Members of the CPM’s mass organisations, accompanied by a battery of lawyers, defied heavy rain and waterlogged streets to march to Lalbazar in Calcutta on Saturday to protest against the slapping of “false cases” on agitators in the RG Kar incident.
The march was organised by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA).
Last Saturday, Kolkata Police had served notices on seven leaders of the SFI, DYFI and AIDWA for their alleged involvement in the violence at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital early on August 15. The hospital was vandalised at a time when people across Bengal, as well as those outside the state, had turned out in lakhs in response to the call to “Reclaim the Night”.
DYFI state secretary Minakshi Mukherjee was among the seven who were served the notices by the police.
Responding to the notices served on them, Minakshi said: “We do not trust the police but we have clearly stated our stand to cooperate with the police. We will definitely respond to the notices but before that, we will seek the advice of legal experts.”
A DYFI leader said not only the seven leaders but almost 500 Left supporters had also received “fabricated notices and summonses” from the police. This, he said, prompted them to plan a march to Lalbazar to reply to the notices and also tell them that such atrocities on protesters must stop.
Led by around 30 lawyers, thousands of SFI-DYFI-AIDWA supporters, many among them with police notices served on them, set off from College Street at 1.30pm to march towards Lalbazar, where a heavy police bandobast awaited them on B.B. Ganguly Street that was fortified with several tiers of barricades.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Minakshi said: “A joint commissioner of police met us and we told them not to frame our supporters in false cases. They should concentrate on arresting those who vandalised the hospital and as a responsible organisation the DYFI will cooperate.”
The DYFI leader said the rape and murder at RG Kar was rooted in corruption in the health department and the mass organisations of the Left would fight it.
Raising slogans demanding justice for the RG Kar victim and warning the police against cracking down on the democratic rights of protesters, SFI leader Dipsita Dhar told the gathering that “to seek justice, we have a one-point demand — the resignation of Mamata Banerjee. She is also the health and police minister and responsible for the mess”.
After the police stopped the rally, Minakshi and six others, accompanied by lawyers, went to Lalbazar to meet police officers while thousands of activists laid siege to BB Ganguly Street for two hours.