ELIMINATING INJUSTICE: Amartya Sen, flanked by Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, at the National Library on Monday evening. (Aranya Sen)

A brainstorming session on “eliminating injustice” behind closed doors, led by Amartya Sen and joined by the likes of Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, Asim Dasgupta and Sitaram Yechury.

A barracking session of “cholbe na, cholbe na” in front of the director’s office, by over 100 Citu members protesting the “injustice” of the suspension of 12 contractual conservancy employees and disrupting reader services.

The National Library on Monday presented a picture of contrasts dipped in irony.

On the one hand was the decorous Kolkata Group Workshop on Eliminating Injustice organised by the Pratichi Trust (India), Harvard’s Global Equity Initiative and Unicef India, and on the other a raucous demonstration by Citu, protesting their idea of injustice.

Demanding justice: Citu agitation on Monday afternoon. (Aranya Sen)

Santanu Bhowmick, the secretary of the CPM-backed National Library Employees Association, said: “The 12 people were suspended following the director’s intervention. In the interest of common workers, we will not tolerate this kind of injustice.”

When asked about the Citu protests against “injustice” coinciding with their eponymous conference at the library, state finance minister Asim Dasgupta expressed surprise. “Citu comprises state government employees. I do not know why they organised a demonstration inside an institution that belongs to the central government.”

Nobel Laureate Sen, who had penned The Idea of Justice last year, steered clear of this particular demand for justice.

“I have only landed last night and know nothing about it. It hasn’t come up during the conference. But I am interested to hear about it and will read about it in The Telegraph tomorrow,” he smiled.

On the group meeting at the library, he added: “It’s a lovely building with a good heritage, close to the hotel (Taj Bengal) and cheaper than holding it at a hotel…. Not very profound reasons, but very practical reasons.”

Sharmila Tagore with Amartya Sen. (Aranya Sen)

Practical reasons are what the library’s director K.K Banerjee cited to slam Citu’s three-hour show of strength. “Demonstrations and slogan shouting are strictly prohibited on the premises. I will write to the Union culture ministry to take stringent action against those who participated in the demonstration,” Banerjee told Metro, adding that the protesters should have gone to the recruitment agency rather than “creating nuisance inside the library”.

Readers like Arko Chattopadhyay, a research scholar from JU, blasted “such nonsense politics” and made it clear that the library was meant for “readers” and for conferences like the one that had brought Amartya Sen and Co. to the Belvedere address.

“What kind of an impression would Prof. Sen, the foreign delegates, women of substance like Shabana, Sharmila and Nandita have after seeing red flags, banners and sloganeering in the abode of books?” wondered a reader.

When this was posed to Sitaram Yechury, the CPM politburo member said: “I do not know about the demonstration. Let me find out first.”

Psst: A tip to the library authorities to nip future protests in the bud — play the Bollywood card. The one thing that could have prompted many to defect from the Citu shouting brigade was a date with the stars. “I am trying to catch a glimpse of Sharmila Tagore. She is still so beautiful,” gushed a woman employee and Citu sympathiser.