Around midday Tuesday in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, a group wearing saffron turbans suddenly showed up in front of the Anandabazar Patrika office building, chanting “Jai Shri Ram.” Amid the crowd, one person smeared saffron paint on the front wall of the office building, the BBC reported.
The report said slogans were also raised against the newspaper at the time. Eyewitnesses said police were present but passive during the incident.
A protester spoke from in front of the Anandabazar Patrika office that day, saying West Bengal is the land of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Vivekananda — a land of saffron. Any attempt to make derogatory remarks about saffron on this soil, he said, would not be tolerated.
It is not known whether the protesters were affiliated with the BJP. Anandabazar Patrika has not issued any statement.
The incident is believed to be linked to a headline the paper published on August 21. On August 20, tensions had spread across the Jadavpur University campus following a protest march by the right-wing student organization ABVP. The day after that incident, Anandabazar Patrika ran the headline “Saffron Hooliganism.”
Saffron is a color associated with the symbol of India’s ruling BJP. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari himself protested against that headline.
Speaking at an event organized by another media outlet on August 28, Suvendu Adhikari said the “saffron rampage” headline needed to be withdrawn. “I will not let the word saffron be tarnished,” he said.
He was clearly addressing Anandabazar Patrika. Soon after, numerous objectionable posts targeting the paper’s editor spread on social media.
An organization called Hindu Jagran Manch also filed a police complaint against the paper’s editor at Bowbazar police station.