“This government is scared of students”, says Mamata Banerjee & condemns the detention Ramchandra Guha

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to condemn the detention of historian Ramchandra Guha in Banglore.

Guha was part of a peaceful protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Bangalore outside the Town Hall, when he was detained by police.

Banerjee’s tweet read: “This government is scared of students. This government is scared of one of India’s most accomplished historians for speaking to the media on #CAB #NRC and holding a poster of GandhiJi. I condemn the detention of Ram Guha. We extend our full solidarity to all those detained.”
Guha was dragged by the arms by a policeman while another gestured a punch at him while he was being interviewed by a journalist. Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao was quoted saying that during protests that took placed without permission, there were instances of stone-throwing that led to the decision of not allowing it.

A number of Left Front top leaders were also detained by the police, including Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and D Raja. Condemning the incident a Left leader said, “This is brutal oppression. Left leaders, students and common citizens including comrade Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Nilotpal Basu, Hannan Mollah, D Raja, Pallab Sengupta, Yogendra Yadav, Umar Khalid, let there be roars. No looking back from here”.

Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav, student leader Umar Khalid were among the other protestors detained in Delhi.
Several protests have been scheduled in various parts of the country today from ordinary citizens not under any political party’s banner. However, Section 144 has been imposed in Bangalore for three days. Permission for rally was also withheld in Delhi, and gathering of four or more people has been banned near Red Fort. Lucknow has also banned large gatherings.