Saffron outfit members’ ink attack on Fostta chief

Surat: A group consisting of people from different saffron outfits poured black ink on Federation of Surat Textile Traders’ Association (FOSTTA) president Manoj Agarwal on Wednesday.
They were demanding that FOSTTA declare a holiday on Ram Navami (Thursday). Later in the day, Agarwal issued a circular announcing the holiday on Thursday.
FOSTTA is an association of over 170 textile markets where more than 60,000 textile traders operate.
On Wednesday, the group of people held a dharna near the FOSTTA office on Ring Road before barging into Agarwal’s office.
They argued that if FOSTTA can announce holidays for festivals of other religions then why not for Ram Navami. The traders’ body has already announced a holiday on April 4 on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti.
As the arguments continued between the group and FOSTTA office bearers, one person from the protesting group came from behind and poured ink on Agarwal.
“We had requested FOSTTA on Tuesday to announce a holiday on Ram Navami day but they refused. We tried to convince them but they claimed that it was not possible,” said Narendra Chaudhary, a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
However, Chaudhary said that he was not asked by the VHP to hold a protest and it was a joint representation by some members of different groups.
VHP in a message stated that it was not involved in the protest at FOSTTA office.
“The person who poured ink on the face of Agarwal did not inform other group members before doing this,” Chaudhary added.
Late on Wednesday evening, FOSTTA office bearers and textile traders held a meeting to discuss the further course of action. “We are discussing what we can do after the incident. Before the incident, I told them that it was not a tradition to declare a holiday on Ram Navami in the textile market,” said Agarwal.
“They came to discuss but later resorted to violence,” Agarwal added.