“Kitne ko daaloge andar, poora desh mein Jantar Mantar (How many will you put behind bars? The entire country is Jantar Mantar)” rang out on Sunday as thousands of students marched in protest against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
“Hum leke rahenge Azadi, vote chori se Azadi” (We will win our freedom, freedom from vote theft),” the students shouted as they set off from Sealdah.
Organised by a platform of eight Left student organisations, the march culminated in a sit-in on one side of Rani Rashmoni Road near Esplanade on Sunday afternoon.
Students from Jadavpur University, Presidency University and the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI) led the march, protesting the alleged police crackdown on demonstrators who marched to Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday, demanding the removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Sampriti, a Jadavpur University PhD scholar, said the alleged police crackdown at Jantar Mantar showed that the Narendra Modi government was using brutal measures to silence dissent.
“In the name of the special intensive revision, the chief election commissioner has deleted voters’ names from the electoral rolls. When students raise their voices against vote theft, the Modi government cracks down on protesters to force them into submission,” she said.
“Thousands of students have taken to the streets in Calcutta to express solidarity with the protesters in Delhi. We will not be intimidated. What he has done amounts to treason against the country,” she added.
Sunday’s march followed the same route as a student procession on July 22, two days after alleged police action against supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The CJP supporters had demanded the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged leak of the NEET examination paper. Pradhan resigned on July 23.
On Sunday, students raised slogans calling for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, including: “Pradhan ke baad, ab Gyanesh ki baari hai” (After Pradhan, now it is Gyanesh’s turn).
Aniket, who is pursuing a cost accountancy programme, said the right to vote was a fundamental democratic right that allowed citizens to choose their government every five years.
“By deleting the names of 13 crore voters from the electoral rolls, the chief election commissioner has snatched their democratic rights. Gyanesh Kumar’s sole agenda is to ensure that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah remain in power perpetually. This cannot be allowed. We must reclaim our democratic rights,” he said.
Several students held up posters reading: “Protestors: We want answers; Govt: Best I can do is detention. Shame on Delhi Police.”
Another poster read: “You cannot jail entire India. India won’t stop until traitor RSS-BJP is defeated.”
Campus vandalism
Sunday’s march also condemned alleged vandalism at campuses, including Jadavpur University (JU) and SRFTI, by outfits linked to the RSS.
JU was allegedly stormed twice by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS’s student wing, on August 20, hours apart.
The incidents followed an alleged assault a day earlier on the RSS unit president at Jadavpur University by supporters of Left student organisations.
At SRFTI, students were allegedly attacked by the RSS-linked Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) on September 27.
On October 4, students were allegedly attacked by supporters of the Hindu Jagran Manch, who accused SRFTI students of disrespecting images of Swami Vivekananda and Bharat Mata while attempting to disrupt an ABGP event on the campus.