A day after College Square rally ban, gates to the iconic landmark were shut

A day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced her government's desire to bar political rallies in and around

College Square

all but two gates to the landmark protests were shut, revealing the administration's urgency to implement the ban.

An officer of Jorasanko police station said: "We decided to shut the gates because the protestors may try to go in. All the gates facing College Street will remain close for a few days."

Many visitors to College Square were livid to find the big iron gates under lock and key but once they were told that it was to prevent traffic chokers political rallies, very few complained. Several educational institutes around College Square have welcomed the decision though the political community has lambasted the idea.

College Square, spread over 25 acres, itself has undergone a metamorphosis over the decades. The vast expanse inside has given way to smaller units that house anything from nurseries to a pay and use toilet, from an enclosure for morning walkers' association to coaching classes for civil service examinations.

"Earlier there used to be benches with the waterbody in the middle. There was ample space to walk around it," said Joy Krishna Bag, deputy swimming coach at

YMCA

sporting club. Bag, 63, who has been coaching here for over 35-years has been an eye-witness to the metamorphosis. "College Square was a hotbed of protests. Even before I started coaching here I would read in the newspapers how Naxalites and their sympathisers would clash with the police here," said Bag.

Faced by a poser from a Calcutta University research scholar at the end of an administrative review meeting at Tarakeswar on Thursday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced her government will bar political rallies in College Square. Within hours, Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar -using his magisterial powers -banned processions, rallies, meetings and demonstrations in the area from Monday.

The educational institutes have welcomed the decisions though a section of the students feel that this will curb their right to protest.

"If the ban is actually implemented it will be a blessing for us," said a lady teacher with Hindu School which is located adjacent to College Square. "It is impossible to teach with all the cacophony and noise emerging from rallies," she said.

Gauranga Basu, an administrator at Sanskrit College and University located at

Bankim Chatterjee Street

behind College Square, looked relieved. "It is high time somebody took a firm stand against the rallies. The noise pollution is unbearable," said Basu.

Besides the noise, rallies — sometimes multiple of them in a day — would completely paralyse the area. "Before any rally the police cordons of the entire road for traffic. Faculty members and other staff of the college have problems bringing in their vehicles. Several times protestors clash with the police posing big threat to our staff and students. Prohibiting protests and rallies in the area will restore some peace," said a professor in Calcutta University.

Even the number of morning walkers has dwindled inside College Square over the years because there is hardly any space for two people to walk together. Till the 1990s, College Square was the only option for morning walkers residing in central Kolkata. "It is impossible to walk there. Not only is it impossible to walk briskly but even walking slowly is not an option without hitting the person infront of you. I remember I stopped going there in the mid -1990s. Now I go to Maidan. I know it is far but atleast there is space there,' said Atiqur Rahman, a resident of Bolai Dutta Street in central Kolkata.

Former CPM Rajya Sabha member Shyamal Chakraborty said that it was an attempt to muzzle democracy. "In a democracy you cannot muzzle the voice of the people. This step is not acceptable. The people of the state will rise and protest and the protest will start from College Square," said Chakraborty.