On Sunday (August 18), BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya released a recording of a conversation in which a policeman asked a youth not to protest at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, where the match between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal East Bengal Football Club was scheduled.
“The match has been cancelled. So please don’t come there to protest, okay? That’s all I wanted to say,” said the police officer from Bidhannagar South police station.
When told that the demonstration would go ahead anyway, the police officer warned: “No, I’m telling you so that you don’t come. A game was planned at this location, but it has now been cancelled.”
Mamata Banerjee has turned West Bengal into a police state.
The little dictator has instructed Kolkata Police to call individual sports fans who were planning to attend the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan derby and use the opportunity to demand justice for the rape of RG Kar MCH… https://t.co/m6UaAXVWsl pic.twitter.com/YB23q6mbWQ
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) 18 August 2024
“The game was cancelled just because of such a flimsy excuse,” the youth told the police officer. He added: “Thank you for informing me. But I’m telling you that thousands of people will be there.”
It is worth mentioning that sports enthusiasts were protesting against the murder of a junior doctor at RG Medical College and Hospital during the match between Mohun Bagan Super Giants and East Bengal Football Club.
The much-awaited football match was scheduled to take place on Sunday (August 18) but was cancelled a day earlier. The decision came after the police informed the All India Football Federation that they could not provide security.
#REGARD | West Bengal: A protest was held near the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. pic.twitter.com/Uu8P5omlJg
— ANI (@ANI) 18 August 2024
Despite the cancellation of the game and attempts at intimidation by the police, football fans gathered near the stadium on Sunday (18 August) and held large demonstrations.