[ad_1]
AIFF chief Kalyan Chaubey also joined the protest outside the iconic Salt Lake Stadium.© X (Twitter)
In a rare display of camaraderie, supporters of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan gathered near the Salt Lake Stadium to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Amid the ongoing protests in Kolkata, the first derby of the season between the two arch-rivals was cancelled on the eve of the match on Saturday. All India Football Federation (AIFF) chief Kalyan Choubey also joined the protest outside the iconic Salt Lake Stadium.
Kolkata has been witnessing massive protests since last week over the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
To avoid a similar situation inside the stadium, the Kolkata derby match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan scheduled for Saturday was cancelled.
Reports also claimed that the Durand Cup organisers were also looking at shifting the match out of Kolkata, with Jamshedpur being the frontrunner to host the match.
Choubey, however, criticised the decision to cancel the matches and was also not in favour of shifting the matches out of Kolkata.
“The first derby of the season between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan was scheduled to be held today and if even half the number of policemen that have been deployed here to stop this match and arrest the supporters who have come to watch the match were deployed, then this match would have happened today. East Bengal, Mohun Bagan matches should be held here,” Choubey told reporters during the protest.
Choubey also demanded that the culprits behind the alleged rape and murder of the woman doctor should be punished.
He said, “I believe that football is not connected to any politics, it is above all religion, caste. I am fully confident that if you organize the match here then there will be no ruckus, no disturbance in the football ground, I am fully confident that all the people will support their teams peacefully but the match should not be shifted from here… The people of football also want that the culprit should be caught as soon as possible and the culprit should be punished.”
Topics mentioned in this article
[ad_2]
Source link