In what the Opposition BJP called as a prologue to future such rallies demanding rights for rapists, murderers and dacoits, a set of pro-Trinamool Congress intellectuals on Friday took out what they claimed an impressive rally of the civil society members to apparently protest against the CBI action against the ruling party politicians allegedly involved in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
Incidentally, the rallyists gave divergent opinions about the meeting with some saying they were out on the streets “demanding a stop to the de-culturisation of Bengal” while others said it was a Trinamool meeting against the CBI action in Saradha case. Yet others demanded Government action to promote karate in the Olympics. Some others including technicians, who had joined from the Tollygunge film industry, said they had no idea as “we joined after being asked to do so by local politicians.”
Curiously, while the newly migrated, from the CPI(M), intelligentsia led the rally, the old guards who had backed Mamata Banerjee during Singur and Nandigram movement were conspicuous by their absence. They included renowned poets Shankha Ghosh, Joy Goswami, Shaonli Mitra, film stars Prasenjit and Ranjit Mullick.
Reacting strongly to the Friday’s rally, the BJP State president Rahul Sinha said “today they are marching in favour of thieves in Saradha, tomorrow they will rally for rapists, murderers and then dacoits claiming right to rape, kill and loot”
CPI(M)’s Md Salim said “most intellectuals have left the Trinamool. Only a few weather birds are there. In coming months they will also leave. Today’s was not a rally of intellectuals but a crowd of Trinamool cadres.”
Meanwhile, the CBI on Friday filed fresh FIRs against two new chit fund companies Ramel Industries and Annex Infrastructure. Charges were brought for criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust sources said.