West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Left is in connivance with the Ram (the Bharatiya Janata party) to create unrest in West Bengal.
“Left and Ram want to create unrest in Bengal and they both have come together to do this,” She said while referring to the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The Bengal chief minister said that the mob were not connected to the student movement and alleged that “they are BJP people” who created a ruckus inside the emergency ward of the hospital.
“The people who vandalised RG Kar Hospital yesterday and created this ruckus are not connected to the student movement of RG Kar Medical College, they are outsiders, I have seen as many videos, I have three videos as I can see, in which some people are holding national flags, they are BJP people, and some are DYFI are holding white and red flags,” CM Banerjee said.
On Wednesday night, a mob entered the RG Kar Hospital campus, causing damage to the protest site, vehicles, and public property. Security officials were forced to intervene to disperse the crowd.
Banerjee also praised the police for their restraint during the incident, stating, “Yesterday, police were attacked; among them was one Deputy Commissioner (DC) who was there for security purposes, and two Officer-in-charges (OCs). For one hour, they couldn’t be found, and when they were found, they were unconscious and were seen blood oozing out from their heads. I informed the police at 3 am and had them taken to Apollo Hospital… I would like to congratulate them that they did not lose patience, they did not hurt anyone.”
“Now the case is not in our hands, it is in the hands of CBI, if you have something to say, then tell CBI, we have no objection…,” Banerjee added.
Speaking on the RK Kar rape and murder case Mamata Banerjee said that the only punishment for this crime is the death penalty.
She added that if the culprit is hanged then only people will learn a lesson from it but no innocent should be punished.
“This is a very big crime, and the only punishment for it is that the accused should be hung, if the culprit is hanged then only people will learn a lesson from it but no innocent should be punished,” West Bengal CM said.
On August 9, a post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The victim’s family has alleged that she was raped and murdered. This incident has triggered a nationwide protest by doctors and medical fraternities.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The Income Tax Department has summoned Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah and asked him to produce books of accounts or documents at Aayakar Bhawan in Guwahati on August 16.
An official release by the Income Tax Department stated that Bhupen Kumar Borah’s attendance is required in connection with the proceedings under the Income Tax Act 1961.
“You are hereby required to attend Aayakar Bhawan, Guwahati on August 16, 2024, to give evidence or to produce either personally or through an authorized representative the books of account or other documents specified below and not to depart until you receive my permission to do so,” said the release.
“Without prejudice to the provisions of any other law for the time being in force, if you intentionally omit to so attend and give evidence or produce the books of accounts or documents, a penalty of Rs 10,000 may be imposed upon you under section 272 (1)(c) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for each such default or failure,” added the release.
Earlier on August 11, the Assam Pradesh Congress president said that the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) will hold crucial party leaders and workers’ meeting in the first week of September to strengthen the party organisation and to discuss the upcoming bye-elections for five assembly constituencies and panchayat polls in the state.
He further said that to strengthen the party, they have taken various initiatives.
On the other hand, talking about the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls for two seats in Assam, the APCC president said that, at present, they don’t have enough MLAs in the state assembly to win the Rajya Sabha election.
“If anyone will come and desire to contest in the Rajya Sabha polls, then we may think about this. But as of now, no one has come forward,” Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Thursday, August 15, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari requested Union Home Secretary to deploy central forces at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. Notably, RG Kar Hospital was where a young Doctor was brutally raped and murdered last week. Suvendu Adhikari’s plea for deployment of central forces came after a mob vandalised hospital premises and disrupted the protests asking for justice in the case.
In a letter to the Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Suvendu Adhikari claimed that goons sent by the ruling Trinamool Congress government attacked the hospital to destroy evidence of last week’s rape and murder of the trainee doctor at the hospital. He also expressed deep concern over the integrity of the investigation and the safety of the protesting doctors.
Suvendu Adhikari wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “The WB Govt & @KolkataPolice have turned RG Kar Medical College and Hospital into a stinky quagmire by firstly allowing culprits to establish their fiefdom of crime and now allowing TMC goons to stomp upon the whole premises to destroy evidence.”
The WB Govt & @KolkataPolice have turned RG Kar Medical College and Hospital into a stinky quagmire by firstly allowing culprits to establish their fiefdom of crime and now allowing TMC goons to stomp upon the whole premises to destroy evidence (whatever was left of it) and scare… pic.twitter.com/5xQ5BljoGE
Suvendu Adhikari added, “Such was their perversity that the unruly mob tried to break into the Girls’ Hostel at midnight when the Policemen took refuge inside the toilets.”
He further said, “I have written to the Hon’ble Home Secretary; Ministry of Home Affairs; Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Hon’ble Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, regarding the vandalism that took place at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and requested them to deploy Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at R G Kar.”
Mob attack on RG Kar Hospital
Notably, on intervening night of 14th-15th August, a mob of 50-odd men laid siege at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The goons carried out attacks against the protesting doctors demanding justice for the rape and murder of a female trainee doctor.
In videos that have now surfaced on social media, the mob was seen vandalising the hospital premises, damaging police vehicles and physically attacking doctors present there.
The development occurred within hours of protestors hitting the streets in West Bengal to ‘reclaim the night’ and make public spaces safe for women.
The mob carried out vandalism at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital without hesitation despite a significant police presence at the facility. The attackers were also involved in stone pelting.
On Thursday (15th August), banned outfit ULFA(I) claimed to have planted bombs in 24 locations across Assam, leading security agencies to deploy teams to search for explosives. A senior police officer stated that bomb disposal squads have been dispatched to all of the locations indicated by ULFA (I).
According to an email allegedly from the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Independent) to the media, the bombs did not detonate owing to a “technical failure”. ULFA (I) provided a list specifying the precise location of 19 bombs and stated that the locations of five further explosives were uncertain. The letter was sent by Assistant Publicity Secretary, Second Lieutenant Ishan Asom.
The letter read, “This to inform the indigenous people of Assam that on behalf of the organization “United Liberation Front of Assam [Independent]” the military protest which was scheduled to be carried out from 6 am to 12 noon on 15th August 2024 could not be carried out due to technical glitches. Therefore the locations of the protests have been made public in view of public safety.”
It then added, “Bombs were planted at the places mentioned below, cooperation is sought from the general public to remove the bombs from the said places and make them inactive.”
?BREAKING: Paresh Baruah warns of planting explosives in 25 locations of Assam including in Guwahati, Sivasagar and Nagaon.
So far, 'light' explosives have been recovered from a few locations across Assam.
The list where the bombs were planted as per ULFA(I) were:
In an old car lying at the TDO office in Sivasagar.
In the old ambulance lying along the road crossing BG Road ONGC Gate No. 5 in Sivasagar.
Lakuwa Tinali, near the police station.
Assam State Transport Corporation Dibrugarh, in an old bus.
Assam State Transport Corporation Lakhimpur, in an old bus.
In the old car of NHPC at The Parade Ground (A Team Field) near the Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur.
Laluk Daily Bazaar, near IB
In the old car covered with trees and vines near Barghat police station.
Buried in the ground near the brick kiln found before reaching Aditya Hospital on the way to Nagaon Medical College.
Buried in the open ground opposite Dispur Lastgate.
In the transformer board box on the left side of the road leading up to Gandhi Mandap.
Buried near CDA Gate on the way to Narengi Army Camp.
Under the Gumti (kiosk) beyond Brahmaputra industry, Panbazar, Guwahati.
Near Jorabat Flyover.
Bhetapara
Maligaon
Rajgarh
Inside an old ambulance along the road leading to Nalbari Old Medical.
In the empty space next to the first shop after the SBI Welcome Board on the Rangiya-Tamulpur Road, Goreshwar
The letter further adds that the exact location of the bombs at two places in Tinsukia including in Panitola, two places in Golaghata-Sarupatha, and one place in Dibrugarh could not be determined. While the letter mentioned precise locations in 16 places, no such information was provided for Bhetapara, Maligaon and Rajgarh, 3 large localities in Guwahati city.
ULFA(I) claims to have planted bombs in Kamrup Metro, Kamrup Rural, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Tamulpur, Tinsukia, and Golaghat districts.
Police checked these places, and while they found some devices, nothing was found in the other places mentioned. After receiving the information about the planting of bombs by ULFA (I), security forces in Assam have substantially intensified surveillance Police in Guwahati have blocked many vital roadways, including several places in Guwahati like Zoo Road, the Ulubari-Rajgarh linking road, Dispur, and Narangi etc.
DGP GP Singh said that two devices were found at two places in Guwahati after an extensive search, but they were not active bombs. He said that the suspicious items had some circuits and batteries, but lack any ignition device. “The substance inside is being sent for forensic/chemical examination,” he posted on X.
Assam Police has carried out extensive searches throughout the State today for Explosive devices. At two places in Guwahati suspicious articles were found which were opened by Bomb Disposal Squad of Police. These articles do not have ignition device inside through some circuits…
Police officials in Guwahati, Nagaon, Lakhimpur and Sivasagar said that they have found bomb-like material in some places including Panbazar and Gandhi Basti in Guwahati. Notably, of the 24 locations listed by ULFA (I), eight are in Guwahati including an open field at Last Gate in Dispur, which is close to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s official residence.
Another location is the Satgaon road to the Army cantonment in Narengi, Guwahati. In addition to these, Ashram Road, Panbazar, Jorabat, Bhetapara, Maligaon, and Rajgarh in the capital city have also been identified as possible bombing targets.
Meanwhile, an Assam Tribunereport said that security forces found an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in a transformer on the way to Gandhi Mandap in Guwahati, exactly like mentioned in the letter.
CM urges ULFA(I) to not hamper development and investment
Reacting to the letter by ULFA(I), CM Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to the banned outfit led by Paresh Baruah to not do anything that disrupts the environment of development that has emerged in the state after several decades. Mentioning the semiconductor plant being set up by Tata Group in Assam, he said, “I would urge ULFA Commander-in-Chief Paresh Barua not to create an environment in Assam that destroys the investment environment.”
He further said, “there are around 14 lakh unemployed youths in the state, if industry come, our youths will have to go to work as security guards in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. If the youth of Assam is not in Assam, with whom will we develop and liberate Assam? That will make no sense. Therefore, I hope that we will not do anything bad in Assam that will make investors rethink, that will malign the name of Assam outside the state”.
He reiterated his invitation for talks to the anti-talk faction of ULFA, and urged them to not do anything that would put a stop to the development of the state.
On Thursday, 15th August, the body of a young woman with her throat slit was discovered in Shaktigarh in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district, causing panic in the neighborhood. The victim has been identified as Priyanka Hansda (22).
The police began their investigation by filing a complaint of unnatural death. Her body has been sent for postmortem examination. The victim’s family informed the police that the deceased woman worked at a retail center in Bengaluru and had returned home for vacation on August 12th.
They also notified the police that she left her home late Wednesday evening while speaking on her phone with someone. She had been missing since then, and her body, with her throat slit, was eventually recovered.
According to district police officials, an extensive investigation has begun to track down the individuals with whom she was last seen chatting on her mobile phone as she left her home.
The victim’s relatives have informed the media that it is a murder case. They stated that she left the house after receiving a call from someone, and her body was discovered with her throat slit. They also stated that when she had not returned home for quite some time, they attempted to contact her via her phone. But she did not answer their calls.
According to district police, based on the statements recorded in the case, the call that the victim got before leaving home was from someone she knew well.
The matter came to light as the state witnesses protests over the gruesome death of a junior doctor in a state-run hospital in Kolkata on the 12th of August. The Kolkata Police apprehended one individual in connection with the case. The CBI is now investigating the case following the Kolkata High Court’s ruling.
On Wednesday (14th August), a 27-year-old man set fire to his Activa scooter in front of Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru at around 3.30 p.m. The man, identified as Prithviraj M, was discontent with the police for allegedly mistreating his mother. Prithviraj’s actions caused panic on the spot. The police took Prithviraj, a Yeshwanthpur resident, into custody after the incident.
He told the police that he wanted justice against police officers who mistreated his mother while she was visiting different police stations to file a missing-person complaint. The accused who worked at a private company in Bengaluru was reportedly arrested later.
According to the police, Prithviraj had on 1st July gone trekking in Sringeri and other areas of Chikkamagaluru. As his mother was unable to contact him over the phone since Prithviraj’s phone was switched off due to technical reasons, she approached the police station in Challakare, Chitradurga to file a missing person complaint. However, the police did not pay heed to her concerns saying that her son would return soon. After returning, Prithviraj learnt about this and the mother-son duo went to the police station. When Prithviraj asked the police why his mother’s complaint was not registered, the police allegedly abused them.
Reports say that Prithviraj had placed a rope in the petrol tank of his scooter and lit it, sparking the fire in the middle of the road. After this, a fire tender was called from Vidhana Soudha and the fire was brought under control.
“The police did not respond to her properly. Growing more anxious, she came to Bengaluru and visited Yeshwanthpur police station the next day, and they accepted her complaint. On 10th July, I called my mother, saying I was fine. On 21st July, I came to Bengaluru and visited Yeshwanthpur police station. They closed the case and sent me back with my mother. On 23rd July I went to Challakere police station and sought an explanation for ill-treating my mother. Instead of replying, they beat me up in front of my mother. I protested there. I have met many officials, including DSPs of Challakere and Chitradurga, explaining the issue. But nothing came out of all this. Since I was not given justice, I decided to burn my scooter outside Vidhana Soudha so that everyone would watch it and hear me,” he told investigating officers, TOI reported.
When the police arrested him on Wednesday, Prithviraj hurled abuses at the police and said that he set the scooter ablaze as he did not get justice. Meanwhile, the police had booked the man under relevant BNS sections.
The Vice Chancellor of Delhi University on Wednesday (14th August) stated that the University will no longer teach about Poet Muhammad Iqbal who allegedly proposed the division of India and Pakistan through his artwork. VC Yogesh Singh stated that people have a full right to know about Iqbal but not at the cost of unity and togetherness.
The VC, in an event on 14th August, urged the students that they shall not compromise with India’s unity and togetherness, and that they shall stand together against the forces that create a divide between the two communities. He also said that students must learn, and read more about Veer Savarkar, MK Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar, and such other leaders who have actually sacrificed their lives fighting for the independence of the nation.
“Iqbal was the person to sow the seeds of partition. He was a close associate of Muhammed Ali Jinnah who later became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. When Iqbal was in Lahore’s Govt College in 1904, he only had written ‘Sare Jaha se acha, Hindustan hamara’, Tarana-e-Hind, but later he only forgot to stand by what he had written,” VC Singh was quoted as saying.
VC Singh further opined that India should be on priority for everyone. No one shall compromise over its values and should work together to make this country a better place. “Students should be taught to fight for the nation, they should stand for the nation,” he said.
He also added that nobody, absolutely nobody, wanted India to get divided into two different countries, but the then leaders also failed to strongly oppose the partition.
Muhammed Iqbal, was one of the most main proponents of the two-nation theory that led to the creation of Pakistan in the first half of the 20th century. Indians know him as the man behind the famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ however, for Nehruvian Secularists, Iqbal has come to be regarded as a beacon of unity and tolerance between Hindus and Muslims in India.
The famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ was published in 1904 by Muhammad Iqbal, a year before the Partition of Bengal in British India. The most famous lines of the composition say, which form its sixth stanza, “Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā, Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā”. Unfortunately, in Independent India, the entire legacy of the Islamic fundamentalist poet has been reduced to these two lines, ignoring almost entirely his contribution to the formation of Pakistan.
In Tarana-e-Milli further, which the poet wrote in 1910 for children, the Islamic fundamentalist nature of Muhammad Iqbal becomes entirely evident. It was composed in the same meter and rhyme scheme as ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’, contradicting the thought of unity in total. The first stanza of this particular composition contrasted sharply with the sixth stanza of his prior composition. It said, “Cīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai sārā jahāṉ hamārā”.
The Islamic fundamentalist worldview of Muhammad Iqbal, which contrasts sharply with the image of him being a beacon of communal harmony that has been propped up in India since independence, are more than evident in the words of Tarana-e-Milli. He says, “The treasure of tawhid is in our hearts, It is not easy to wipe out our name and mark. The first house we have liberated from idols is the Ka’abah; We are its custodians, and It is our protector.” Tawhid refers to the concept of Monotheism in Islam. The words seen in unison reflect quite clearly the deep hatred for idolatry and polytheism that Muhammad Iqbal carried in his heart.
It is quite evident that between 1904 and 1910, a radical transformation occurred in the worldview of Muhammad Iqbal. It is believed that it occurred when he left for the United Kingdom for a three-year period. It is then that he supposedly turned into an Islamic fundamentalist which paved the way for him to become a staunch advocate for the creation of Pakistan. Throughout the later stages of his life, Muhammad Iqbal became a passionate advocate for the creation of Pakistan.
In his presidential address at the 25th Annual Session of the All India Muslim League on the 29th of December, 1930, he said, “India is a continent of human beings belonging to different languages and professing different religions…I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the best interests of the Muslims of India and Islam.”
The statement criticizes the reverence for Muhammad Iqbal and his works in India, arguing that any self-respecting country would have discarded them. It suggests that in India, under the guise of secularism, Hindus endure disrespect and face ongoing existential threats since the formation of the Indian Republic. One can indulge in a debate though about whether art can be separated from its creator but these are intellectual luxuries that could ever be entertained only in the absence of imminent existential threats.
Hours after a frenzied mob vandalised the premises of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the nursing staff of the healthcare institution on Thursday (15th August) exposed how police went into hiding instead of confronting the attackers.
A nurse, dressed in white apron, told ABP Ananda, “Emon o hoyeche je unnara bathroom e dhuke boleche je amader lokanor jaiga din (It has happened that the cops entered the bathroom and asked us to provide space to hide).”
“Amader ward e eshe bolche amder lokanor jaiga din (They came to our ward and told us to provide a hideout),” the woman narrated. She confirmed that the cops were hiding instead of stopping vandalism at the hospital.
She was taken aback after being told by the police that her safety was her responsibility.
“Amra jokhon akhon bolchi authority ke emon obostha keno holo, tokhon authority amader bolche – tomader safety tomader haathe (Now when we asked authorities why this happened, they told us that our safety was our responsibility),” the nursing staffer lamented.
Mob attack on RG Kar Medical College and Hospital
On Thursday (15th August) night, a mob of 50-odd men laid siege at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The goons carried out attacks against the protesting doctors demanding justice for the rape and murder of a female trainee doctor.
In videos that have now surfaced on social media, the mob was seen vandalising the hospital premises, damaging police vehicles and physically attacking doctors present there. The attackers were also involved in stone pelting.
According to reports, the mob entered were standing outside the hospital and then suddenly barged into the premises. They broke into the emergency ward of the hospital and destroyed the furniture and medicine stocks.
According to the protesting doctors, the mayhem unleashed by the goons lasted for about an hour. In the meantime, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal has accused online media outlets and social media accounts of instigating the unprovoked attack by the mob.
35-year-old Rehman, son of Ali Mohammad, has been arrested in Rajasthan for giving triple talaq to his wife. He was apprehended from the airport on 12th August, just as he landed in the country. Rehman had divorced his spouse on call from Kuwait and married a Pakistani woman, Mehwish. He met Mehwish on social media and tied the knot in Saudi Arabia. She came to Churu in Rajasthan on a tourist visa last month, where she was warmly received by his family and started living with his parents.
Meanwhile, on 27th July, Rehman’s 29-year-old wife Farida Bano, a resident of Bhadra in Hanumangarh, along with her father, lodged a First Information Report against Rehman for giving triple talaq on the phone. She also complained that Rehman and his family harassed her for dowry and assaulted her. They made repeated demands for either money or a bike. Rehman even told her that he wasn’t going to stay with her for long. As a result, a lookout notice was issued against him as he was in Kuwait at the time.
Hanumangarh police nabbed the accused as soon as he landed at Jaipur Airport. He was first interrogated by the authorities and then he was brought to the police station and the arrest proceedings were initiated the next day. Rehman and Farida Bano got married on 17th March 2011, and have a son and a daughter together. He used to work in the transport sector in Kuwait. The official complaint was registered against him when he took Mehwish to Churu.
Hanumangarh Circle Officer Ranveer Singh stated that Rehman wed Mehwish, a Pakistani woman. His first wife launched a complaint against him in the Bhadra police station of the Hanumangarh district after the matter came to light. She had also hinted that Mehwish might be a Pakistani spy and that there should be an investigation into her. Hanumangarh Deputy Superintendent of Police (Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribes Cell) Ranveer Singh also confirmed that Farida Bano, who has been living with her parents, submitted a complaint against her husband.
Notably, the Modi government enacted a law stating that a divorce cannot be granted by repeating the word “talaq” three times. According to the police, Rehman and his first wife Farida Bano previously had a falling out and additional information will become available as the case is investigated further. Mehwish has a 45-day tourist visa valid for India. Many women who were victims of triple talaq have received justice since the law outlawing came into effect. Muslim males were previously able to divorce their spouses without filing for divorce through triple talaq.
Imagine that a woman was brutally raped and murdered and the state government responsible for ensuring the safety of its residents decides to hold a ‘protest’ to justice for the victim. Sounds outrageously absurd? This exactly is what is happening in West Bengal, wherein Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced protests demanding punishment for the perpetrators of the brutal rape and murder of a 32-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. A civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy was arrested in this case and has reportedly confessed to his crime.
Main accused Sanjoy Roy arrested, doctors protest demanding justice for the deceased victim
CM Mamata Banerjee announced that on 17th August, her party will organise a protest march in all the blocks demanding the punishment of the criminal. Then on 18th August, there will be a demonstration in all the blocks and on 19th August, a program to demand capital punishment of the guilty will be organised.
Mamata Banerjee gives ‘deadline’ to CBI amidst mob attacks on protesting doctors
Mamata Banerjee wants the culprit to be hanged and has ‘demanded’ that the CBI to should complete this by Sunday (18th August). The alarming audacity of a sitting chief minister to shift the onus of serving justice to the victim on the central probe agency makes it evident that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is desperately trying to shift the blame on the Centre and wash their hands off their responsibilities. TMC’s political game is so shamelessly impeccable, on one hand, the state government is giving a ‘deadline’ to the CBI, and on the other, has announced a massive protest just a day before the farcical deadline ends.
Police watch as goons arrive by truckloads, vandalise the medical college
Meanwhile, protesting doctors are being assaulted by goons who also vandalised the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital premises on 14th August. The mob comprising over 50 people stormed into the hospital attacking doctors and even tried to enter the building where the junior doctor was raped and murdered while the police remained a mute spectator. It is also alleged that the ruling TMC government orchestrated the attacks.
It looks like the ‘deadline’ for justice has been decided by the state government after much deliberation as the sequence of events suggests that by the time, the CBI investigates the case, most of the evidence will be destroyed and protestors be silenced. With the narrative in control, CM Banerjee will shift the blame of her own incompetence on the Centre saying that the CBI failed to give justice to the deceased victim.
While Mamata Banerjee wants the CBI to hang the culprit by Sunday, her government is accused of protecting those involved in the case. After the semi-nude body of a PG trainee doctor was discovered inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College on the 9th of August, the hospital management informed her family that she had committed suicide.
The CBI is an investigating body. They cannot decide the punishment. It is the judiciary’s job to decide what punishment the culprit will get.
In fact, the Calcutta High Court chastised the state government for protecting Dr Sandip Ghosh, the principal of RG Kar College, and stated that there was an attempt to cover up the horrific crime by labelling it a suicide. It is worth noting that Ghosh resigned amidst protests, and was immediately appointed as the principal of the state government’s Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH) on the same day. The fact that Calcutta HC transferred the RG Kar medico rape and murder case to CBI after the victim’s parents raised concern that the probe under Kolkata Police would derail, indicates the local police failed to conduct an impartial and thorough investigation.
OpIndia reported how the medical college authority demolished the walls of the Chest Medicine Dept, where the girl was raped and murdered, in the name of renovation. BJP has alleged that the state was trying to tamper with the evidence in the case by breaking the walls. In the wake of these incidents, Mamata Banerjee shrewdly attempted to protect her government and the state police from criticism over her failure to ensure justice by shifting the ‘burden’ on the CBI.
Mamata Banerjee goes the AAP way to shun accountability, hog media attention, and politicise a heinous crime
While Mamata Banerjee’s announcement of protests raises questions like who is she protesting against, the Kolkata Police, the culprit or herself since she is the Chief Minister, there is another aspect to this: manipulating the narrative. At present, this horrific incident has left the country agitated and shocked, with media showing how the medicos are peacefully protesting in West Bengal and other parts of the country and how they were assaulted in Bengal in police presence. However, as the state’s Chief Minister herself will stage a ‘protest’ demanding ‘justice’ even though ensuring the safety of people is her job, the visuals of attacks on protesting medicos will be replaced with CM Banerjee protesting. More than the injustice that happened to the victim, there will be discussions on how Mamata Banerjee stood for the deceased victim.
As Chief Minister, Banerjee is directly responsible for upholding law and order in West Bengal. Her position necessitates swift and fair action to preserve the safety and security of the state’s residents, rather than organising or engaging in protests as if she is an outsider to the state’s governance or an opposition leader.
The sheer inanity of a sitting Chief Minister protesting against the very system she controls highlights a failure to take responsibility for the state’s governance and respond promptly and decisively to such horrible crimes. Instead of leading from the front and ensuring that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice, although a lack of the same forced Calcutta HC to hand the probe to CBI, Banerjee’s protest apparently, an excuse to deflect accountability and appear sympathetic, rather than addressing the underlying causes of the systemic failures that led to this tragic incident.
Incidentally, the TMC government’s conduct in West Bengal reminds one of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in New Delhi. AAP has traditionally been following the mantra “behave like government in normal days, behave like opposition in crisis”. Be it the ‘Pani Satyagraha’ and fast unto-death drama performed by Water Minister Atishi when the national capital faced water crisis and shamelessly blaming neighbouring states for the same, AAP successfully deflected accountability for its own failures by making the Centre and neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh villains, as well as shifted media attention from Delhi people running after water tankers to Atishi’s health allegedly deteriorating due to the ‘anshan’ and she being rushed to the hospital.
Banerjee appears to be distancing herself from the administrative failures under her watch by organising protests, aiming to rebrand herself as a sympathetic leader who stands with the victim. This tactic, however, is merely a superficial gesture rather than a genuine response to the horrifying crime. In the face of public outcry, it appears that she is attempting to clean up her own image. These are hollow stunts of CM Banerjee to keep herself in the news and weave a favourable narrative while failures of her administration are glaring on everyone’s face.
It is a blatant politicisation of the brutal rape and murder of the trainee doctor and has nothing to do with ensuring justice for the victim. Suppose the CBI concludes its investigation by Sunday as the ‘deadline’ given by CM Banerjee. In that case, she will pat her back and say “Together we fought and got justice for the victim” If the CBI takes more time in the investigation, the TMC will say that the Centre is anti-woman and insensitive and does not want the victim to get justice etc. By giving a deadline to the CBI, Mamata Banerjee created a win-win situation for herself. She deliberately gave the CBI a deadline to “hang” the accused since deciding if the culprit should be given life imprisonment or a hanging sentence is the judiciary’s job and not that of the CBI.
What an irony that the victim’s family had to move to court over concerns that the case investigation under local authorities would be derailed and demand a CBI investigation, the state’s leader has the audacity to give a deadline to the CBI to hang the culprit by Sunday.
Fail in own job, create drama, then blame the center for everything: Mamata Banerjee has been doing this for a long time
Back in 2019, Mamata Banerjee had tried to blame the Centre to deflect attention after cyclone Fani hit India’s eastern coast with Odisha and coastal areas of West Bengal getting severely affected. Banerjee had claimed that while PM Modi spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik after Cyclone Fani, he did not bother calling her. Mamata Banerjee and her party had claimed that PM Modi spoke to the governor of West Bengal and not to the CM after the cyclone was ‘an attack on the federal structure’ of the state. However, it was later clarified by the PMO that the PM’s staff had attempted twice to get CM Mamata over the phone to speak with the PM, without success. On both occasions, the PM’s staff were told that she would return the call which never happened.
The ongoing doctors’ protests remind one of a similar agitation in 2019 after two doctors at NRS Medical College and Hospital were attacked by relatives of a patient Mohammad Sayeed who died during treatment in June 2019. Instead of addressing the grievances of the doctors, Mamata Banerjee accused them of being ‘outsiders.’ “They are outsiders. The government will not support them in any way. I condemn doctors who have gone on strike. Policemen die in the line of duty but the police don’t go on a strike,” she had said.
Back then, CM Banerjee had given a strict ‘deadline’ to the protesting medicos to return to duty, however, she was compelled to soften her stance and give assurance to ramp up security in hospitals.
Besides shifting the blame on the Centre, CM Banerjee also takes delight in blaming the victims for their situation to cover up her administration’s failure to uphold law and order. For instance, she had earlier insinuated that violence occurs when Hindus take out Ram Navami processions through ‘Muslim areas’ and also attempted to give a clean chit to the Islamists by invoking their Faith and Ramzan.
Mamata Banerjee and TMC have a knack for dismissing or downplaying rape cases
Sadly, crimes against women are not unusual in TMC-ruled West Bengal. It was seen recently, how Tajamul Haque ran his ‘Sharia court’ and thrashed a woman in Taliban style by throwing her to the ground while parading another woman tied up in the streets. Chopra’s TMC MLA, Hamidul Rehman even justified the act, referring to West Bengal as a ‘Muslim Rashtra’. The nation witnessed how Shahjahan Sheikh, who assaulted the ED officials, and his henchmen sexually assaulted tribal women in Sandeshkhali, and the Supreme Court rebuked the state government for shielding him.
There have been many incidents when CM Banerjee displayed her ignominious insensitivity towards women victims despite being a woman herself. In April last year, she claimed that the alleged ‘rape and murder case in Kaliganj was a ‘love affair’ gone wrong. It was reported that a Dalit woman was discovered floating in a canal in the Kaliagunj area in Uttar Dinajpur district. It was reported that the victim was raped before being murdered.
In 2022, she tried todownplay allegations of brutal rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl as a ‘love affair’ gone wrong. Similarly, back in 2012, Mamata Banerjee had absolved those accused of raping an Anglo-Indian woman Suzette Jordan in the Park Street in Kolkata. Banerjee said that the incident as ‘shajano ghotona‘ (concocted incident), which was allegedly ‘designed to malign the government.’ In 2013, Banerjee linked rising rape cases in the state with rise in population.
Coming back to the present RG Kar Medical College and Hospital case, CM Mamata Banerjee should prioritise ensuring security and law and order rather than shifting blame and politicising such a serious issue for political gain. The people of this country will remember how a sitting Chief Minister was organising protests to shift attention away from administrative shortcomings rather than ensuring thorough investigation and justice for the victim.
