up the man, holding him by his neck and asking for his name. Some of them have tilaks on their forehead. After he says his name, one of the men exclaims, ‘Sheikh Riyazul,’ and continues showering blows on him. It is apparent from the video that they get triggered further by the man’s Muslim identity. Within minutes, some more men enter the scene and kick down his box of puffs and patties. While the man tries to salvage the food from the ground, somebody can be seen slapping him. He was further humiliated when the men force him to hold his ears and do sit-ups.

In an interview with news outlet Sangbad Pratidin, Riyazul, a resident of Arambagh in Hooghly district, about  80 km from Kolkata, said he was initially unperturbed when a few men approached him and asked what he was selling. When he told them he was selling chicken patties, the abuse began. “I tried to reason with them, saying we are just doing business here. We always work, whether there is a meeting, a programme, or a match,” he said.

He recounted being beaten and humiliated, with the men kicking over his box of savouries — his “source of livelihood.” When asked if the men reacted after hearing his name, he replied, “Yes. They threw away every last bit of the patties once they heard my name… But why should I lie about my name? I have one name. Why should I hide it?”

Riyazul, who has been in the business for 20 years, said he had never experienced anything like this. He suffered a loss of about ₹3,000 and alleged that all vendors selling non-vegetarian food were subjected to similar humiliation, with their goods thrown to the ground.

Reyazul lodged a complaint on Tuesday at the Maidan police station, alleging assault by the participants of the ‘Gita Path’ event. On Wednesday, a traumatized Riyazul folded up his business and left for his hometown.

More Hawkers Assaulted

The assault on Riyazul was reportedly one of at least three cases of such violence on Sunday.

Another hawker, Mohammad Salauddin, a patties vendor and resident of Tiljala Road in Kolkata, also filed a complaint at the same police station on Monday. He alleged that while selling chicken patties at the Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday, two or three participants of the event stopped him, assaulted him, and hurled communal slurs.

Another vendor, 35-year-old Muntaz Mallick told The Telegraph about the violence he faced. The attackers allegedly demanded to see his Aadhaar card to “prove” he was not a Bangladeshi infiltrator. He showed them a photograph of the 2002 electoral roll, but that did not help. The mob destroyed the patties he was selling, worth around ₹2,500. Mallick further alleged that other hawkers selling food items containing onions were also targeted and attacked.

Alt News contacted deputy commissioner of police (Kolkata South) Priyabrata Roy, who confirmed on Wednesday night that two cases had been registered in connection with the violence at the Gita Path event and that an investigation was underway. However, he declined to comment further when asked whether the accused had been identified and if they were affiliated with any political party.

Cases were lodged under Sections 189(2), 126(2), 115(2), 299, 351(3) and 323(2) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita. These sections pertain to unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings, criminal intimidation and dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property.

Among the arrested trio, Swarnendu is a resident of Ashoknagar in North 24 parganas while Tarun hails from Uttarpara in Hooghly district.

Alt News could trace the social media presence of arrested Soumik Golder, who is a resident of Gobardanga in North 24 parganas. In the viral footage, he is seen wearing a saffron headscarf. During Sunday’s event, Golder was spotted posing with a photograph of Dhirendra Shastri, an image that later went viral.

Golder, who has since deactivated his personal Facebook account, also runs a public page (still active) where his display picture shows him wearing what appears to be the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh uniform — a white shirt and khaki trousers — seemingly participating in a parade with others dressed similarly.

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