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Hours after the Calcutta High Court dismissed a petition by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), seeking a stall at the International Kolkata Book Fair this year, organisers of the fair in a surprise move allotted them a stall on Saturday (January 25, 2025), under their monthly magazine’s name.
The VHP had petitioned the court after the book fair organisers, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, had initially turned down their application for the allotment of a stall. On Friday, a single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court pronounced a judgement dismissing VHP’s plea for a stall at the book fair.
“It is not the case that if the petitioners are not allotted any stall in the fair, then their right to business or their freedom of speech or expression will be infringed in any manner… It does not appear that the Guild is infringing upon any of the rights of the petitioners as it is not standing in the way of the petitioners from publishing their books or newspapers,” the order had said.
However, on Saturday, vice-president of VHP Dakshinbanga Dilip Kumar Jhawar told The Hindu: “We lost the court battle, but on Saturday, members of the guild informed us that we have been allotted a stall in the name of our monthly publication Visva Hindu Varta.”
According to him, Visva Hindu Varta, the monthly magazine of the VHP, is registered under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. It carries writings on religious history and current affairs and documents activities of the VHP.
Mr. Jhawar added that although they had sought a stall space of 700 sq.ft., they have been allotted 200 sq.ft. in stall number 249 of the 48th International Kolkata Book Fair, slated to be held from January 28 to February 9 at Boimela Prangan in Kolkata’s Salt Lake.
The same was confirmed by Tridib Chatterjee, president of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild which organises the International Kolkata Book Fair.
“We had decided that stalls would only be allotted to booksellers, publishers, and magazines. We had denied a stall to VHP who wanted the stall to be in the organisation’s name. However, after Friday’s court order, they contacted the Guild requesting a stall in favour of Viswa Hindu Varta (the monthly organ) in place of VHP,” Mr. Chatterjee said, adding that the stall was formally allotted to them on Saturday after their renewed application in the new name.
Notably, human rights group Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) was also denied a stall by the gGuild, leading to protests by intellectual and cultural personalities. APDR’s consequent petition was also dismissed by the Calcutta High Court.
“Our and VHP’s petitions were rejected by the Calcutta High Court on similar grounds. But it is clear that the VHP and the guild had an out-of-court settlement, especially after the political turmoil that arose from the guild denying them a stall,” senior activist and member of APDR Ranjit Sur said.
The general-secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, had earlier told The Hindu that this year the organisers decided not to allot stalls to organisations, including to political parties like the Trinamool Congress, unless they have a publishing unit.
“A look at the list of participants in the book fair this year reveals names of multiple organisations like Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Indian Football Association, etc. The guild’s reasoning is self-contradicting. APDR has a proactive publications unit, and has been a part of the book fair since its inception in the 1970s,” he added.
Published – January 26, 2025 02:19 am IST
