BJP workers in Durgapur led by local MLA on Sunday demanded immediate closure of a Bangladeshi stall selling Jamdani sari from a fairground in the town on the pretext of the ongoing tension and alleged attacks on minorities in the neighbouring country since the November 25 arrest of monk Chinmoy Krishna Das.

The stall owner left with his belongings by the end of the day, abandoning the stall, in the wake of the controversy.

The BJP MLA from Durgapur Paschim, Lakshman Ghorui, alleged that local Trinamool Congress leaders allowed the stall selling Bangladeshi saris to be set up at Durgapur Utsav and display their national flag.

Ghorui said "Sanatanis" were under attack in Bangladesh and Bangladeshis were "burning saris made in our country". "Yet in Durgapur, fair organisers backed by local Trinamul leaders are welcoming them to set up a stall and sell saris made in Bangladesh. How shameless they (Trinamool) are," said Ghorui.

He threatened to demolish the stall if fair organisers or the local administration did not remove it immediately.

The BJP-backed protests initially forced the stall owner to remove the Bangladesh flag and later vacate the stall.

Durgapur Utsav was inaugurated by labour minister Moloy Ghatak and agriculture minister Pradip Mazumdar on Friday.

Patronised by Mazumdar and Trinamul district unit chief Narendranath Chakraborty along with a group of pro-Trinamul local businessmen, the fair is an annual weeklong event started last year. Several companies set up stalls displaying a variety of items for sale. Organisers also host cultural programmes there.

"How can the local administration allow the stall to display the national flag of Bangladesh at a time (the majority community) there are stepping on our national flag? What is Trinamul doing? Are they not Indian?" said Parijat Ganguly, a BJP leader in Durgapur.

Shamsur Rahaman, the owner of the stall said they have come from Narayanganj in Bangladesh to sell Jamdani saris from the stall.

"We came here to sell Jamdani saris made in our factory in Bangladesh. We set up the stall with due permission from organisers with proper payment. After some objections, we removed the flex banner sporting the national flag of Bangladesh," said Rahaman. Asked about visa or the duration of his stay in India, he declined to comment.

Hours later, Rahaman left with his belongings, apparently abandoning the stall.

The sari-manufacturing factory's owner, Mohammad Bachhu, was contacted over the phone. He said he had been selling saris at various fairgrounds all winter in Calcutta and parts of Bengal through importers for about six years.

"I am not aware of what has happened in Durgapur. I have sent my products for sale at various fairgrounds in Bengal," Bachhu said. "There is no tension here, and the allegations of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh are untrue," he added.

Bangladeshi saris at fairgrounds are a common sight in Bengal.

However, the incident in Durgapur raises questions on the immediate future of such stalls, including in Calcutta, this season, given the saffron ecosystem's activities.

Prabir Ghosal, one of the organisers of Durgapur Utsav, said the fair was organised apolitically.

"We have asked the stall owner to remove the national flag of Bangladesh from their stall. He removed it immediately. Later, he abandoned the stall because of the controversy," he said.

Trinamool's Durgapur unit vice-president, Uttam Mukherjee, said the display of the Bangladeshi flag at the stall was unfortunate and was removed immediately after it was brought to notice.

However, Mukherjee described the BJP-backed protest as an attempt to disrupt harmony in the area.

“The Bangladeshi national flag was removed immediately after we noticed it but the allegations of the BJP are baseless. They are trying to disturb peace and harmony here,” Mukherjee said.

The BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who has kept himself busy every day in hopes of political mileage in Bengal since the arrest of Das in Bangladesh, led a rally in his backyard of Contai in East Midnapore, with Hindus-of-the-world-unite slogans.

The rally was organised mainly to demand the immediate, unconditional release of Das.

Adhikari also slammed the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh for allegedly failing to protect minorities there and called for Hindu unity against such “atrocities”.

Imams express worry

The All India Imam-Muazzin Social and Welfare Organisation, an association of Muslim clerics and social workers, on Sunday in a news meet in Calcutta expressed its concern over the protection of minorities in both India and Bangladesh.

“We believe the government should protect the rights of minorities in every country, whether it is Bangladesh or India. We condemn the oppression of minorities anywhere in the world,” said Maulana Shafeeq Qasmi, the president of the organisation and Imam of the Nakhoda Masjid in Calcutta.

Additional reporting by Snehamoy Chakraborty in Calcutta and Anshuman Phadikar in Tamluk