West Bengal: Theatre artistes rally against CAA, state BJP chief says protest against his party

Theatre artistes take out a protest march in Kolkata on Friday. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

City-based theatre artistes and actors on Friday took out a protest rally against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and condemned the attack on students across universities. The rally, which was taken out from Rashbehari, culminated outside the Academy of Fine Arts.

“We cannot tolerate the way students in various universities are being targeted and attacked for raising their voice against the CAA. This is not a political rally. We have no political colour. We have come to the streets to protest against the divisive CAA,” said theatre personality Bibhas Chakrabarty.

Bengali film actor Paran Bandyopadhyay said, “Today the country is in distress and people have started awakening. The people in power have got the people’s response and this protest will continue.”

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh criticised the theatre personalities for taking out the march. “This is not a protest against CAA but against the BJP. They are facing a crisis and that’s why they are on streets. They are nervous as the TMC has become nervous as well,” said Ghosh.