JNUSU leader denied permission for gatherings in Bengal, tensions follow
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, has no dearth of critics and President of JNU Students' Union, Aishe Ghosh has joined the list. Ghosh was denied permission to address gatherings at two state-run universities and was not allowed to take out a rally. These steps, Ghosh, said will only embolden their common adversary, BJP and RSS. But Mamata asserted stopping protests isn't her style.
Ghosh is a leader of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), that is affiliated to the Communist Party of India. Considering Banerjee brought down Left's decades-old rule in Bengal, her disdain for all things CPI and CPI(M) isn't surprising. Ghosh made it to national headlines last month when JNU was attacked by a bunch of goons. She was accused of orchestrating the violence too.
This week, Ghosh was not allowed to address gatherings at both Calcutta and Jadavpur Universities. At Jadavpur, she was supposed to campaign for elections, but the dean of students, Rajat Ray, said, "The event can take place outside the campus but permission will not be given for the program on the campus." She was also not allowed to hold a rally at Burdwan, Durgapur.
Reportedly, the Burdwan rally was stopped as Banerjee took out a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) from the area on the same day. On the series of events, Mayukh Biswas, national general secretary of SFI said, "This is unacceptable." Ghosh was also stopped from entering Calcutta University, so she addressed the gathering on College Street, just outside the varsity.
"Such actions will only strengthen BJP and RSS. The police in West Burdwan district did not allow me to hold a rally in Durgapur on Wednesday. In the next two days I was not allowed to enter Calcutta University and Jadavpur University," she said yesterday.
The issue was raised by Left and Congress in the state assembly. The parties claimed Banerjee wanted to be the sole face of the anti-CAA agitation. In her response, she said, "Our government never stops any opposition party from holding a movement. But have you forgotten what happened at Hazra?" Banerjee was referring to the 1990 incident when a CPI(M) worker hit her, causing serious injuries.
On the incident, senior Congress legislator Manoj Chakraborty said, "The chief minister does not want anyone else to be the face of the anti-CAA movement. She fails to understand that this is a movement of the people". Meanwhile, Trinamool's Sadhan Pandey said, "The chief minister has said repeatedly that leading the anti-CAA movement is her responsibility. People should let her do her job."
