Multiple civil society groups, social organisations, human rights platforms and cultural bodies in Kolkata have planned a demonstration under a common slogan on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the city.
There will be posters and banners urging the Prime Minister “to go back.” An elaborate ‘civil disobedience movement’, branded as “no NRC, no NPR, no CAA campaign,” has been planned. Mr. Modi is expected to attend four programmes in the city over the weekend.
From early Saturday morning, the groups will mobilise people from the city and suburbs to march to two points. At Kaikhali traffic crossing near the airport, the objective will be to stop the Prime Minister from entering the city, the organisers said. However, it is not yet clear if Mr. Modi will be flown into the city from the airport in an Army copter or taken by road all the way to his first programme venue in Dalhousie Square. He is expected to visit Belur Math founded by Swami Vivekananda on Saturday evening.
The anti-NRC groups will also assemble near Raj Bhavan . “We appeal to participants to carry only the national flag and not the flag of any political party,” said Prasenjit Bose, a key organiser.
Meanwhile, protests continued in parts of Kolkata on Thursday. At one anti-NRC, CAA programme, research scholars from various universities and independent institutes demanded “creation of awareness to examine the connection of government exercises [like NRC and CAA] with the day-to-day issues” of the people. The group, Democratic Research Scholars’ Organisation, said more than 100 scholar representatives participated in the programme. In the city’s central Park Circus area, more than 500 people, mostly elderly Muslim women, resorted to a sit-in demonstration. Student groups also participated in the protests that have been continuing for the last three days.