People's Democracy

Creative Community Condemns

High-Handedness of West Bengal Govt

The following is the text of the press statement issued by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT), Parcham and Act One on October 11, 2012

This meeting of writers, theatre persons, musicians and cultural activists, held in New Delhi on October 11, is greatly disturbed by the increasing attacks on persons belonging to different sections of the intelligentsia in West Bengal. Teachers, particularly those not owing allegiance to the ruling party, have been targetted in a big way.

The recent attack on theatre personality Bimal Chakraborty in Kolkata on October 2 is an alarming development. Bimal Chakraborty, as a conscious citizen, had merely objected to the high-handed behaviour of some supporters of Trinamool Congress with petty shop-keepers who had joined a CPI(M) rally on October 1. The group of goons then attacked Chakraborty, who later filed a report with the Baranagar Police Station.

The complicity of the ruling party and the administration was evident in the vindictive action when Chakraborty, a state government employee, was transferred to another department where he has been put on 'Compulsory Waiting' as a punishment, within two days.

We condemn such high-handedness and hope that this trend be reversed by the united actions of the intelligentsia, as witnessed in the October 5 protest by Soumitra Chatterjee, Rudra Prasad Sengupta, Dwijen Bandopadhyay, Bibhash Chakraborty, Usha Ganguly, Chandan Sen, Swaroop Dutta, Chitra Sen, Badshah Maitra and several others.

We express full solidarity with the creative community of West Bengal.