Celebs march for 3 hrs from College Square, on sit-in protest at Esplanade
Times of India | 2 September 2024
12 Kolkata: An apolitical march demanding justice for the R G Kar victim from College Square to Esplanade on Sunday afternoon drew artists, celebrities, doctors, members of the civil society and common people and coalesced into a spontaneous sit-in demonstration till late at night once the rally culminated in Rani Rashmoni Square.
The rally which was peppered with slogans like ‘Aro koto somoy chai’ (how long will it take), and later the sit-in demonstration, was peaceful till an inebriated youth tried to force his way to the protest site at 9.53 pm, causing commotion.The youth, who was arrested and identified as Tollygunge’s Tapas Pal, took part in the rally, said police. He allegedly touched a woman rallyist and was slapped with molestation charge. The protesters alleged that another youth had misbehaved with a woman in the rally.
The rally of thousands on Sunday afternoon was starkly different from the political rallies last week. This rally kept itself away from political flags, shouted slogans, painted roads, lit candles and performed songs till late on Sunday night. Dubbed as a citizen’s march, including hundreds of people, social organisations and Tollywood celebrities like actors Aparna Sen, Swastika Mukherjee, Ushashi Chakrabarty, Chaiti Ghoshal, singer Lagnajita Chakrabarty and director Srijit Mukherjee, it started from College Square around 3 pm.
“I am condemning the incident from the core of my heart. We, the common people, the taxpayers, have every right to raise our voice and demand justice. I have full faith on Supreme Court,” said Aparna Sen. Ghoshal added that they have joined the rally “as common people, not as celebrities.”
As the rally passed through the BJP’s dharna mancha located on the Y Channel at Esplanade, Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was speaking. He stopped for a while and waited for the rally to pass.
After reaching Esplanade around 6.30 pm, they staged a dharna where celebrities, including Swastika Mukherjee, Debolina Dutta, Bidipta Chakraborty, Sohini Sarkar and others, staged a sit-in demonstration. They demanded that all accused behind this crime be exposed and called for the resignation of Kolkata Police commissione Vineet Goyal.
Swastika said, “Rape has become a pandemic in our city, our state and our country as well. This has to come to an end immediately. The protest will continue until all the accused behind this conspiracy are exposed.” Debolina Dutta said that such protest movements will continue in the days to come. “We want all accused to be arrested; this time, they will not get a safe passage to escape,” she said.
From the sit-in, the protesters shot off multiple e-mails to the state demanding an adequate number of gender-neutral toilets and CCTV surveillance everywhere. They also insisted that women drivers’ safety and security be ensured. They demanded a proper answer from these departments; otherwise, they said that would call for a night protest till 4 am. Rimjhim Sinha, who initiated the ‘Women, Reclaim the Night’ movement, said, “We have a set of demands to enhance safety everywhere. Until our demands are met, the protest will continue.”