Hours after being denied permission to hold a meeting inside the Calcutta University(CU) allegedly at the behest of the Trinamool Congress Government, JNU students’ union president Aishi Ghosh on Thursday led a massive students rally in north Kolkata protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Citizenship Register.
Mainly partaken by the Left students the procession had no flags save the Tri-colour and was joined by a large number of civil society members. Even as Ghosh and other student leaders like Mayukh Biswas led the rally senior Left Front leaders like Surya Kanto Mishra and Biman Bose walked quietly in the rear.
Ghosh later said that the Mamata Banerjee Government should first decide whose cause it was buttressing by refusing to grant her permission to address meetings.
“We had assembled here to address a meeting of students against the divisive policies of RSS and BJP who have slapped the discriminatory CAA and are planning to invoke NRC and NPR. We hear that they (TMC) too has been strongly protesting against CAA and NRC. If that be so then they had no business denying the permission to hold a meeting inside the university. They (Trinamool) should first decide as to whom they are supporting and for whom they are standing in Bengal.”
Another rally of Ghosh had been denied permission at Durgapur on Wednesday. Sources also said that the police have refused to grant permission for a third rally scheduled to be addressed by Ghosh at Jadavpur.