New Delhi: Over 150 women protesters were on Tuesday allegedly beaten up by the Kolkata Police during a protest march against the farm laws and demand for jobs and security for women in the city, news reports said.
More than 200 activists including members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) were arrested and taken to Lalbazar headquarters of the Kolkata Police, NewsClick reported.
According to the report, the woman activists were barricaded from all sides when they tried to march from their protest site. The police tried to ensure that the protesters could not move from the protest venue. Therefore, as per the report, over 4,000 women marched to the main road from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation office’s gate.
Baton-wielding male police forces and civic volunteers then allegedly beat them up, while the women police were kept inactive.
“…the police beat them up with lathis, kicked them in the abdomen, dragged them by the hair to the buses waiting to arrest them. The women police were kept inactive and male policemen attacked the women in a most violent manner,” the AIDWA in a statement told NewsClick.
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Police atrocity
AIDWA state secretary Koninika Ghosh told the news portal that she was also a victim of the police violence, along with other members from her organisation. According to the news report, Soma Das, Atreyi Guha, Bilkis Begum, Monalisa Sinha and Samita Har Chowdhury were injured during the police violence. Latika Rahman and Kakli Moitra had to be hospitalised, the report said.
While one group of AIDWA workers were arrested, another group stood on the dharna stage along with hundreds of activists and negotiated a deal to the release the woman activists.
The West Bengal Left Front has called for a state-wide protest against the police action.
CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra criticised the state government and the police action on hundreds of women protesters and told NewsClick that the “filthy language used by the police for the protesters was unbelievable”.
CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakraborty told the news portal that the way the male police handled the situation was devoid of all “etiquette and laws and the police torture has hurt the woman’s right to live and protest.”
According to the report, AIDWA general secretary Koninika Ghosh, along with others hailed the farmers’ movement in New Delhi, and other movements which have come up against the central government. The AIDWA workers raised slogans like “Our hungry belly needs work which does not come with the baggage of caste, creed or religion”.
Leaders of the Mahila Congress, the AIWA, AIRWA and other Left and democratic women’s organisations also participated in the rally.
AIDWA leader Malini Bhattacharya said that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress are distracting people from the “real fight of getting food for all the people of the country”. She added, as per the report, that the Centre is giving security to those who break law and order, while giving permission for hoarding.