West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s instruction to ban rallies and protests in the city’s College Square, a hub of educational institutes where all major demonstrations are staged, in central Kolkata generated strong reactions from both civil society as well as Opposition parties.
While the ban will be in force from Monday, Opposition parties and rights activists made it clear that they will not abide it. Ms. Banerjee announced the decision at a meeting in Chinsurah in Hooghly district on Thursday after a Calcutta University student raised the issue of use of microphones at the agitations at College Square.
College Square, a a half square-kilometre park, located on the College Street, has been a hotbed of political activities and agitations since the early 19th century.
Even as Kolkata police announced that from Monday no rallies will be allowed at College Square, civil rights organisation the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) will hold a demonstration there on that very day against the decision.
‘CM’s fear exposed’
“By taking such an autocratic decision the Chief Minister has exposed her own fear of mass movements,” APDR vice-president Ranjit Sur told The Hindu.
However, a section of the civil society supported the decision. “College Square has witnessed chaos for several decades due to such protests. Someone has to put an end to it,” Sahitya Akademi awardee poet Subodh Sarkar.
Opposition parties, however, accused Ms. Banerjee of “throttling democracy”. “The Chief Minister is afraid of the people as she has realised that the youth in Bengal has seen through her bluff. So she wants to gag the voices of protest,” Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Md. Salim said.
Bharatiya Janata Party State president Dilip Ghosh described the ban as “undemocratic”.