The Kolkata Police have implemented extensive security measures ahead of today’s ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest march, anticipating potential violence. The demonstration, driven by demands for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation, follows the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old female trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The march is directed towards Nabanna, the state secretariat and the hub of the West Bengal government, where the Chief Minister and other senior ministers and officials have their offices.
The protest march called the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ is led by two groups. The first is an unregistered student body, ‘Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj’ and the second is named ‘Sangrami Joutha Mancha,’ a group of state government employees who have been demanding that their DA be brought in line with what central government employees receive.
However, on Monday, Kolkata’s Additional Commissioner of Police, Supratim Sarkar, announced that the application by the ‘Paschimbanga Chhatro Samaj’ to hold the protest has been denied. “They had announced through social media and the press that they will be undertaking a program called Nabanno Abhiyaan on 27th August, but they did not seek permission, which is a mandatory requirement as far as the High Court directives,” said Sarkar.
The police cited traffic concerns as the reason for rejecting permission for the march. They explained that allowing large gatherings could cause major disruptions, which would seriously inconvenience candidates heading to the UGC-NET exams. The national-level exam is being held today, with many candidates from the state expected to participate.
Addressing reporters at Nabanna, ADG (Law and Order) Manoj Verma said that police have received credible intelligence suggesting attempts would be made by miscreants to mix among protestors and incite large-scale violence and chaos during the rally, PTI reported.
“We have received separate mails from the two organisations only after we held a press conference earlier in the day. The one from ‘Chhatra Samaj’ was only an intimation about the programme having no details on the rally and did not seek any permission. Hence it was rejected,” PTI quoted Sarakar.
According to ADG, South Bengal Supratim Sarkar, the second application, which included details about expected turnout and other relevant information, was rejected for two reasons. First, many students were scheduled to take the UGC-NET exams on Tuesday, and second, prohibitory orders around Nabanna currently prevent any gatherings in the area.
The Trinamool Congress has labeled the rally a ‘conspiracy’ aimed at creating chaos on the streets. To support their claim, they released videos allegedly showing BJP leaders from Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district planning to incite violence during the event.
The state police have deemed the rallies, which gained support largely through social media, as ‘illegal’ and ‘unauthorized.’ The authorities said that they have taken necessary measures to address concerns about potential law and order issues during the march. The government has imposed prohibitory orders near Nabanna under Section 163 of BNSS preventing the assembly of five or more persons.
Chhatra Samaj spokesperson Sayan Lahiri stated, “The claims made by the TMC and police are baseless. We aim to raise our demands peacefully. If we are stopped, we will attempt to proceed to the secretariat gate in a non-violent manner to demand the CM’s resignation due to her failure to prevent incidents like the RG Kar case which has shocked the nation.” He added that rallies, starting from various locations and heading to Nabanna, are organised by an apolitical platform with no ties to the BJP, RSS, or ABVP.
On August 22, the Supreme Court ruled that the West Bengal government must allow peaceful protests related to the incident without disruption. However, the court clarified that it has not barred the state government from exercising its lawful powers.