'Defeat fascist forces': Eminent personalities lead protest

Eminent personalities of the city led a protest rally on Tuesday, condemning the attack on students and teachers of the JNU in Delhi and called to defeat the "fascist forces" who want to create an atmosphere of fear.

A statement, which was signed by 20 personalities, said the attack in JNU campus by "outsiders owing allegiance to ABVP" showed the dangerous gameplan of the Hindutva elements to crush dissent and erode liberal space by using brute force.

The signatories included elocutionist Jagannath Basu and Urmimala Basu, educaitonist Pabitra Sarkar, music composer Debajyoti Mishra, directors Anik Dutta and Kamaleswar Mukherjee, actor Parambrata Chatterjee and singer Rupankar Bagchi.

Many of them also took part in a protest march from Presidency University campus in College Street to Jorasanko Thakurbari, the ancestral residence of Rabindranath Tagore.

Students of several colleges and universities also took part in the rally. Faculty members of the Presidency University also walked alongside them.

Over 30 faculty members of the Presidency University in a separate statement said "we are watching with great concern the situation unfolding before us today".

"We are anguished by the inertia of those who should protect and safeguard us, even as we are dismayed by what is clear and concerted attack on the autonomy and integrity of the university," they said.