- The whole country was aghast as the news started trickling about the horrifying rape-murder of a junior doctor in the government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The brutal incident not only shook the country’s moral conscience greatly but also mirrored how women continue to be sexually harassed and exploited taking advantage of the security lapses in the system. That a resident doctor on duty was brutally raped and murdered at her workplace speaks volumes about how the authorities have failed in providing safety and security to women workers. What followed after the discovery of the dastardly act was the way the state government of West Bengal went about the whole issue with such an unprofessional, callous, and lackadaisical attitude. Appalling.
PC: Hindustan Times
- Little wonder, the whole country erupted with indignation leading to spontaneous rallies, protests, strikes, and sit-downs to express solidarity with the departed soul. Despite the Supreme Court taking suo-moto cognisance of the matter and the CBI stepping in to investigate, medical professionals are pressing ahead with expressing their unhappiness in various forms. The state government is facing the heat from all around. Moreover, the protests are now also the first of many tough political tests of Mamata’s hold on Bengal voters. Mamata Banerjee won’t and shouldn’t be taking lightly the continuing protests within two months of her Lok Sabha win – 29 of 42 Bengal seats and 46% vote share. Things can change drastically.
- Authorities’ mismanagement of RG Kar’s rape-murder was a wake-up call for Bengalis, and the Indian Bengali diaspora, who’ve always been assured of the safety of women across Calcutta. What police and college’s handling of the crime brought to a head was urban Bengal’s anger at the hydra-headed misgovernance on the three-time CM’s watch. The emotive appeal of the RG Kar protests went far beyond the outrage of the crime itself. Bengal CM knows well what the protests have triggered cannot be dealt with a heavy hand – those water cannons used on the protesters recently only added fuel to the fire. She knows well that political violence, extortion rackets, and corrupt contractors are the miserable reality of everyday Bengal.
PC: The Indian Express
- Her changing the state’s bidding process in June to curb corruption, or her 70-minute criticism of her party, and every level of govt, has seen few taking the cue. The rot is set so deep, you see. TMC won the LS elections as an intractable INDIA ally. But the 46% vote share her party won wasn’t simply the for-Didi vote. It was the anti-BJP vote, Congress vote, and Left constituents’ vote that sealed her win. State assembly elections in 2021 returned her to office with 215 MLAs in the 294-seat assembly, and 48% vote share, despite anti-incumbency, riding a plethora of welfare schemes. The West Bengal governance vacuum flourishes an all-party political violence, the dark side of Bengal’s culture. Can Didi escape the fire her misrule lit? She better does so sooner than later.
