Members of Minorities Youth Federation at a protest rally in Kolkata on Wednesday. Partha Paul Members of the CPM’s students’ wing Students Federation of India (SFI) on Wednesday staged protests across the city and at several universities to protest against the death of student leader Anis Khan.
Outside Presidency University, SFI members burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while holding banners and placards denouncing the incident. They also demanded a CBI investigation into the death of the student leader.
At Jadavpur University, students took out a flame torch rally from the campus raising slogans against the state government. SFI members also put up road blockades at College Street and the Park Circus seven point crossing. Some of them formed a human chain to express their solidarity with Anis’s family. At Calcutta University, students held an overnight sit-in seeking action against the culprits. Students of Aliah University observed a ‘black day’ on its Park Circus campus forming a human chain to mark their protest.
Sajidur Rahman, a student of the university, alleged, “Yesterday, the police stopped our rally and did not allow our representatives to visit the state secretariat to submit a memorandum. They even attacked us and put us in prison vans. Some of our female colleagues were injured. We strongly condemn this act and once again demand proper justice for Anis Khan.”
SFI members took out a rally from its state office in Kolkata to the Park Circus campus of Aliah University. “We will not stop our protest till the guilty are punished. Such acts are taking place everywhere. Voices of protesters are being stifled. We have seen it before. We want a proper investigation into the death of Anis Khan. Those shielding the real culprits must also be punished,” SFI state secretary Srijan Bhattacharya said.
Meanwhile, Save Democracy, West Bengal, a forum to fight against social injustice and police atrocities, held a press meet in the city on Wednesday calling for an end to “police brutality” on citizens.
“Governments come and governments go but there is no end to state-sponsored violence or police brutality. This needs to stop. The family of Anis Khan has rightfully demanded a CBI probe because they have no faith in the state police. The police cannot conduct an impartial probe into this incident. We demand an impartial probe,” said former Supreme Court Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
