For three days, the Calcutta Club has refused to answer any queries on the issue.
Controversy continues over the cancellation of an event titled "The Saga of Balochistan and Kashmir" at the premier Calcutta Club, with no one taking onus of the decision. It has been alleged that the club was asked by the police to cancel event at the behest of the state government - but none of them have spoken up yet.
A panel discussion with author Tarek Fatah, Major General GD Bakshi, and other eminent speakers at the Calcutta Club did not take place as scheduled on Saturday. The Swadhikar Bangla Foundation - started by BJP leader and Kargil war hero Colonel Diptansu Chaudhary -- and the Calcutta Club were the organisers of the event.
For three days, the Calcutta Club has refused to answer any queries on the issue. It has told organisers that they were cancelling the event as they wanted to "ensure a cordial atmosphere" on its premises.
Swadhikar Bangla Foundation's Sanjoy Som said the organisation is "absolutely determined" to hold this programme. "We will not be gagged and we will hold this right here in Kolkata with absolutely the same panel," he added.
Major General GD Bakshi said he was shocked when the organisers were told that they cannot discuss Kashmir and Balochistan as it would create a law and order problem.
"This is sovereign Indian territory and we are discussing an issue of national security... what better place to discuss this than in the intellectual climate of our most intellectual city of this country from where all stalwarts of the freedom movement came?" Major General Bakshi said.
The police and the government denied any role in the cancellation, saying it was the club's administrative decision. Off the record, some club officials said they were asked by the police to cancel event and allege that the state government was working behind the scenes to ensure it.
The BJP has attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress. "The entire freedom movement, revolutionary movement and certainly freedom of speech are priorities as far as people in Bengal are concerned. It is really disgraceful that we could not hold this debate on Balochistan and Kashmir," Chandra Bose, who took on Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly elections told NDTV.
Pushed for a response, state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said, "I don't know. I don't know anything."