Now, rallies may be hosted at College Square on weekends

Kolkata Police have decided to allow rallies and meetings at College Square on Saturdays and Sundays.

Organising any programme at College Square was banned from June 1. There are educational institutions including Calcutta University, Presidency College, Hindu School and Hare School situated nearby.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced the ban on organising rallies and meeting while holding an administrative review meeting at Tarakeswar in Hooghly. She had made the announcement after some students of Calcutta University complained to her that they couldn't study properly due to the disturbance created by regular meetings which are organised at College Square.

From the administrative review meeting itself, the Chief Minister had said: "Political parties organise rallies and meeting there. It should stop. How can students study if people are raising slogans constantly on the microphones?"

Stating the proposal given by the students a "superb one", she had asked them to submit an application to the city police and they will turn it into a silence zone.

Subsequently, the city police had issued a notification banning any rally at College Square. Different political parties were not ready to accept the ban and had also approached the Kolkata Police in this connection.

On Sunday, Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner of Police, said: "Rallies and meetings will not be allowed on weekdays. But we are considering allowing it on Sundays and Saturdays. But a notification will be issued on Monday allowing it on Saturdays and Sundays."

"They will be allowed to organise rallies after taking permission from the police on Sundays and Saturdays as educational institutions remain closed on those days," he said.

When asked whether permission will be given to hold meetings on other holidays, Kumar said: "College Street was declared as silence zone because students get disturbed as the class rooms in the educational institutions are close to roads. Thus students should not get disturbed and should be able to attend their classes properly."

The 1.5 km long College Street is a part of the city's heritage where the oldest educational institutions are situated. The main gate of the College Square situated just opposite Calcutta University had turned into a zone for holding protest rallies and meetings by political parties. Thus, on weekdays it used to create problems for students. Even a research scholar had raised the issue of the problem faced by the students due to the rallies.