20 Sep Presidency students lead march to Lalbazar
TNN | Sep 20, 2014, 12.25 AM IST
KOLKATA: More than a thousand students, predominantly from Presidency University, on Friday took out a rally from College Street and walked up to Lalbazar police headquarters to express solidarity with Jadavpur University students. They demanded an impartial probe into the attack on students.
Holding placards and shouting slogans, they marched from the Presidency campus to B B Ganguly Street till they were stopped at Phears Lane-B B Ganguly Street crossing by force, led by deputy commissioner (central division) D P Singh. There they sang songs, delivered fiery speech and sent a team to the police headquarters with their demand.
Though the agitators hinted that their protest, which choked heart of the city for major part of the day, could be an indefinite one, the men in uniform made no effort to disperse the gathering. Finally, a heavy downpour saved the day for cops.
“We have taken out this rally to express solidarity with JU students who faced worst of police brutalities. This is a shame for entire Bengal where police uses force to crumble a peaceful movement,” said Jagyaseni Mondal, a third-year history student of Presidency University.
“We have submitted a deputation. We have demanded an impartial probe. We asked why the police had resorted to lathicharge, which Rajeev Mishra denied. We also want the removal of the VC of JU,” said Sushanta Mondal, a student.
The students also charged that the police were trying to implicate them in false cases as they had participated in JU’s rally. “They are trying to implicate us in false cases. We want to tell them that we are not outsiders. In a student movement, students can never be outsiders,” said another student who participated in the rally.
Sushanta Mondal, a blind student of the Presidency Bengali department, described the administration as “more blind than him”. “Their eyes are shut. They cannot see the violence inflicted by the state machinery. I will be with you in thick and thin of this movement,” he promised to JU students.
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