Calcutta HC gives nod for Kolkata rally to protest against minority atrocities in B’desh

Kolkata: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Tuesday, gave a conditional nod to an independent trust to conduct a rally in the city protesting against the minority atrocities in neighbouring Bangladesh.

The said trust christened Govardhana Giri Charitable Trust approached the single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh after the Kolkata Police denied the permission for the same.

As the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, the state government counsel argued that the permission was denied since a rally with a gathering of over 3,000 people would cause tremendous traffic congestion on the weekday since it would move through the busy office areas.

However, in his counter-argument, the counsel of the trust said that when the ruling party in the state conducts rallies whenever it wishes, the police promptly give the permission.

“However, the same permission is denied when any other party or organisation wants to conduct a rally. We will try to assemble as few people as possible. After the rally, a small delegation will go to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata and submit a memorandum there,” the trust’s counsel argued.

Thereafter, Justice Ghosh ruled that a fathering of between 500 and 650 people would be able to conduct the rally, assemble at Park Circus Ground which is pretty close to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission and thereafter a five-member delegation will be allowed to the Deputy High Commission to submit the memorandum.

Bangladesh was on the boil in July and August this year following the mass movement against the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government there, following which she ultimately had to flee from Bangladesh and take shelter in India.

The violence did not stop even after the new interim government headed by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus took charge. In the recent past, there have been reports of several instances of attacks and atrocities on the minority Hindus in Bangladesh.

The Indian government has expressed concern over the development.