The Congress has announced a statewide agitation beginning Friday, demanding Das’s unconditional bail and protesting what it described as a policy of political repression.
Sarkar also drew a comparison with the arrest of Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra during the previous Trinamool Congress government. Mahapatra was arrested after circulating a political cartoon involving then chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
“This incident bears a resemblance to the Ambikesh Mahapatra episode. Drawing a lesson from that, we want to assert that West Bengal is not anyone’s ancestral property. We believe in the Hindutva of Swami Vivekananda and respect saints and seers. However, we will not allow a self-styled ‘Baba’ — imported from outside and enjoying government patronage — to come here and insult Bengalis and their Durga Puja. Every Congress worker will protest against this. We, too, want to see just how many jails the government has,” Sarkar said.
The comparison was also made by CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty, who accused the present government of repeating the politics of the past. “The current chief minister grew up in the shadow of Mamata Banerjee,” Chakraborty said, referring to Adhikari’s position as Banerjee’s deputy in the TMC for several years.
Referring to the arrests of Mahapatra and Jangalmahal activist Shiladitya Chowdhury, Chakraborty added, “He was a partner in the actions taken by Mamata — such as the arrests of Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and Shiladitya Chowdhury of Jangalmahal — stemming from the mindset that forwarding cartoons was a punishable offence.”
Mahapatra himself said the arrest represented a wider threat to democratic freedoms. “There is an attempt to suppress democratic movements through undemocratic means. An assault has begun on the rights granted to the country’s citizens by the Constitution,” he said.
Kunal Ghosh, the Kalighat faction TMC MLA, also criticised the government for protecting Shastri while acting against Congress protesters. “Bageshwar Baba, who insulted Bengalis, is being shielded. Why couldn’t the chief minister arrest Ananta Maharaj, who insulted Netaji (Subhas Bose)?” he asked.
Congress now plans to take the protest beyond Bhabanipur. A demonstration has been organised by Prasad on Friday. On Saturday, Central Kolkata District Congress president Manas Sarkar will lead a demonstration at Wellington, where Suvankar Sarkar is expected to join. Similar programmes are planned in other parts of Bengal.
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