Kolkata, Jan 2 (.) Alarmed by the growing culture of online abuse and intimidation, prominent members of the Bengali film industry made their way to the city police headquarters Lalbazar on Friday, urging the police to step in and curb what they described as a “sustained harassment campaign” on social media.
Leading the delegation were Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India President Swarup Biswas and Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) president Pyia Sengupta, joined by actors Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Abir Chatterjee and Jisshu Sengupta. Producer Rana Sarkar, filmmaker Shiboprasad Mukherjee and composer Indradip Dasgupta were also part of the delegation.
Biswas addressed mediapersons and spelt out the purpose of the visit. “Our artistes and technical crew are constantly being heckled, abused and personally targeted on social media platforms. Such insults and humiliation have become part of their daily routine.”
Reposing faith in the authorities, Biswas said, “We have complete faith in the police and are hopeful that appropriate action will be taken.”
Parambrata Chattopadhyay noted, “Everyone has the right to express their views but there is a thin line between disrespecting someone and acknowledging one’s opinions. Those commenting should be cautious. The number of personal attacks and threats we receive needs to be checked and put an end to.”
Jisshu Sengupta echoed Chattopadhyay, “I just want to copy and paste whatever Param mentioned. The authorities took into account every small detail and we are hopeful that things will turn out in our favour.”
While the gathering included many of Bengali film industry’s top stars and producers, actor and MP Dev was not present.
The police, sources said, have assured the delegation that the complaints will be examined and necessary steps taken in accordance with the law. . . .