‘Don’t want any political party to hijack movement’
Times of India | 27 August 2024
Kolkata: The organisers’ insistence that they do not want “any political leader from any political party to lead from the front and hijack the movement” marks a major change of stance since they had earlier requested opposition netas to join the march “but without party flags”.
“You must realize this is a call made on social media. It is a popular movement and we believe justice will be served only when all our demands are met.We are just the faces of the movement who have come forward to give the movement some shape and direction,” claimed Sayon Lahiri, one of the organisers.
They also denied police and Trinamool claims that one of them had met a senior BJP functionary at a star hotel off EM Bypass at 11.25 am. “We are not aware of any meetings with any political functionary by any of us at a hotel. I am hearing this from you,” Lahiri said.
The organisers claimed they have three demands – justice for the victim, punishment of everyone involved in the crime and those trying to protecting them, and the resignation of CM Mamata Banerjee for her failure as health and police minister.
They also asked UGC-NET candidates to stand with the cause and reach their exam centres early. They also requested political parties to help them if they were slapped with fake charges. “The govt might seek to destroy our careers. We request the parties to stand by us in those times,” Lahiri said.