Santiniketan: Sonajhuri artisans’ hub shut for ‘guardian’ :Anubrata Mondal is our guardian and so traders of this market decided to shut down the haat.... It has no political connection, says Tanmoy Mitra

Anubrata Mondal is our guardian and so traders of this market decided to shut down the haat.... It has no political connection, says Tanmoy Mitra

The closed Sonajhuri haat on Saturday as part of protest against Anubrata Mondal’s arrest.

Amarnath Dutta

Snehamoy Chakraborty   |  TT  |  Calcutta   | 14.08.22 : Santiniketan’s Sonajhuri Haat, a weekly craft market, was shut on Saturday as artisans protested the CBI’s arrest of Trinamul leader Anubrata Mondal, whom they called their “guardian”.

The sudden strike angered thousands of tourists, who throng the varsity town on weekends for Sonajhuri Haat.

“Anubrata Mondal is our guardian and so artisans of this market decided to shut down the haat.... It has no political connection,” said Tanmoy Mitra, one of the artisans.

The Opposition criticised Trinamul for “involving” artisans in a political protest.

“The market is controlled by Trinamul and it (the shutdown) was forced to earn sympathy for their leader. Small traders and artisans lost a day’s income,” said a Birbhum CPM leader Gautam Ghosh. Anupam Hazra, a BJP national secretary, took to social media to echo this.

Like on Friday, Trinamul on Saturday hit the streets in the wake of Mondal’s arrest in the alleged cattle-smuggling case. Rallies attacked the BJP for “using” central agencies against parties opposed to the Narendra Modi government.

A few protests courted controversy when some Trinamul leaders threatened to beat up those who dared malign chief minister Mamata Banerjee or other senior leaders.

At a protest rally in Hooghly’s Chinsurah, local Trinamul MLA Asit Majumdar raised slogans threatening attacks on Opposition supporters if they dared to criticise Mamata or Abhishek Banerjee.

“If anyone tries to tarnish the image of our leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, we will beat them up just like washing clothes,” Majumdar said.

In Hooghly’s Serampore, Trinamul MP Kalyan Banerjee said Trinamul should take revenge against the Opposition parties like the CPM.

“I think that Mamata Banerjee made a mistake. She raised a slogan that there will be change but no revenge. I think the slogan should be the opposite,” the MP said to loud applause from Trinamul supporters.

Opposition leaders — including BJP’s Dilip Ghosh and CPM’s Sujan Chakraborty — said the threat exposed the ruling party’s frustration and Trinamul leaders would soon realise that the people were not with them.

Trinamul leader Sougata Roy criticised Majumdar for his public appeal for assault, while senior minister Firhad Hakim asked party workers to exercise restraint.