Hawker Assault at Gita Event: Mamata Vows ‘Strict Action’

MP, 11 Dec 2025, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced strict action against those involved in the alleged assault of a chicken patty seller during the “five-lakh-voice” Gita recital at the Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday, making it clear that her government would not tolerate attacks on the poor in the name of religion. She said the accused had already been arrested and criticised what she described as the political appropriation of the event.

A hawker from the Muslim community was beaten after he arrived to sell food items at the Gita recitation event at Brigade ground. Certain persons at the event reportedly objected to his presence and assaulted him.

Three persons were arrested but were granted bail after being produced at Bankshall Court on Thursday. Police had traced the accused as Soumik Golder of Gobardanga, Swarnandu Chakraborty of Ashoknagar in North 24-Parganas, and Tarun Bhattacharya of Uttarpara in Hooghly.

During a rally at Krishnanagar, Nadia, Banerjee said every public meeting sees hawkers selling food items but this “poor hawker,” who too went to sell his goods, was assaulted. She said Bengal was not Uttar Pradesh. “Law, not brute force, prevails here,” she insisted. Invoking Nadia’s devotional heritage as the land of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, she said: “His footsteps adorn the roads of Nadia.”

Questioning the rationale behind staging a massive public meeting solely for Gita recitation, she remarked: “We all read the Gita at home whenever we feel the need. Why hold a public meeting for it? God resides in the heart. One who seeks blessings from Allah also does so silently.”

Countering the BJP’s brand of Hindutva, she cited Krishna’s teachings: “Religion means what we uphold—purity, humanity, peace. Religion does not mean violence.” The attack on the hawker, she suggested, violated the spirit of Hindu philosophy.

With Assembly elections approaching, she accused the BJP of stoking divisive politics. Bengal’s icons—Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Netaji—never endorsed such division, she said. “They want to dictate what people will eat or study—no one has that right. During elections, BJP purchases some people with money and tries to divide votes. They create rifts among castes, creeds, and religions. We do secular politics,” she added.

She also criticised the BJP over Waqf property and Aadhaar rules. “Just as no one can snatch land from Adivasis, no one can seize Waqf land either,” she said. On Aadhaar, she mocked alleged contradictions: “Aadhaar works for depositing money in a bank, but not for voting or proving citizenship?”