Muslim traders allege assault at Gita chanting event in Kolkata over sale of non-veg food
Telegraph | 10 December 2025
At least three hawkers from the minority community have alleged that they were assaulted by participants of a Gita chanting event at the Brigade on Sunday for selling non-veg items, with the attackers throwing away the foodstuff after asking them their names and accusing them of being “Bangladeshi infiltrators”.
Sheikh Riyazul, one of the hawkers who alleged that food items worth ₹3,000 were thrown to the ground, said he had never faced such an attack in the 22 years he had been in Calcutta.
A one-minute, eight-second video on social media shows Riyazul being assaulted and forced to squat in front of a group of angry youths who asked them to apologise for selling non-vegetarian food at the venue of a religious programme.
The irony was not lost on many who recalled seeing several participants at the event merrily gorging on eggs and chicken stew at club tents in the vicinity of the event venue at the Maidan.
Riyazul told this newspaper on Tuesday that the attackers asked him his name and, realising he was from the minority community, slapped him harder and kicked his box of patties, scattering the food on the dusty ground.
In the video, a person wearing a saffron turban and on crutches appears to have initiated the assault and instigated others to join him. Another man is seen grabbing Riyazul by the collar and ordering him to give his name. When he identified himself as Sheikh Riyazul, three to four youths intensified the assault and kicked the steel box containing the patties.
Riyazul, 50, a resident of Taltala, came to Calcutta 22 years ago from a village near Arambagh to sell fast food. Even as he struggled to recover from Sunday’s trauma, Riyazul was at Kidderpore Fancy Market doing business on Tuesday afternoon. When this correspondent met him and showed the viral, he confirmed that the person being attacked was indeed him.
“For the past 22 years, I have been selling vegetable and chicken patties in the Maidan area and at Brigade whenever there is any rally or programme. I felt utterly unsafe when those people attacked me. I apologised and told them I did not know selling such items was an issue. They made me squat, and I complied. Still, they threw away patties worth around ₹3,000,” Riyazul said.
The event, Panch Lokkho Konthe Gitapath (Gita recitation in five lakh voices), was officially organised by the Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad, a cluster of monks and Hindutva outfits. According to the organisers, nearly five lakh people attended the event on Sunday. Several prominent BJP leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharyya, were present.
Narrating the sequence of events, Riyazul said: “A bearded man with a dark complexion and another physically challenged man on crutches led the attack. They got more angry when I told them my name. They overturned my box of goodies. Somehow, I managed to escape with my empty box.”
“I am very poor, and my family is worried about our future. Why did they beat me? I never forced anyone to buy my food,” he added.
Riyazul said at least two more patty sellers were assaulted, including Sheikh Salauddin of Topsia.
Another vendor, Muntaz Mallick, 35, alleged that hawkers selling snacks containing onions were also attacked.
“I was one of the three hawkers who faced violence. They not only assaulted us for selling chicken patties but also targeted those peddling snacks like grams laced with onion. They asked us how we dared to sell non-veg items at a Hindu religious event? Onions and chicken were prohibited, they shouted,” Muntaz said.
He alleged that the youths demanded to see his Aadhaar card or other documents to prove that he was not a Bangladeshi infiltrator.
“I had a photograph of the 2002 electoral roll on my phone, which I showed them. Even then, I could not save my patties worth ₹2,500,” Muntaz said. “Two or three people tried to protest against the attackers, but they ignored them,” he added.
After the assault video went viral, several people protested the incident, saying such actions were alien to Bengal’s culture.
CPM leader Dipsita Dhar was among those who raised their voice against the incident and initiated a funds-collection drive to compensate the affected hawkers.
“What happened during the Gita event at Brigade is unprecedented and against Bengal’s cultural ethos. Our state has never witnessed such torture over selling non-vegetarian food. We cannot undo the mental trauma they faced, but we are trying to raise funds to compensate their financial losses,” Dhar said.
She also criticised the police for not acting swiftly despite the attackers being visible in the viral video.
“We question both the BJP and the TMC over whether this culture of hatred is being encouraged for electoral gains,” Dhar added.
A Kolkata Police source said that two food vendors — Riyazul and Salauddin — had lodged separate complaints at Maidan police station, alleging assault by participants of the Gita event for selling non-veg food.
“I have been asked to record my statement at Maidan police station on Tuesday evening,” Riyazul said.
CPM leader and Calcutta High Court advocate Sayan Banerjee has also submitted a complaint.
In his complaint, Riyazul has mentioned that eight to nine unknown persons, including a physically challenged man, made an unlawful assembly and wrongfully restrained him before assaulting him. He was allegedly slapped and threatened with dire consequences, he has told the police. The accused men allegedly outraged his religious feelings by uttering insults and malicious words and causing damage to food items worth ₹3,000.
Based on his complaint, the police have started a case of unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, outraging religious feelings, criminal intimidation and mischief.
The organisers of the Gita event denied supporting any violence and demanded punishment for those involved.
“We do not support any act of violence. There was no instruction from our side to prohibit the sale of non-vegetarian food items. We do not know who those attackers were, as we can’t identify everyone who attended the programme of lakhs,” said Swami Nirgunananda, one of the chief organisers.
“We only requested devotees to have Satvik Ahar (pure vegetarian food), but we never forced anyone. There was no restriction on selling any kind of food as the ground is not a temple or an ashram. Anyone violating the law should face legal action,” he added.
The BJP distanced itself from the attack, while Trinamool condemned it.