BJP garlands men who beat Muslim vendor

KOLKATA, India (MNTV) — Senior leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state of  West Bengal publicly honored two men accused of assaulting a Muslim street vendor in Kolkata, prompting outrage from rights advocates who say the gesture normalizes mob violence and deepens hostility toward Muslims.

The episode stems from an attack on Sheikh Riyazul, a long-time food vendor from Arambag, who was beaten near a “Gita Path” religious event at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on December 7. 

The program was organized by Sanatan Sanskriti Sangsad, a group affiliated with the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP.

Riyazul, who has been selling vegetarian and non-vegetarian patties for more than two decades, said the men confronted him and demanded his name. 

“As soon as I told them, they started thrashing me,” he said in a video widely shared online. Footage shows several men, some bearing tilaks, pulling his ears, tossing aside his food, and forcing him to perform squats as punishment.

Kolkata police arrested three men — Soumik Golder, Swarnandu Chakraborty and Tarun Bhattacharya — but they were released within hours after a local court granted bail. Lawyers and rights groups criticized the police for applying only minor, easily bailable charges and failing to present the assault video during the hearing.

Days later, Bengal’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, one of the BJP’s most influential figures in the state, appeared at a press conference with two of the accused and garlanded them. 

The visual prompted widespread criticism, with observers saying the gesture effectively celebrated violence against a Muslim vendor whose livelihood depended on selling food at public events.

One of the accused was later invited onto Republic Bangla, a pro-Hindutva television channel, where the anchor praised him on air, saying, “I’ll feed you patties, pasties, everything”.

The segment further inflamed criticism that sections of the media are actively normalizing violence against Muslims.

The BJP’s embrace of the accused has intensified debate over how mob attacks on Muslims are being legitimized by political actors across parts of India. Analysts say such gestures reinforce a culture of impunity, especially when police apply weak charges despite clear video evidence of targeted violence.

Riyazul’s assault — filmed, widely shared, and later trivialized on pro-government media — has become the latest example cited by rights groups of how Muslim vendors and laborers remain vulnerable to identity-based harassment around Hindu religious gatherings.