The smaller communities that started but died in Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park due to needless policing, said ‘Cubbon Reads’, a quiet reading community in the city, after the security guards of Cubbon Park confiscated books from individuals part of the community, and the curators were warned with FIRs and fines.
A video of the guards confiscating the books and the community questioning the act has gone viral on social media, with many netizens tagging the Bengaluru police, pointing that the seizure of books is misuse of power and demanding suitable action.
Cubbon Reads shared the video of the confiscation and said that they strongly condemn taking someone’s private properties, books in this case, without consent, adding that it is no less than stealing.
“Cubbon Reads has gathered hundreds of readers together every Saturday morning since March 2023. They sit individually by themselves to read for a few hours. Towards the end, some of the readers who stay till the end gather for a group picture together with their books stacked. Our gatherings are anything but a private event, as anyone can join, one can come and leave anytime, they can read anything they wish to, they don’t even have to commit to attendance. They are not the same as registered events like marathons that happen with prior registration and tickets. We don’t even collect the database of attendees through forms,” read a press note by Cubbon Reads.
It went on to say: “This being the pre-Christmas weekend, we asked readers to bring a gift-wrapped book with them (which is referred to as “Secret Santa” in popular culture), so we could facilitate a book swap amongst them. As is customary during our meet-ups every Saturday, there was nothing extraordinary than our usual editions, apart from the books being gift wrapped. All of this was to end within 15 minutes, until the authorities showed up and halted the proceedings.”
It added: “They first took two of our curators to the Department of Horticulture office. The department officials were hostile and thought that Cubbon Reads was selling books to the public and using a public space to make money. They forcefully extricated their ID cards. The security guards there were talking about imposing fines from anywhere between IN 25,000 to 60,000. Also, our founding curators, who are not in town, were called and were threatened with FIR and a fine to show up in their office right away, else the current curators would be held in custody. It is important to highlight here that one of the curators was from Karnataka, while the other was from a neighbouring state, to prevent this from becoming a regional issue.”
Cubbon Reads said: “While on-ground, the park officials came and took away the gift-wrapped books from readers. The officials did not inform us of any specific legal provisions that permitted them to confiscate our books or one that required us to take prior permission to meet at the park for a social gathering. In the video, you see disappointed readers trailing them, demanding explanations both in Kannada and Hindi.”
“Ultimately, it was timely legal help that saved us and also freed those illegally confiscated books, else we would have been at the mercy of the Department of Horticulture, which has been the fate of so many other, smaller communities that started but died in Cubbon Park because of needless policing. There is evidence of similar incidents documented in our recent Instagram post,” they added.
Regarding the request for permission, the reading community said they have been conducting silent reading gatherings for 100+ weekends now, and each time, over 200-300 people have shown up. “Not once have the park authorities had an issue with us coming there to read, stacking books and taking group pictures with hundreds of us huddled. We did not anticipate that readers coming together with gift-wrapped books would invite suspicion from the park authorities, forcing them to snatch the belongings and unwrap gift covers -only to find harmless books inside.”
In a report by Deccan Herald, the Deputy Director has been quoted as saying: “The nature of the event also matters. Marathons, walkathons, yoga sessions, and book readings are allowed, but we do not permit events like religious activities.”
Using the word “Santa” in a meet-up does not make it religious, said the reading community.
Cubbon Reads is a book reading initiative that started in Bengaluru, inspired a worldwide reading movement. Started by Harsh Snehanshu, an entrepreneur and Shruti Sah, a brand communication professional, Cubbon Reads community, meets every Saturday between 9 am and 2 pm at Cubbon Park, where people sit and read under the tree.
