New Delhi: As the controversy over a fish market right next to a Kali temple in South Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park locality simmers, Bengali residents of the area have been left scratching their heads in bewilderment.
“Maachh ei aamar sanskritikir aabshyak angsho (fish is an essential part of our culture),” said Sujoy Ghosh, a resident of CR Park who came to buy fish at the locality’s Market No. 1 Wednesday evening with his daughter.
“No one here in CR Park has any issue with the fish market just adjacent to the Kali temple,” he asserted. “Preventing Bengalis from eating fish is like denying milk and butter to the people of Haryana.”
Towards the evening, fish vendors’ calls at the market grew louder, mingling with the sacred chants of the temple. The market has been at the centre of a political row after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra alleged on X that Right-wing groups had tried to forcibly shut down fish shops in CR Park.
A video in circulation purportedly shows a man telling those present at Market No. 1 that “a fish market sharing a wall with a temple was hurting sentiments of Sanatanis”.
“Please watch as saffron brigade BJP goons threaten fish-eating Bengalis of Chittaranjan Park, Delhi. Never in 60 years has this happened,” Moitra posted Tuesday. Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Virendra Sachdeva called the video misleading and demanded a police investigation.
Shikha Roy, BJP MLA from Greater Kailash, told media persons Wednesday, “The fish market is legal and essential to the community. The BJP stands with the vendors”.
However, fish sellers in Market No. 1 did admit that during Navratri, some individuals clad in saffron attire had come to the market and demanded that their shops be shut down.
ThePrint spoke to various residents of CR Park, who have been living there for decades. All of them decried the “attack on food habits”, especially fish—a much-loved food item for Bengalis.
“CR Park is a mini-Bengal and we are peace-loving people in the country’s capital. This is the first time someone has attacked our food habits in Delhi. This is unfortunate and shows how little people know about Indian culture and its diverse food,” said another resident Sujata Majumdar, who bought a fish just after the aarti at the temple.
Majumdar said that Bengalis eat fish during Durga Puja and fish is also available at the pandals of CR Park. “This entire controversy is unnecessary and is aimed at creating unrest in a peaceful area. When no issue is found, people’s freedom to eat is attacked,” she said, while choosing fish for dinner.
Priest Sanjeev Bhattacharya of Kali Mandir, located next to the fish market, also slammed the controversy. “We cannot even imagine Bengali food without fish. Everyone should respect the food culture. The people of the temple have no problem with the fish market being nearby,” he told ThePrint.
Amid the row, the Delhi Police have launched a probe. They said they had not received any complaint about the matter and were verifying all the facts from social media posts.
Speaking about the group that visited the market during Navratri, fish seller Dinesh Das told ThePrint: “It was evening time when some people came to our market. These people came for two days and, citing Sanatan Dharma, asked that the fish market near the temple be closed. At the time, no one understood who they were and that it would lead to such a big controversy.”
He added, “We are also Sanatanis, but we eat fish because it is a part of our culture. The temple next to the fish market was also built by us and for the last 60 years, both the temple and market have been running without any dispute.”
Das further said the BJP had no role in this matter. “The BJP has an MLA from here. There was never any interference from their side.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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The illiterate foot soldiers of the Hindutva organisations have always looked down on Bengali Hindus. Bengali Hindus have always been despised by these primarily Hindi speaking hooligans – usually hailing from the hinterlands of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
They have always had issues with Bengalis consuming fish and meat on a daily basis. The fact that fish is absolutely central to the diet of a Bengali Hindu irritates and angers these mindless idiots to no end.
Under the BJP’s patronage these anti-social elements are asserting themselves aggressively.