Eighty-three-year-old Prasenjit Sengupta did not think twice when students and a bunch of other young protesters decided late on Saturday to stay put at Metro channel till Prime Minister Narendra Modi left Calcutta.
He felt that as a senior citizen it was his responsibility to stay back with the youngsters and keep the protest flag flying through the cold night.
“I had come in a small group walking from Sealdah on Saturday afternoon,” said the Belghoria resident.
“I’ve taken part in a dozen marches and rallies against the amended citizenship act. How could I have stayed away when the man most responsible for these actions was in town? He is taking our country to dark days,” Sengupta said, waving a black flag signalling that Modi was not welcome to the city.
The octogenarian ate bread from a roadside stall for dinner and did not sleep throughout Saturday night and on Sunday morning. Yet when The Telegraph spoke to him on Sunday afternoon, his voice and gestures did not betray any sign of fatigue.
“I thought why should I bother when so many young boys and girls are spending the night in the open without fear,” said Sengupta, who was an active trade unionist when he was working.
“I walked around the place and listened to the songs and slogans. I spoke to many students and explained to them why I was here,” he said.
Sengupta left for his home around 1pm, after the Prime Minister had been flown from Netaji Indoor Stadium to the airport on a helicopter. Sengupta had a friend, Soumen Sarkar, 59, for company. The Behala resident has been without a fixed job for nearly two decades.
“Can any human being with some sense support the CAA, NRC or NPR? It violates the basic tenets of our Constitution,” Sarkar said.