After Gita chant, Quran recital plan, Congress to hold Constitution reading in Kolkata

After a collective of monks held a ceremony to chant the Bhagavad Gita in Kolkata on December 7, and a suspended MLA of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) vowed to hold a Quran recital event in February, it is now time for the Congress to join the party. Portraying its secular face, the Grand Old Party has announced a Constitution-reading event in public.

The Gita recitation event was held a day after the controversial legislator, Humayun Kabir, laid the foundation of a replica of the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad district of the state. It was attended by five lakh people, including, expectedly, those from West Bengal’s principal Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Also read: Suspended Bengal TMC MLA to hold Quran recital after mega Gita event in Kolkata

On Thursday (December 11), Subhankar Sarkar, president of the Bengal unit of the Congress, another Opposition party, announced that a “public recitation” of the Constitution would be held in Dharmatala, the heart of Kolkata, on December 20.

Event to raise awareness about constitutional rights

The initiative, 'Sahasra Kontey Sangbidhan Path' (reading the Constitution in a thousand voices), is aimed at increasing public awareness of citizens' constitutional rights, he said.

“On December 20, around 1 pm, 100 people will read the Constitution on Rani Rashmoni Road. Representatives from all communities, religions, castes, and creeds will be present at the programme,” Sarkar said while addressing a press conference in Kolkata.

“The Constitution gives every citizen their elementary rights,” he added.

Also read: Humayun Kabir’s Babri Masjid plan risks reversing Muslims’ hard-won restraint

Sarkar further maintained that the “public recitation” is a symbolic assertion of democratic values amid what it describes as growing concerns over constitutional safeguards.

West Bengal will hold its Assembly elections early next year in which the Opposition parties would aim to end the 15-year rule of the TMC led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Three arrested over assaulting food vendors

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police arrested three persons for allegedly assaulting two food vendors at Brigade Parade Ground on December 7, when the Gita recital was underway, a senior officer said.

The arrests were made on Wednesday (December 10) night based on two complaints filed at Maidan Police Station, he added.

“The three persons had gone to attend the 'Paanch Lokkho Konthe Gita Paath' (Gita recitation by five lakh voices) event organised by 'Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad' on Brigade Parade Ground on December 7,” he said.

Also read: Trinamool suspends MLA Humayun Kabir over plan to build Babri replica

The complainants, hailing from the Topsia area of Kolkata and Arambagh in the adjacent Hooghly district, had gone to the venue to sell chicken patties.

“They alleged that a group of youths confronted them, questioned the sale of non-vegetarian food at the religious event and assaulted them,” the police officer said.

The attackers reportedly threw away their stock and made them perform sit-ups holding their ears, he said.

Condemnation poured in from different quarters after a video of the incident went viral on social media. It also led to a political slugfest with the TMC and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) slamming the alleged attackers and targeting the BJP over the issue, accusing it of disrupting the state’s secular fabric.

(With agency inputs)