No more meetings in College Square, announces Mamata after student's plea

Responding to a student's plea, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that her Trinamool Congress party will stop conducting meetings and rallies in the city's education hub of College Square.

She also batted for a law to ensure students are not disturbed due to the rallies.

The College Square area in north Kolkata houses the main campuses of Calcutta University, Presidency University as also the Calcutta Medical College.

Lined with age-old books shops, the venue on any given day is choc-a-bloc with students and researchers. College Square is also one of the top choices for political parties to articulate their views through rallies and meetings. It is also home to the intellectuals' meeting point, Coffee House, immortalised by the legendary Manna Dey in an eponymous song.

"The research scholars should officially write to the police (Kolkata Police Commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayastha). Officially, I am telling (Minister) Firhad Hakim to instruct our party, we will not hold any meetings and rallies in College Square," Banerjee said.

"You have given a good proposal. I agree with you. Students get disturbed due to the din... the sloganeering etc. Everybody must follow up. This is a genuine demand. Make a law," she said, responding to a Calcutta University student's grievance during an administrative review meeting in Hooghly district.

She asked the student to give the proposal in writing to the police and instructed Purakayastha to forward it to her office.

"Although I hold only a few rallies there, but I agree with you. The others hold regular rallies there," she added.

--IANS

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