A group of saffron-clad men painted the walls of the Anandabazar Patrika (ABP) office in Kolkata saffron on September 1, days after West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had demanded an apology from the daily for describing the recent violence at Jadavpur University as “gerua gundami” — or “saffron hooliganism”.
Videos show two men painting two pillars at the main entrance of the office while several police personnel stand by. Some of the police officials can also be seen recording the incident on their cellphones.
Several other saffron-clad men had gathered at the spot, raising slogans including “Bhagwa ka apmaan nahi sahega” (“We will not tolerate the insult of Bhagwa”) and “Anandabazar Patrika haye haye”. An ABP editor told Alt News that the demonstration began around 1:30 pm on Tuesday and continued for nearly an hour.
In another video, the group can be seen addressing a motley crowd and saying, “This land belongs to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. This land belongs to Swami Vivekananda. This land is Saffron”.
Alt News procured more footage from the incident where the saffron-clad men could be seen sloganeering near the main gate in Hindi and Bengali before being escorted away by the police.
Anandabazar had carried the headline “Saffron Hooliganism: Logo broken during raid on JU campus” on its front page on August 21. Following this, Adhikari launched a sharp attack on the media outlet while maintaining that his demand for an apology did not amount to a threat to the media.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Police lodged an FIR at Bowbazar police station against editor Ishani Dutta Roy, chief reporter Soma Mukherjee and “others from its editorial team” following a complaint by Sanjay Shastri Maharaj. He alleged that the headline that Anandabazar Patrika had used implied an intention to “hurt Hindu sentiments and disturb public peace”. He stated that the phrasing was “highly objectionable, derogatory, misleading and offensive”.
“It is necessary to ascertain through investigation who proposed the expression, who approved it, who was involved in editing the report and determining the headline…” the complaint said.
“…An apology will have to be made. Otherwise thousands of sadhus in saffron robes are getting ready. They only want my consent…”, Adhikari declared during his rally in Jadavpur on August 28.
Anandabazar, however, did not issue apologise or retract its reports. In fact, they carried a follow-up story containing the chief minister’s statements.
Alt News spoke to a senior editor at Anandabazar Patrika, who said additional security had been deployed at the newspaper’s office near Chandni Chowk since Saturday, following Adhikari’s statements.
“We had a hunch something like this might happen. We were told not to go to office today. Police officials had come with them and left with them as well,” the editor said. Asked whether the men were affiliated with any organisation, the editor said, “They were not carrying any banners. But I do know that most of them were non-Bengalis.”
Alt News contacted Bowbazar police station, which said that no FIR had been lodged yet. Police also confirmed that the officials present at the scene were from Bowbazar PS, before ending the call.
