Law college rape case: One TMC leader apologises, another sparks fresh outrage

He was referring to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 men, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists. As the TMC leader’s remarks went viral, Bhuiyan in a statement said that his words were taken out of context and that he “strongly condemned” the law college rape incident.

Seizing on his “small incident remark”, state BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “One after another, TMC leaders are making such statements. It speaks volumes about their character.”

BJP’s Jagannath Chattopadhyay called it “a matter of shame,” while CPI(M) leader Shatarup Ghosh accused the TMC of shielding its workers, pointing out that the main suspects in the campus rape belong to the party’s student wing.

The TMC, however, defended Bhuiyan, saying his comment was unrelated to the law college case and aimed at broader law-and-order debates.

“Bhuiyan’s comments have been twisted and linked to the rape incident,” a TMC spokesperson said.
Clarifying his remark, Bhuiyan said, “Our party and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee do not tolerate such crimes. I oppose and condemn the Kasba (rape) incident in the strongest terms. I would like to clarify that my previous comments were not related to the Kasba incident. They have been misrepresented and linked to the unfortunate incident in an attempt to malign and defame me. I reiterate – I strongly condemn this incident.”

Earlier on Monday evening, TMC MLA Madan Mitra offered “unconditional apology” for his remarks on the rape case and said that he would abide by the leadership’s decision.

In a brief reply to the party’s show-cause notice ahead of the end of the three-day deadline offered to him, the senior TMC leader tried to “explain the context” in which he made the controversial comments, sources in the TMC said.

“Mitra reiterated his loyalty to the party in his reply, stating that he is a loyal worker of the party and would abide by whatever the party decides. If his words tarnished the party’s image in any way, he said he was sorry for that,” a party leader said.

Following the June 25 alleged rape of a 24-year-old law student on college campus in which a former TMC student leader is the prime accused, Mitra allegedly tried to blame the victim, saying the student “should not have gone to college alone.” He further questioned why she went by herself, suggesting that the incident might have been avoided if she had not been unaccompanied.

The party, however, distanced itself from Mitra’s comments. Within hours of his remarks, the TMC issued a statement clarifying that Madan Mitra’s remarks were “personal” and did not reflect the party’s stance.

The following day, June 29, TMC state unit chief Subrata Bakshi issued a show-cause letter to Mitra, calling his remarks “unwanted, unnecessary and insensitive”. Stating that the remarks “hurt the image of our party in every way,” the party chief demanded an explanation from him within three days.

Since the alleged rape incident, there has been a string of contentious remarks made by TMC leaders, including Madan Mitra and MP Kalyan Banerjee. Banerjee had stirred controversy by saying, “If a classmate rapes a classmate, who will provide security?” He clarified that he wanted to say the impossibility of police ensuring safety inside colleges.