A book-signing event in Bengal's Kolkata has seemingly turned into a political war of words between film-maker and author and the Trinamool Congress. It started when Vivek Agnihotri revealed that he had moved the signing of his book From Quest Mall in Ballygunge to South City Mall as " is a Muslim Area" and "it’s not safe".
He will now sign his book Urban Naxals at South City Mall in Jadavpur.
Taking to Twitter, Vivek Agnihotri shared: "This is to inform that due to security reasons, the venue of book signing of Urban Naxals has been shifted from Quest Mall to Starmark Book Shop, South City Mall. I’m informed that since Quest Mall is a Muslim area, it’s not safe. The tragedy of modern Bengal."
Reacting to his decision, BJP's Information Technology cell head Amit Malviya shared a video of locals "taking over" Quest Mall after the power went out. "Not surprising. Earlier this week, local Muslim residents barged into Sanjeev Goenka's fabled Quest Mall with London high street brands, demanding they be allowed to take ‘shelter’ in the mall as Kolkata was reeling under a heat wave. Goenka could do nothing. Police did nothing," he tweeted.
While Malviya on Thursday alleged that police took no action, Quest Mall vice-president Sanjeev Mehra was quoted as saying by TOI that there was "no lack of cooperation from the police". Mehra said that the situation [of people entering after mall hours] was undesirable, but it was humanitarian. A video of the incident that took place on Sunday has gone viral.
A few hours after the initial tweet, Agnihotri posted another tweet that read: "It’s a very tragic and alarming situation that in India, an Indian author isn’t allowed in an Indian mall because that area is dominated by Muslim Indians. Mamata Banerjee has officially allowed them to illegally hijack a mall. Ironically, the book is #UrbanNaxals."
Soon after Vivek Agnihotri announced the shift in venue, Ballygunge MLA Babul Supriyo tweeted: "Dear Vivek Agnihotri, you are a colleague of mine from the film fraternity and your wife Pallaviji is very well known to me for long. Quest Mall is in my MLA constituency, Ballygunge. I am disturbed to know that you have moved your event from there for reasons u mentioned."
To this, Agnihotri replied, seeking to know if Supriyo would take responsibility for his safety. He tweeted: "The event was shifted for security reasons. I was told it’s a Muslim area (in a secular country) and it’s not safe for me to sign my book #UrbanNaxals there. As an MLA can you please ensure my safety? Or even you are helpless like me?"