Kolkata:
The Kolkata Police today arrested 14 protesters who had gathered at the Metro Channel area in Esplanade to protest against the recent Kamduni rape case and crimes against women.
The group of 30 protesters, which included students and theatre personalities, say they were protesting peacefully when a police van showed up.
"Why is it we cannot gather in front of the Metro Channel in spite of it being a public area? On what ground is it being secluded from our right and the fact that we cannot protest and if we do we are called Maoist. On what grounds is that happening?" said Satakshi, a protester who escaped arrest.
The Mamata Banerjee government has banned protests at Metro Channel as it is in the heart of the city and protests there badly disrupt traffic.
"The metro channel was open for all. Political parties and ordinary people could voice their protest there. But now metro channel has been closed to call. I think our right as citizens is being violated," said Soumidpto, another protester.
Budding film director Madhuwanti suspects there is more to the police riding roughshod over their protest.
"We went there to protest against what happened to Kamduni and the government's attitude to that. They are saying it is a small incident. It is not a small incident," she said.
The arrests, the protesters allege, are clear example of police highhandedness. They say the police could have spoken to them and they would have dispersed peacefully.
But the protesters' defiance and their cause - reclaiming Metro Channel and Kamduni - clearly did not go down well with the powers that be.