The repeated attacks on Left-wing bookstalls during Durga Puja across West Bengal have exposed an alarming assault on democratic rights and freedom of expression, with CPI(M) stalls among the principal targets. Vandalism, arson, threats and attempts to prevent the sale of books have been reported from several districts, amid allegations that BJP-backed elements are responsible.

The incidents have drawn condemnation even from senior BJP leaders, while raising questions about the failure of the authorities to protect the Left parties’ longstanding cultural and political tradition.

West Bengal Finance Minister and veteran BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta on Monday criticised the attacks on CPI(M) bookstalls, expressing dismay over the destruction of stalls despite his ideological differences with the Left.

“I don’t know who are they. But I must ask, how dare they. This is not acceptable. If one incident happens, one can say it was a stray incident but I saw this has happened in three-four areas. I have ideological differences with the Left but I can’t destroy their book stall or display of books. I was ashamed after seeing such incidents,” Dasgupta said.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya had earlier also sought to distance his party from the attacks. However, the incidents have continued to surface at multiple locations, with CPI(M) leaders alleging that groups sheltered by the BJP are attempting to intimidate party workers and suppress the circulation of Left literature.

In Bardhaman town, a group of masked miscreants vandalised its bookstalls along GT Road late on Friday night. The stalls near the Chinnamasta temple in Ward No. 10 and at Badamtala were among those targeted. According to the party, it had informed the police by email in advance and requested security, but the attacks took place despite the warning.

In another incident, an under-construction CPI(M) bookstall at Charapool intersection in the Palashi Majhipara area of Bijpur, North 24 Parganas, was allegedly set on fire on the night of October 15. Local residents intervened to extinguish the flames, preventing more extensive damage. CPI(M) leaders, including senior member Kaltan Dasgupta, blamed people allegedly backed by the BJP, although the allegation could not be independently verified. A senior police officer said the situation was normal and personnel had been deployed at the site.

A CPI(M) stall on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Road in Howrah, under Chatterjeehat Police Station, was also vandalised on October 19. Party leaders alleged that BJP workers had repeatedly attempted to target the stall before carrying out a planned attack on Sunday night. Several CPI(M) workers were reportedly injured when they tried to intervene.

Reports of vandalism, threats and obstruction have also emerged from Noapara, Jorabagan in Kolkata, Shibpur in Howrah, Kulpi in South 24 Parganas and other areas. In Kulpi, a crowd allegedly raised Jai Shri Ram slogans in front of a CPI(M) bookstall while it was being set up, with party members reportedly receiving verbal threats. Similar obstruction was reported at Palta Shantinagar in the Noapara Assembly constituency.

In Kolkata’s Entally area, the Kamardanga Durga Puja committee displayed a flex banner carrying the slogan 'Bam Badh' (slay the Left) and prevented a CPI(M) stall from being set up near the puja pandal. The committee accused the Left of aiding anti-national forces and claimed that local residents opposed the stall.

The controversy has also taken a sharp turn in Jadavpur, where police and central forces attempted to remove Left-wing stalls near the 8B bus stand and Jadavpur University. Municipal vehicles and a bulldozer were brought to the area, prompting women activists to form a human chain to protect the CPI(M) stall. Left leaders, including Sujan Chakraborty, confronted the police, while SFI general secretary Srijan Bhattacharya and others were reportedly subjected to a lathi-charge.

The attacks have prompted condemnation beyond the Left camp. AITC MLA Kunal Ghosh visited the Jadavpur stall, denounced the police action and purchased books, criticising the attempt to restrict democratic space.

Ghosh said, “It appears that such a situation is being created by the BJP…. This should not happen. The BJP is destroying the democratic space.”

CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim has condemned the repeated attacks, describing them as part of a wider effort to intimidate Left organisations and undermine the freedom to read, publish and sell books.

“Sometimes in Kasba, sometimes in Howrah, sometimes in Behala, sometimes in Birati, sometimes in Bhatpara, in Naihati, one after another, the bookstalls of Left-wing organisations are being vandalised. Arson, attacks and attempts to create unrest are taking place. We will resist them. No ruler can stop people from reading books, printing books, or selling books,” Salim said.

Salim also criticised the state government’s intervention in the controversy, arguing that the authorities should protect the democratic rights of political organisations rather than obstruct their cultural activities.

“To develop a democratic and free society, people must read diverse books and build diverse opinions. But this time we have seen the government cracking down on our stalls. The Chief Minister intervened in this, but this is not the government’s job,” Salim, West Bengal State secretary of the CPI(M), said.

Salim added that no government can stop books, and that they will, as a form of protest, set up more bookstalls than usual.

“The books are just an excuse; they actually want to crackdown on anything related to education and culture. They have declared war on these creative fields,” Salim added.

The attacks have unfolded against the backdrop of a wider political dispute over Left parties’ bookstalls during Durga Puja. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier urged puja committees to deny space to CPI(M) stalls if the party used the term 'Sharodotsav' (autumn festival). Senior BJP leader and Bengal minister Arjun Singh also said that stalls set up by "Dimagi Naxals" would not be allowed in the future.

"They do not perform shradh rituals after the death of their parents. Such elements have no place in society," he told reporters on Friday.

The legal position has added another layer to the controversy. A division Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday stayed a single Bench order issued a day earlier that had allowed temporary bookstalls to be set up.

For decades, Left parties have sold books during Durga Puja, treating the stalls as spaces where literature, political debate and cultural life intersect. The reported attacks and efforts to block their participation threaten that tradition and strike at the democratic principle that ideological differences must be contested through debate, not intimidation or violence.

The alleged role of BJP-backed goons and the continuing obstruction of CPI(M) stalls demand accountability, while the police and administration must ensure that political differences cannot be used to deny any organisation the right to display and sell books.