Kolkata: Police in Kolkata used water cannons against hundreds of protesters, mainly youths, who commenced the 'Nabanna Abhijan' from two locations across the city on Tuesday afternoon demanding the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the arrest of those responsible for the rape-murder of a doctor in R G Kar hospital.
The protesters held the CM responsible for failing to ensure the safety and security of women, which they argued led to the RG Kar tragedy that sparked nationwide outrage. The rally, organised by student platform 'Chhatrasamaj' and 'Sangrami Joutha Mancha' of state government employees, began from two locations - College Square in north Kolkata and Santragachi in Howrah.
Visuals showed police using water cannons to stop the protesters who were trying to climb over the barricades put by the security personnel to foil the protest. The police have arrested about 245 protesters as part of the action taken against the participants in the strike.
One processionist said, "We will reach Nabanna no matter what. We must get to the state secretariat to demand the resignation of the Chief Minister, whose administration has been trying to shield the perpetrators of this heinous crime and suppress the incident. We want to hear from her."
The rally originating from College Square is heading towards Nabanna via Howrah Bridge, while the procession from Santragachi will proceed towards the state secretariat via Sibpur.
In response to the rally, police erected barricades along the roads leading to Nabanna and in its vicinity, citing prohibitory orders in the area. Chhatrasamaj spokesperson Sayan Lahiri emphasised that the rally is apolitical.
"Despite provocations, we intend to keep this a peaceful, democratic movement against the horrific crime committed against our sister at R G Kar hospital. We demand justice for her and her family. The call for justice by the people of Bengal and the country must be acknowledged by the Mamata Banerjee government," Lahiri said.
Nabanna turned into fortress
Police enforced a strong security grid around the West Bengal state secretariat 'Nabanna' in the wake of the rally, being led by Chhatra Samaj, a student organisation that has cropped up in the last few days. The rally is underway even after claims by the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Police of potential disruptions.
Ahead of the demonstration, the police deployed vajra vehicles, water cannons, and Riot Control Force in the area while containers were placed to block the roads. On Monday, the West Bengal Police called the Nabanna Abhijan Rally to reach the Nabanna or State Secretariat "illegal" and dubbed it an attempt to incite widespread unrest in Kolkata.
The Kolkata Police also issued a traffic advisory and made diversions for several routes connecting the city to various regions. The call for March to Nabanna, the Bengal state secretariat, has been given by an unregistered students' body Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students Community) and the Sangrami Joutha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), an organisation of state government employees who have been agitating since long demanding their DA to be made at par with their Central government counterparts.
'Illegal and unauthorised'
The state police have called the rally, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as "illegal" and unauthorized, and said they have taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.
Addressing reporters at Nabanna a day earlier, ADG (Law and Order) Manoj Verma said that police have received credible intelligence suggesting attempts would be made by miscreants to mix among protestors and incite large-scale violence and chaos during the rally. The government has already imposed prohibitory orders near Nabanna under Section 163 of BNSS preventing the assembly of five or more persons.
Calling the rally a conspiracy to cause chaos on the streets, the Trinamool Congress released a couple of purported videos of BJP leaders from Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district planning to incite violence at the rally. Both leaders were detained for questioning by the police.
Don't use power to stop students: Guv to Mamata Govt
Meanwhile, in a video message released by the Raj Bhavan late Monday evening, Governor CV Ananda Bose urged the state government not to use power to stop the students from organising the rally.
"In the context of the peaceful protest announced by the students' community of West Bengal tomorrow and the reported suppression of the protest by several instructions from the government, I would urge the government to remember the strong pronouncement of the Supreme Court of India. Let not the power of the state of West Bengal be unleashed on peaceful protestors," Bose said.
The apex court on August 22 said peaceful protests over the incident shall not be disturbed or disrupted by the West Bengal government. The court, however, clarified that it has not injuncted the state government from exercising lawful powers.
Chhatra Samaj spokesperson Sayan Lahiri said, "The claims made by the TMC and police are baseless. We aim to raise our demands peacefully. If we are stopped, we will attempt to proceed to the secretariat gate in a non-violent manner to demand the CM's resignation due to her failure to prevent incidents like the RG Kar case which has shocked the nation."
Lahiri claimed that the rallies, which will start from several places and move towards Nabanna, are organised by an apolitical platform with no affiliations to the BJP, RSS, or ABVP. He noted, "We have informed the police about the rally via email and discussed it with senior officers multiple times. The allegations that our rally is illegal are untrue."
Later on Monday evening, ADG, South Bengal Supratim Sarkar told reporters that the police rejected applications of both organisations which were sent to the police at the eleventh hour. "We have received separate mails from the two organisations only after we held a press conference earlier in the day. The one from Chhatra Samaj' was only an intimation about the programme having no details on the rally and did not seek any permission. Hence it was rejected," Sarkar said.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata police called the Bengal bandh called by the BJP on Wednesday as 'illegal'.
(With agency inputs)
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