Two contrasting demonstrations, both condemning the Pahalgam terror attack, played out at Esplanade on Friday evening.

While both called for swift action against the perpetrators, one meeting blamed Muslims for the carnage. The other urged Indians to stay united in testing times.

A confederation of traders’ associations had organised a protest rally at the Dorina crossing, near the intersection of SN Banerjee Road and the south-bound flank of Chowringhee Road. The rally was a mixed bag — a sample of the trading community in Calcutta and Bengal. It had people cutting across the barriers of religion and caste.

A rally by the Vishva Hindu Parishad started at College Square and culminated near the Metro channel, on the north-bound flank of Chowringhee Road, on the other side.

“Hindus, wake up!” exhorted a speaker at the VHP show. “See what is happening in Bangladesh and Murshidabad. The same thing happened in Kashmir. Hindus were slain for being Hindus. One community is behind all the carnage,” said the man.

“Jai Shri Ram” slogans rang out incessantly.

On the other side of the road, candles were lit.

“The government must deliver swift justice. The perpetrators of this heinous crime should see hell. But we must ask for justice as one country. These are testing times. We must remain united. Otherwise, we will play into the hands of the enemy. They want India divided,” said Huzefa Karachiwala, a trader in industrial equipment.

Next to him was Mahesh Gupta, a distributor of stainless steel sheets. “Pakistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan will never understand India’s inclusive fabric. But we must not fall for their devious design,” said Gupta.

Gupta and Karachiwala were part of the demonstration called by the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations. It includes around 150 trade associations across the state.

At the VHP rally, a speaker targeted Debasish Bhattacharya, a professor at Assam University in Silchar, who escaped death in Pahalgam by reciting the Kalma. Bhattacharya had grown up in a Muslim neighbourhood.

“Look at this man. He did not have the guts to proclaim his religion. The number of such people is on the rise across the country... They will weaken the country from within,” the man said on the mic.

Across the road, some 20 minutes later, the crowd sang the National Anthem before observing a minute’s silence for the Pahalgam victims. They waved the Tricolour.

Sushil Poddar, president of the federation and a distributor of petroleum products, told this newspaper: “Some of the victims were traders. Their foremost identity was that they were Indians. We should mourn them and avenge them as Indians, not as Hindus or Muslims or Christians.”

He pointed to the diversity in the gathering. “Look at these people. From A to Z, they deal in everything under the sun. They come from all religions. But they have come here as Indians,” he said.

Soon, he was joined by Md. Qasim, president of the Calcutta Imitation Jewellery Association, and Sheikh Faisal, manufacturer of toys.

“I have one prayer to our honourable Prime Minister. He has done a surgical strike in the past. Now, he should do a surgery and take PoK back. That is the source of all terror,” Qasim said, as many cheered.

The Calcutta Chamber of Trade, one of the associations affiliated to the confederation, was led by its president, Arvind Pandey, who runs an overseas education consultancy firm. With him was Abdul Kader Calcuttawala, a hardware trader, and the chamber’s secretary.

“My religion teaches me to be forever loyal to my country,” said Hamza Malkani, an importer of agricultural machinery and part of the chamber.