‘Secret Santa’ a pop culture, not religious activity: Cubbon Reads

Bengaluru: Following the controversy over the confiscation of books in Cubbon Park on December 21, the Cubbon Reads group said its ‘Secret Santa’ book exchange event was neither a religious activity nor was planned beforehand. 

The group said it did not anticipate a large crowd for the event, which was a regular reading gathering without prior registrations or bookings. 

“This being the pre-Christmas weekend, we asked readers to bring gift-wrapped books, so we could facilitate a book swap amongst them,” it said in a press note shared on X. 

The group said it was taking legal recourse to fight “harassment” by the department officials. 

Cubbon Reads asserted that the gathering was not a religious event just because the gift-swapping was called ‘Secret Santa’ in popular culture. 

Kusuma G, Deputy Director of the Horticulture Department, had earlier DH that gatherings of more than 20 people at Cubbon park required prior permission.

She also said that book readings were allowed but not religious activities. 

Cubbon Reads said it had conducted over 100 gatherings since 2023 with around 200-300 people showing up every Saturday. “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,” it stated. 

“The readers who gather every Saturday sit individually to read for a few hours; towards the end, some of them gather for a group picture together with the books stacked. There was nothing extraordinary apart from the books being gift-wrapped. All this was to end within 15 minutes until the authorities showed up and halted the proceedings,” it said. 

Two curators were taken to the department where “hostile” officials asked whether the books are being sold, the group said. 

“They forcefully extricated the ID cards. Security guards were talking about imposing a fine of anywhere between Rs 25,000 to Rs 60,000,” it said. 

Moreover, the group’s founding curators, who were not in town, were called and threatened that two curators would be taken into custody. 

In a video posted by Cubbon Reads, park officials were seen taking away the gift-wrapped books while disappointed readers trailed them, demanding explanations in Hindi and Kannada. 

Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan had told DH on Monday that the department shouldn’t have confiscated books.