Pushed to the backfoot by an indefinite dharna and street protests by junior doctors over the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had unveiled a surprise move right up her street: on the afternoon of September 14, 2024, she had made a surprise appearance at the street-side makeshift tent where the protesters were sitting. Suddenly the protesters were on the defensive as the CM had come after they had themselves refused a meeting with her, even returning from the doors of her residence and the Secretariat. Photographs had gone viral at the time of Banerjee waiting in an empty hall for them. Four days after Banerjee came to their tent, the junior doctors agreed to a meeting with her. She ceded most of their demands, including removing Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and two top Health Department officials. Now, ahead of the expected verdict in the case by a Sealdah court on Saturday, the turnaround is complete for the Banerjee government and the ruling Trinamool Congress. With the CBI investigation coming up with almost the same findings as the initial West Bengal Police probe, the TMC is increasingly strident about its government being vindicated. The incident dates back to August 9 last year when a 31-year-old junior doctor was found dead after suspected rape, triggering an uproar. Amidst allegations of gangrape, claims of links with the TMC and of a nexus running the medical system in the state, the West Bengal Police’s probe showing that the accused they had already arrested, Sanjay Roy, was the only one involved had been dismissed by the junior doctors and protesters. Banerjee’s statements that she was in favour of the strictest punishment for the accused, including the death penalty, did little to contain the protests. But after several months of probe by the CBI, Roy remains the only accused, with the central agency failing to submit a chargesheet against either former R G Kar principal Sandip Ghosh or the then officer in-charge of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondol, who were arrested for the rape-murder amidst the uproar. While Mondol is out on bail, Ghosh remains in jail, but in connection with a financial irregularities case involving R G Kar. A TMC MP told The Indian Express: “Initially, it was very difficult for the party as well as the government… But our Chief Minister handled the situation with a humane approach and we rode the wave. Now we are vindicated.” TMC vice-president and spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumder said: “Days have passed since a court-monitored CBI investigation was ordered. The stand of Mamata Banerjee and the Kolkata Police has been proved right. One should remember that, within 36 hours of the crime, the state police had arrested the chief and the only accused.” Majumder added that even the parents of the killed doctor as well as other protesters are now questioning the CBI. “It shows that the protests had two main agendas – asking for the highest punishment, which was supported by Banerjee and the state government, while the second was politically motivated.” The fact that the parents of the R G Kar doctor who was killed were not granted audience with Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also gone in the TMC’s favour. TMC leaders also point to the party’s sweep of all the six Assembly seats for which bypolls were held in November last year, including Madarihat that it wrested from the BJP, saying this signified that in semi-urban and rural Bengal, the BJP’s campaign over the R G Kar case had little effect. The judgment also comes at a time when a section of the government doctors are facing the heat over the death of a woman just after she had delivered a child at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital. Three others are in critical condition, reportedly because all were administered saline of dubious quality. Banerjee has accused the doctors of “negligence” and personally announced the suspension of 12 at a press conference Thursday. Former West Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha insisted that Saturday’s verdict would not change anything. “Everyone knows what the judgment will be… there is only one accused. But we are all waiting. Even if the verdict comes, full justice will not.” BJP Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “Public sentiments sometimes don’t get reflected in court judgements… How far the hanging of one person will bring justice or instill confidence in the people is subjudice to court.” CPI(M) leaders also argued that trust of the people in probe agencies, be it the police or the CBI, was diminishing. “The Kolkata Police tried to hush up the incident, while the CBI too was not able to give justice… There is definitely an attempt to cover up by the TMC, but it was not exposed even by a Central agency,” CPI(M) Central Committee member Sujan Chakraborty said. Subhankar Sarkar, the West Bengal Congress chief, said: “Everyone is looking forward to the verdict. While we expect punishment to be meted out to someone tomorrow, the truth must come out. Was there any conspiracy? Were there other people involved?. Over time some people may forget, but not all.” Meanwhile, in response to the death sentence given on Friday to an accused convicted of raping a minor in Hooghly district, Banerjee thanked the judiciary and police for the trial and conviction in 54 days. “A rapist has no place in our world. All of us together will make it a safer place for our children through stringent law, social reforms, effective and unforgiving administration. No such crime will go unpunished,” she posted on X.
