“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”
Mamata Banerjee may not like this popular quote attributed to Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin, given his influence on her long-time state rival, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), but it perhaps captures the situation of her tenure as chief minister of West Bengal.
The protest against a trainee doctor’s rape and murder at the R.G. Kar Medical College and hospital has become a battle of nerves. It has become a battle between an astute politician and a few thousand junior doctors supported by a large section of the society in Bengal. Thirteen years into power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is facing a crisis that is largely apolitical, despite her and her party’s efforts to make it political.
On Thursday, September 12, the TMC supremo used one of her aces when she declared her willingness to step down “for the interest of the people.” It was a masterclass of realpolitik. In a massive hall, she waited along with her junior health minister Chandrima Bhattacharya for over two hours as the state’s seniormost bureaucrats negotiated with the delegation of junior doctors to budge from their demand for a live telecast of the meeting. The picture was soon splashed across mainstream and social media with headlines reminding us of the master politician’s patience and openness to discuss and resolve protesting doctors’ demands.
Kolkata: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is waiting in the meeting hall for the protesting junior doctors. The doctors remain firm that they will not attend the meeting without live streaming pic.twitter.com/1ydabnzsGl
— IANS (@ians_india) September 12, 2024
“The state government has shared only 27 minutes of the four-hour video footage [of CCTV on the night of the crime at the government hospital] to the CBI citing a ‘technical glitch’. Who would ensure that the video recording of the meeting promised by the state government would not have any ‘technical glitch’?” questioned Dr Tathagata Das, a key member of West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum. He was part of the delegation that went to meet the chief minister on Thursday.
In a live press conference from the same podium, Banerjee proclaimed her forgiveness to the doctors for making her wait. “I will forgive them because, as elders, it is our duty to forgive our younger ones,” she stated. This was in marked contrast to the fiery Banerjee who, earlier this week, had warned the protesting doctors that government action could severely affect their careers.
In the same briefing, she also claimed that the ongoing protest is a conspiracy to dislodge her from her chair. “I hope people understand they (junior doctors) do not want justice but my chair,” she said. While all opposition parties in the state have held multiple rallies in this issue, the main movement, led by junior doctors have remained apolitical in nature. The junior doctors have also never called for Banerjee’s resignation.
Also read: Justice, a Gender Audit, Mamata’s Resignation: Who Is Asking for What in the R.G. Kar Protests
“Her statement has disappointed us. We are angry, but we are determined to secure our demands. Although this movement began with doctors, it has now become a movement of the people. From the very beginning, our demands have been clear — five demands directly related to the safety of doctors and patient services. Bringing up the issue of the chair is an attempt to divert attention from the core issue,” said Tathagata Das.
Sambit Pal, veteran political analyst and author of The Bengal Conundrum: The Rise of the BJP and the Future of the TMC, says at this point Banerjee is on the backfoot as a politician. “But now she has started playing the emotional card. Amidst all this, she is just not bringing up the corruption charges and allegations of malpractice against her health department and medical colleges,” said Pal.
As this piece was being published, Banerjee has arrived at the Swasthya Bhavan protest site, saying she does not know those involved in the corruption.
The doctors have expanded their demands to include the resignation of senior health officials, such as the Principal Secretary of Health and the Director of Medical Education, in addition to their initial five points. These five points include seeking justice for their murdered colleague, disciplinary action against the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh, the removal of top police officials including Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, improved security for healthcare workers, and an end to the prevailing “threat culture” in government healthcare facilities. While the state government has suspended three doctors, including Ghosh, for their role in the alleged corruption and irregularities, senior health and police officials have received public support from the chief minister.
“The crime scene was tampered with at the directive of the DME (Director of Medical Education) and the DHS (Director of Health Service). The Kolkata Police failed to stop the mob attack at the hospital on the night of August 14. The entire system is corrupt. How can we trust that there will be fair discussion without livestreaming?” asked Tathagata Das.
Slipping hold on the narrative
The growing distrust between the protesting doctors and the administration is evident, but what might be more concerning for Banerjee is the noticeable lack of support from civil society, many of whom backed her in recent elections to keep the BJP out of power. While Banerjee, a seasoned politician, has often been successful in controlling the narrative, she has struggled to manage this particular issue. Earlier this week, the chief minister seemed to adopt a new strategy by urging people to “return to the festivities,” likely assuming that the joy of Durga Puja celebrations would help diffuse their frustrations. However, this approach appears to have backfired, intensifying the movement instead of calming it.
“We must remember that TMC may have done well in the Lok Sabha elections, but Mamata Banerjee’s party didn’t fare well in the urban areas in this election. People are angry with the ruling party. The protests are a culmination of anger against the TMC’s local level leaders for their wrongdoings. It is also against Mamata Banerjee’s failure to control them. The R.G. Kar incident is just the trigger,” said Sambit Pal.
Ignited by the ‘Reclaim the Night’ call on the intervening night of August 14 and 15, the protests have since only grown in frequency and participation. For Banerjee, proficient in handling political agitation, a civil society uprising is a new territory. There is no defined ideology or opponent that she can address politically.
“This spontaneous people’s movement has no party banners or flags. If there is any politics involved, it is a struggle between the politics of fear culture and the politics of uniting people,” Tathagata Das stated.
“This is an ‘out of syllabus’ situation for her,” he added.
Since the start of the movement, TMC has accused the protesters of politicising a heinous crime. On Thursday, Banerjee escalated her rhetoric, calling it a conspiracy to oust her from power. “I hope people understand they (junior doctors) do not want justice but my chair,” she said. Ironically, the first political rally on this issue was led by the chief minister herself, demanding justice for the doctor.
Today, September 14, police have detained CPI(M) leader Kalatan Dasgupta over an audio clip that purportedly represents him as planning to incite violence against the protesting doctors. Many see this as a dubious claim – and a clear attempt to politicise the protests in terms that would suit Banerjee – because the Left has been entirely behind the protesting doctors.
Resignation
CPI(M) leader Minakshi Mukherjee, who is credited with playing a key role in blocking the hearse car from being whisked away at the hospital, and has been active in leading the Shyambazar sit-in of Left parties, noted that while Banerjee stepping down from the home and health minister’s role is their demand, their protest is against far more than that.
“If the West Bengal CM thinks she can shirk her role in this massive corruption by resigning from her chair, we won’t let her get away that easily,” Mukherjee said.
The demand for the chief minister’s resignation was initially raised by ‘Chatra Samaj,’ a little-known group with close ties to the BJP. Since their earlier high-profile rally, the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ march to the state secretariat, from which protesting doctors had distanced themselves, the group has kept a low profile, with its leader primarily appearing on local news channel panels. The BJP, which quickly backed the unruly mob and called for a statewide ‘Bangla Bandh,’ has also been sidelined by the citizens’ movement.
At a recent event in Kolkata, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat expressed the Sangh’s support for the government on this matter. The BJP’s ongoing sit-in in the heart of the city has attracted little public support, and even the West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose’s unprecedented call to “socially boycott” the sitting chief minister has garnered limited attention. He also called her “the Lady Macbeth of Bengal.”
For information of the staff of Raj Bhavan: pic.twitter.com/Yp4JJJ4uCO
— Raj Bhavan Media Cell (@BengalGovernor) September 12, 2024
Earlier this week, BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul was met with “go back” slogans from protesting doctors when she appeared near their sit-in at Swasthya Bhavan, the health department’s headquarters. In response, BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari and the party’s leader in the assembly said the junior doctors’ movement has been “infiltrated by women from Jadavpur” who “smoke and drink” and are thus “bad elements.”
Refuting his claim, the protesters said, “We have opposed anyone attempting to politicise our movement from the very beginning.”
“It is only normal to cry ‘go back’ slogans to BJP leaders as BJP leaders themselves inflict, condone and foster environments of sexual violence,” said gender activist Satabdi Das, one of the organisers of the Reclaim the Night movement.
“One should not forget Bilkis Bano or Asifa. We are fighting against rape culture and what Suvendu Adhikari has done is to slut shame us. The junior doctors have enough political understanding to gauge that BJP has no right to cash in on this movement,” she added.
The walls surrounding Swasthya Bhavan and medical colleges in Kolkata are adorned with anti-government graffiti and slogans, clearly influenced by left-wing ideologies. At numerous apolitical protests, chants of “Azadi (freedom)” are frequently heard, irking the right-wing camp. While the younger faces of the Left are often present at these apolitical rallies, they have thus far refrained from displaying any political flags.
“The left ideology is to treat women as human beings. It is true that junior doctors and the parents of the deceased doctor are the primary stakeholders of this movement. But it has now expanded to include everyone in the state. From the very first day, we have supported this movement,” said Minakshi Mukherjee.
Banerjee’s visit to the Swasthya Bhavan protest site today is seen as a bit of a climbdown. “I am against taking action against doctors,” she told the protesters. Sambit Pal says it is up to the urban middle class voters and the junior doctors to hold the fort and determine the future of the movement now.
Aparna Bhattacharya is a researcher and political analyst.
