Students of different universities and educational institutes including Jadavpur, Calcutta, Presidency, Aliah University and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute hit the Kolkata road today to protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and police brutality on their counterparts in Jamia Milia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University.
Hundreds of students brought out the rally this afternoon from Sahid Minar ground and marched towards the state BJP headquarter on the C R Avenue. Anticipating trouble, adequate security arrangements were made by Kolkata Police in and around the BJP office to ensure no agitators entered the party office.
Police set up a barricade on C R Avenue and its connecting Muralidhar Sen Street where the office of the saffron party is located. Shouting slogans against the Act, the students tried to enter the party office breaking the barricade and got into a scuffle with the huge contingent of police deployed at the spot.
Tensions mounted when a section of BJP workers armed with batons, on the other side of the barricade, took up threatening positions as the protesters tried to enter their party office. After the scuffle with the police, the students backed by SFI, marched towards Mahajati Sadan and started a sitin-demonstration.
The agitating students carrying banners against the CAA and the Narendra Modi government alleged that the BJP is using religion as a trump card in the name of Citizenship Act and the proposed country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC). “We are strongly against such move of the Narendra Modi government and condemn the police brutality on our friends in Jamia Milia and AMU,” one of the protesters said.
Traffic was badly hit in the entire C R Avenue, M G Road, Esplanade and adjoining roads owing to the impressive turnout of agitators. A belligerent Dilip Ghosh, BJP state president, reacting to the students’ agitation said, “They should also bring stretchers with them because none of them would go back home on their feet if they enter the party office. Stretchers will carry them to the hospital beds.”On the other hand, youth wing of Congress also staged demonstrations in front of the Raj Bhavan this afternoon protesting against the CAA and NRC.