Post-Pulwama, Kolkata candle business booms; 'not this way,' say traders

Kolkata, Feb 22: Candlelight marches have become a regular feature of protests today. Be it a social crime of deep impact or an act of terror, people taking out silent processions with burning candles in their hand is a new normal in the country. Recently, candlelight protest march was seen after over 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in a suicide terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama.

Kolkata is no exception to this form or protest and according to a report in Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP), such marches have seen candle traders making a significant business, seeing their sale soaring by 100 per cent!

The demand for candle for protest marches is so high that the manufacturers are even making different forms of candles that are more user-friendly, i.e., holding them do not see the melting wax falling on the hand of the holder.

The ABP report cited sources in West Bengal Wax Based Industries Association that said that they are making different types of candles for the protest marches.

It was also reported that candles worth over Rs 22 lakh were sold in Kolkata alone since the February 14 attack in Pulwama. The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, too, has taken part in such protest.

No offs for candle-making industry workers

The demand is so high that candle industry workers, who generally take off in this time because of lower sale (the season picks during Diwali with a little surge during the Christmas and New Year's Eve), have been given an emergency call to manufacture more products.

It's not that the traders are happy with the reason that has seen their business multiply, but the reality is that they are struggling to cope with the steep rise in demand for candles.