Kolkata: The parents of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital had sought justice for their daughter without political interference. Her colleagues had called for an apolitical protest to shed light on workplace violence and corruption in the state’s health system. Women across West Bengal, rallying under the ‘Reclaim the Night’ movement to demand safety and justice, attempted to deliberately steer clear of political agendas. Yet to remark that the matter has turned into a political battleground would not be a mistake now.
In an article authored by her and published by the news agency PTI, President Draupadi Murmu a day ago expressed her outrage at the incident and declared, “Enough is enough”.
Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough — writes President Droupadi Murmu on the recent spate of crimes against women.https://t.co/p8lVaqGd1K
Advertisement— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 28, 2024
In the 997-word article, the President expressed her sadness over the violence perpetrated against women in India. While the article discussed specific cases like R.G. Kar and the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder, it omitted any mention of similar incidents in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states like the crimes at Kathua, Unnao, Hathras, or Manipur, or that on Bilkis Bano. This drew immediate criticism from the Trinamool Congress, in power in Bengal.
RGKor নিয়ে রাষ্ট্রপতির কথা শুনলাম।
তাঁকে সম্মান করি।উন্নাও, হাথরাস, বিলকিস, মণিপুরের সময় বুক কেঁপে ওঠেনি মাননীয়া?
ওড়িশা, মহারাষ্ট্র, উত্তরাখন্ড দেখতে পেলেন না?
সাক্ষী মালিকদের মত সোনার মেয়েদের প্রতিবাদের সময় আপনি চুপ করেছিলেন কেন?
বিজেপির বিরুদ্ধে বলতে কষ্ট হয়?— Kunal Ghosh (@KunalGhoshAgain) August 28, 2024
Advertisement
On Wednesday, August 28, the BJP, the state’s main opposition party, called for a 12-hour bandh to protest alleged police brutality against ‘student agitators’ who had caused widespread disruption in Kolkata on Tuesday. The so-called students’ rally – derided as ‘The Day of the Lumpen’ by the Kolkata-based newspaper The Telegraph – degenerated into a mob-led spectacle. Several police officers were injured, and one is reported to have lost vision in at least one eye. What had so far been a peaceful citizen’s agitation was hijacked by a group hurling sexist abuses at police personnel. Ironically, the ‘Paschim Bango Chhatra Somaj,’ a previously obscure student group with strong ties to the BJP, claimed its ‘Nabanna Abhijan (march to Nabanna)’ protest would be non-political.
By evening, the mask fell as top BJP leaders led a march to the Kolkata Police headquarters, demanding the release of detained protesters. On Wednesday, BJP workers clashed with police at various locations across the state while attempting to enforce a 12-hour shutdown, which had a mixed impact throughout the state.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has opposed bandhs since coming to power, used the state machinery to minimise the move. Attendance in state government offices and academic institutions were made mandatory. There were reports of multiple clashes between TMC supporters and protesters from various parts of the state. In the northern district of Cooch Behar, a senior police officer was heard asking women protesters to demonstrate outside the CGO complex which houses the Central Bureau of Investigation office in the state. In central Bengal’s Durgapur, TMC supporters were accused of hurling bombs at a CPI(M) protest rally.
Speaking at a public event commemorating the foundation day of the Trinamool Congress’s student wing, CM Banerjee took aim at opposition parties and announced plans for a special session of the state assembly next week to introduce a bill advocating for the capital punishment for rapists.
Addressing the protesting doctors, she urged them to return to work, warning, “It’s time to return to work. Otherwise, the Supreme Court has already empowered the state government to take action. I don’t want to take action, but if I do file an FIR, their future will be ruined. They won’t be able to get a passport or visa. If I take legal steps, their lives will be destroyed.”
Amid growing protests across the state against her government, the CM signalled her discomfort by directing her party supporters to organise demonstrations in every block, demanding the death penalty for rapists.
In the past two weeks, numerous government school teachers and students have protested against the R.G. Kar killing and the government’s initial gag order was quickly retracted. A speech by a headmistress urging girl students to speak out against injustice went viral across the state.
In a combative tone, the TMC leader blamed opposition parties for the unrest, declaring, “I came to power promising no revenge, just change. Today, I am taking back those words. Now I say, do what you need to do.”
Reacting to her remarks, BJP state chief Sukanta Majumdar accused her of being ‘anti-national’. In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shan, he wrote, “This isn’t the voice of someone holding a constitutional position; it’s the voice of an anti- national.”
Chief Minister’s speech also faced sharp criticism from the TMC’s INDIA alliance partners Congress and CPI(M).
“The Chief Minister of the state is inciting violence and provocation by using rhetoric. RG Kar demands justice and punishment for the culprits; people want to know who is behind this conspiracy. No incident from Kamduni [where a brutal gangrape and murder took place in 2013] has seen justice. The entire country is protesting in support of the R.G. Kar doctors. In such a situation, the CM is directly inciting violence!” said Sujan Chakraborty, former MP and senior leader of the Left party.
Slamming TMC’s demand for quick death penalty, Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury said, “Khoka Babu and Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath are both talking about encounters. Does this country have no rule of law? Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is demanding the death penalty, but she remained silent on the countless incidents like Kamduni, Hanskhali, and Park Street, where women were subjected to atrocities. Now that she’s in trouble, she’s trying to cover up evidence and intimidate people. But this won’t suppress the people.”
