Amidst the ongoing protests over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, a fresh row has erupted over a speech by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, and she clarified on Thursday (August 29, 2024) that she did not threaten junior doctors protesting at State-run hospitals.
“Let me most emphatically clarify that I have not uttered a single word against the (medical etc.) students or their movements. I totally support their movement. Their movement is genuine. I never threatened them, as some people are accusing me of doing. This allegation is completely false,” Ms. Banerjee posted on social media platform X.
“Junior doctors’ future will be ruined if FIR (First Information Report) is filed — they will not get any chance, they will not get a passport, visa,” the CM had said, addressing a gathering of her party’s student wing on Wednesday (August 28, 2024).
This was construed as a threat by a section of doctors who vowed to continue with suspension of work, and protests.
The Chief Minister in her post on social media said she had spoken against the BJP. “I have spoken against BJP. I have spoken against them because, with the support of the Government of India, they are threatening the democracy in our state and trying to create anarchy. With support from the Centre, they are trying to create lawlessness and I have raised my voice against them,” Ms. Banerjee said.
In her speech, the Trinamool Congress chairperson had launched a scathing attack on the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “If you set fire in Bengal, Assam, the northeast, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Delhi will also burn,” she had said. The remarks had triggered sharp reactions from the Chief Ministers of northeastern States, including the Chief Ministers of Assam and Manipur.
The Chief Minister on Wednesday had told her party supporters that she felt it was time her earlier slogan, “Badla noi, badal chai “ (want change, not revenge) be abandoned.
On Thursday, Union Minister and BJP State president Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday met West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and accused Ms. Banerjee of allegedly inciting unrest through her statements.
“We have requested the Governor to protect the rights of people in Bengal and take whatever measures are necessary to lift the State out of this dire situation,” Mr. Majumdar said.
Even as investigation into the gruesome rape and murder is being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), violence erupted in different parts of the State on Tuesday over a ‘March to Nabanna’ by certain groups, and on Wednesday during a call for bandh by the BJP.
On Thursday, protests by civil society groups, including football fans were visible across the city. Supporters of the football clubs Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Mohammedan Sporting, and several civil society groups organised separate processions. Congress workers, along with State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were on seen on the streets along with protesting resident doctors. The doctors said that they would not be cowered by threats and peaceful protests would continue.
The CBI on Thursday conducted a polygraph test on two guards who were on duty during the early hours of August 9, when the body of the junior doctor was found in the seminar room of the emergency building of the hospital. Earlier, polygraph tests were conducted on seven persons, including the accused Sanjay Roy, and the former Principal of the hospital, Sandip Kumar Ghosh.
In a related development, a two-day special session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly will be convened on September 2 to table and pass a Bill with provisions for capital punishment to convicted rapists. The Chief Minister had on Wednesday announced that such a legislation will be tabled and passed in the State Assembly.
