What is Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj, the Student Body Leading 'March to Nabanna' Rally in Kolkata

New Delhi: The Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj, that led the 'Nabanna Abhijan' rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, is a student organisation that cropped up in the past few weeks. The student outfit led the march to Nabanna demanding West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation over the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder incident. Despite the administration terming the protest illegal, the outfit began its protest march to the state secretariat, which has been turned into a fortress with heavy police and security force deployment.

The Paschimbanga Chhatra Samaj is an unregistered student outfit. The rally was organised by Prabir Das, a Master's student of Rabindra Bharati University, Subhankar Halder of Kalyani University and Sayan Lahiri of Rabindra Mukta University.

The students have claimed their outfit was apolitical. Members of the outfit were enraged over the handling of the RG Kar case by the Mamata government.

Interestingly, junior doctors who were protesting, seeking justice for the 31-year-old trainee doctor, have distanced themselves from the call for rally. Instead, they have called for a separate rally on Wednesday in Central Kolkata.

Meanwhile, the Left has also decided to stay away from the 'March to Nabanna' rally. According to media reports, CPI(M) youth leader Minakshi Mukherjee said that the Left student bodies, SFI and DYFI, would not participate in the rally, alleging that it was being organised by an RSS-backed body.