'After Hearing My Name, the Beating Got Worse': Viral Kolkata Food Vendor Attack Video Sparks Political Storm
Kolkata: A street food vendor was beaten up at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata during the “Laksh Kontho Gita Path (Gita chanting by 5 lakh voices)” event on Sunday (December 7) for selling chicken patties, prompting outrage on social media and a plea before the Calcutta high court seeking suo motu action.
For regulars at political rallies on the city’s Brigade Parade Ground, the setting is familiar – colourful tube papad, lozenges, cotton candy, skinny ice-cream sticks and hand-made street patties sold by itinerant vendors who depend on such gatherings for their livelihood. One of them was Sheikh Rezaul, a resident of Arambagh in Hooghly district, who has been selling patties in Kolkata for nearly twenty years.
On the day of the event, Rezaul was moving through the crowd with a box of patties, both vegetarian and chicken.
Sheikh Rezaul buys patties wholesale from a bakery in central Kolkata and spends his day walking through different parts of the city to sell them. Photo arranged by the author.
“A few people asked me whether I had chicken patties in my box. When I said yes, they started beating me. They asked my name. After hearing my name, the beating got even worse. They even made me do sit-ups holding my ears,” Rezaul said. “They damaged all my products worth Rs 3,000. That’s more than my week’s income.”
Rezaul buys patties wholesale from a bakery in central Kolkata and spends his day walking through different parts of the city to sell them. On days when there are football matches at the maidan or large political rallies, he earns between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. On regular days, his income falls to Rs 200-300. Patties are sold for Rs 30-35 each. For work convenience, he now lives in Khidderpore.
He supports a family of four, his wife and two sons. The elder son works as a jewellery labourer in Hyderabad, while the younger is an apprentice in a workshop. Since the video of the assault went public, Rezaul said the family has been living in fear. “They are crying and scared after seeing what happened to me,” he said. “I am very poor, and my family is deeply worried about our future. Why did they beat me? I never forced anyone to buy my food.”
He further revealed that the incident was not isolated; at least two other patty sellers were reportedly assaulted, including a vendor named Sheikh Salauddin from Topsia.
For many Bengalis, the consumption of fish and other non-vegetarian food, summed up in the phrase “mache bhate Bangali” is seen as central to Bengali identity. Photo arranged by the author.
His friend and fellow patty seller, Sheikh Moydul Islam, said he narrowly escaped. “There are around 15-20 of us who sell patties. That day, I survived only because I had already gone home. I’ve been doing this work for so many years, from Durga Puja crowds to sports grounds, but I have never had such an experience,” he said.
A video of the incident soon went viral on social media. In response to the incident, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leader and lawyer Sayan Bandopadhyay has written to acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court Sujoy Paul, urging the court to take suo motu cognisance of what he describes as a case of mob assault amounting to mob lynching under Supreme Court guidelines.
Along with the letter to the Acting Chief Justice, Bandopadhyay visited Maidan Police Station on Monday afternoon and lodged an FIR. Police have registered the complaint on the basis of what they described as “unverified evidence”.
“According to Supreme Court guidelines, mob assault also falls under ‘mob lynching’. And this incident occurred in the heart of Kolkata, not in a remote district. Such an incident happened in the centre of the city, and Kolkata Police has remained silent. They should have filed a suo motu case and taken action,” Banerjee explained.
Many users have claimed that the key accused is a BJP office bearer from North 24 Parganas, though these identifications are based on social media claims and have not been independently verified. As of filing the report, there is no arrest made.
CPI(M) leader Dipsita Dhar was among the first to speak out against the attack and launched a fund-raising campaign to compensate the affected hawkers. “This is unprecedented in a place like Bengal where non-vegetarian food is the usual dietary preference,” Dhar said. “Why hasn’t the police arrested anyone despite the assailants being clearly visible in the viral video. We want to question both the BJP and the TMC on whether this culture of hatred is being encouraged for electoral gains.”
The incident has also fed into the broader political debate around food, culture and identity in West Bengal. For many Bengalis, the consumption of fish and other non-vegetarian food – summed up in the phrase “mache bhate Bangali” is seen as central to Bengali identity.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has, in the recent years, repeatedly accused the BJP of attempting to impose a homogenised, predominantly vegetarian cultural norm associated with “North Indian Hindutva” politics. The party has released multiple animated videos in the past few weeks that warn voters of potential dietary policing. However, the video of the incident posted on the party’s social media account was later deleted without any clarification.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “Don’t buy if you don’t eat non-veg, but why beat the seller? This is their livelihood. I condemn this incident.”
As the political slugfest over the incident threatens to deepen existing divides ahead of the upcoming electoral battles, Rezaul, still traumatised, is finding a measure of hope in the outpouring of public support. He is slowly gathering the strength to return to the same grounds with his box of patties.
This article went live on December tenth, two thousand twenty five, at thirty-one minutes past five in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
