Premium

Cubbon Reads Secret Santa event halted, books confiscated by Cubbon Park authorities

The Secret Santa event involved attendees depositing wrapped books, which would then be randomly re-distributed based on a numbered chit.

The group stated that they needed to reach out to senior officials in order to leave along with the confiscated books. (Photo: @cubbonreads/Instagram)

The ‘Secret Santa’ event organised by the silent reading group Cubbon Reads in Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park Saturday afternoon came to an abrupt end after park authorities confiscated a large number of books and detained event curators. This had come in the wake of a large number of people turning up compared to the expectations of the organisers.

The Secret Santa event involved attendees depositing wrapped books, which would then be randomly re-distributed based on a numbered chit. In the immediate wake of the confiscation, the group posted on social media, stating, “We really hope they give the books back as it was merely a gift… we were not doing it for any commercial reason.”

In another statement, the group stated that the curators had been detained for two hours, and had needed to reach out to senior officials in order to leave along with the confiscated books. They had further been required to write an apology letter. Cubbon Reads alleged in a statement that the Cubbon Park authorities had threatened the careers of their curators and demeaned those who did not speak Kannada. They further alleged that they had been threatened with an FIR and a fine of Rs 35,000.

Cubbon Reads has been conducting silent reading events inside Cubbon Park since December 2022, with the concept rapidly spreading inside Bengaluru and beyond. As of last June, six such reading groups had come up along the same lines in the city, and dozens more outside Bengaluru and abroad.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
Cubbon Park