Kolkata, Aug 23 (IANS) 23 people were arrested for attacking and stone pelting at former Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar’s rally in West Bengal’s Hoogly district on Wednesday, police said.

The agitators tried to stop Kanhaiya Kumar from going to a public meeting organised at the Town Hall in Hoogly district’s Serampore, calling him “anti-national” and threw stones at the rallyists.

“We have arrested 23 people for attacking the rally, pelting stones and violating the law and order situation in the area. One police officer has been injured in the stone pelting by the agitators,” a senior police officer from Chandannagar Police Commissionerate told IANS.

However, the officer could not provide any information about the protestors’ political affiliation.

The protestors also tried to stop Kanhaiya Kumar’s car and showed him black flag in district’s Uttarpara and Rishra but police dispersed the crowd.

The former JNUSU president, who is travelling to various parts of Bengal since the last three days as part of the All India Student Federation and All India Youth Federation sponsored Long March, held multiple public meetings in Hoogly including Uttarpara and Serampore.

A major scuffle took place during Kanhaiya Kumar’s public meeting in South Kolkata’s Jadavpur on Tuesday evening where an RSS activist allegedly tried to throw ink at him and got severely beaten up by the AISF activists present there while another incident of ink throwing on the rally took place near the Jodhpur Park area.

On Monday, nearly 100 slogan shouting BJP activists had staged a demonstration against Kanhaiya Kumar in Midnapore town of West Midnapore district, calling him an IS terrorist group’s agent and “anti-national” .

They had also thrown rotten eggs at him, but the missiles missed the target, as police cordoned off Kanhaiya Kumar and barricaded the protestors.

The AISF and AIYF – the student and youth wings of the Communist Party of India – have taken out a “Save India- Change India” long march across the country from July 15.

Kanhaiya Kumar has been the main crowdpuller throughout the long march, that began from the country’s southernmost landmass Kanyakumari and would end on September 2 at Hussainiwala of Punjab close to the India-Pakistan border.

–IANS
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