Cops halt silent march for justice
Ironically, the same rallyists had been stopped at the same spot in 2007 by the then Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government when they hit the streets to protest the Nandigram firing.
"Power corrupts. It is extremely unfortunate that political rallies with flags are allowed to disrupt the city but a silent orderly rally is stopped without police and they don't even consider it necessary to cite a reason," said artist Samir Aich as theatre personality Shaoli Mitra nodding vigorously in agreement.
"When the Nandigram firing happened, many of those who are now in government had joined us in the silent protest march that was blocked at the Kyd Street-Chowringhee intersection. The same thing has happened again, a pointer to the fact that the faces in power may have changed but attitudes and functioning haven't," said Mitra.
Unlike March 2007 though, only a handful of civil society activists turned up for the march, among them Saswati Ghosh, Miratun Nahar, Bolan Ganguly, Sunanda Sanyal, Meher Engineer, Asim Giri and Dilip Chakraborty.
State Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya and party leader Nirbed Roy joined councilor Mala Roy and local Krishna Debnath joined them along with four truck loads of Congress supporters from No. 13 Bustee and Kalia Colony Rail Bridge in Tollygunge.
"Please don't label this a rally by intellectuals. It is a citizen's rally with people the cross-section of society," said scholar Miratun Nahar, aware that the turnout was not quite what she and others had hoped despite the short web campaign.
"I had hoped more youngsters would participate. But that does not belittle the issue. A year after the Park Street rape case, there has been no justice for the victim. Not only has she been vilified by people in power, she has been ostracized in society. She has been refused tenancy and jobs. We want immediate arrest of the two prime accused who are absconding and speedy justice for the victim," said activist Saswati Ghosh.
Questioning the laxity on the part of police, Nahar wondered if it was the comment of home minister (Mamata also holds the home portfolio) that the case was a concocted one that had prompted them to go slow.
"The CM calls it 'shajano ghotona'. Her ministers cast aspersions on the victim's character and term the rape accused as 'clients'. The only police officer who dared to conduct an impartial probe is transferred. Is there a link between the rape accused and those in top echelons in the administration? How the police have dealt with this case is reflective of the government's attitude," remarked Aich.
The Park Street crossing was blocked for nearly an hour by a group of women, mobilized by Mala Roy, even as the dozen-odd intellectuals were allowed to proceed to Park Street police station and submit a memorandum.
Activist Saswati Ghosh blames the Mamata government not only for "delayed justice" in the Park Street rape case but also the victim's humiliation because of "character assassination by the chief minister and her ministers".
"It is because of the aspersions that were cast on her character and irresponsible comments that the CM and some ministers made about her that she has found it difficult to land a job or reside in a place of her choice. This is continued violation of human rights. The state must own responsibility and remedy the situation," said Ghosh.
Aich felt the government needed to extend all possible help to the victim. "It is a shame that she has to continue suffering the ordeal," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment