A group of Bengali film and theatre personalities as well as activists wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to draw her attention towards recent incidents of violence in the state. The group, calling themselves Citizen Speak India, includes veteran film actor and director Aparna Sen.
The letter mentions the police lathicharge against protesting teachers in Kalyani on Saturday, 17 August. The teachers’ demands included salary hike and permanent designations. The letter also brings up a teachers’ protest in Kolkata which was disrupted by the police on Monday.
The letter also raises the issue of the assault on a theatre activist on Thursday, 15 August.
“We feel that such incidents are, in effect, an attack on all artistes propagating free thought, and should be condemned with the same severity as any case of lynching anywhere else in India” the letter added.
The other signatories in the letter include actors Koushik Sen, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Riddhi Sen, and activists Bolan Gangopadhyay and Rupsha Dasgupta.
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