Bengal intellectuals took out protest march to condemn JNU attack

Kolkata, 7 January (HS): Along with large number of students of different universities and colleges in West Bengal, a section of intellectuals in the state today took out a rally in the city to protest last Saturday’s attack on JNU students and some teachers by a gang of masked goons,demanding their immediate arrest and exemplary  punishment for committing such ‘heinous crime’.

Participating in about four km long march from College Square to the well known birthplace of Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore at Jorasanko in North Kolkata this afternoon,well known singar Rupankar Bagchi,renowned film director Anik Dutta,film actor Riddhi Sen,his father and popular theatre personality Kaushik Sen,actress Surangana Bandopadhyay and many others expressed their anger and dismay at the unabated attacks on the students community in different parts of the country and in different universities and colleges by unidentified goons.

Demanding immediate halt to such am unhealthy trend in Democracy,all of them was of the opinion that in a diversified country like India,such new trends should be dealt with iron hands.

Asked about the reason behind their mass participation in a rally like this Rupankar,Kaushik Sen,Riddhi and another actress Ushashi Chakraborty told Hindusthan Samachar that they were very much perturbed witnessing the violent attack on JNU students by the masked goons and the unfortunate role of the Delhi police in deliberately not preventing them from such attacks.

‘Then and there we had decided to organise such a protest rally without any party colour and garner public sympathy in support of the protection of Indian democracy and the right to speak and live freely’, they said.

After walking for a little more than an hour and singing nationalistic song in groups on the way the rally finally reached  before the ancestral house of Rabindranath Tagore at around  5-30 hours before disperse while announcing their commitment to join such mass protest if necessary also in future.

Though not joined in the walk,eminent film maker and former actress Apara Sen also severely criticised the recent attack on JNU students and teachers while extending her full support  in organising any protest.