With President Droupadi Murmu expressing her reaction over the Kolkata medic rape-murder incident as “dismayed and horrified”, it is time for all political parties to cool down tempers and take stock of the situation. But Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, facing flak due to violence during protests, is unrelenting. On Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee named Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, “if Bengal is allowed to burn, Delhi, Bihar, UP, Odisha and Northeast will also burn”. There were incidents of firing and bomb-throwing during BJP’s 12-hour Bengal Bandh call today, while student protesters during their ‘Nabanna March’ had to face lathicharge and tear gas shells on Tuesday. Whatever happened in Kolkata on Tuesday, is not good for democracy. I remember, during Left Front rule, Mamata Banerjee used to come out on the streets, give bandh call, and her supporters used to gherao the secretariat. Police during Left regime used to deal harshly with Trinamool Congress protesters. During that period, Mamata used to raise her voice for restoring democracy.
Sadly, the same leader sat inside her Nabanna secretariat on Tuesday and watched her police beating up student protesters on television. Mamata had given strict instructions to police not to allow a single protester to reach the secretariat. But the sound of police lathis, student protesters crying out in pain, their slogans must have reached Mamata’s ears. At least now, Mamata should realize what the people of Bengal want, how much people are angry over the brutal rape-murder of a lady trainee doctor and their worries about the safety of their daughters. If the sentiments of common people have not reached Mamata till now, then her difficulties are surely going to increase. She must know that the common people do not cower before police lathis. Heavens would not have fallen if she had allowed the students to reach Nabanna Bhavan and raise slogans. Mamata’s allegation that BJP was behind the student protest does not hold water. It is the other way round. After police lathi charge on students, BJP had to jump into the fray and give a bandh call. There are two reasons why BJP jumped into the fray.
Firstly, Trinamool students’ wing supporters on Tuesday fought pitched battles with the student protesters, forcing the BJP to come to the streets. Secondly, the brutal manner in which Kolkata Police beat up students with lathis, fired tear gas shells and water cannons. Some important people from Kolkata came and met me on Tuesday. They told me that they have never seen such anger among the people. People on the streets are angry with their chief minister. The most important reason behind this anger is: the manner in which the medical college principal was shielded after the gruesome rape-murder incident, and destruction of vital evidence related to the crime that took place after midnight. People are also angry with the ‘dadagiri’ of the Kolkata Police Commissioner. These actions fuelled public anger. That anger was reflected on the streets of Kolkata. Instead of controlling the protesters carefully, with restraint, the Kolkata Police resorted to brutal tactics. This has raised public anger to another level. From all indications available, Mamata Banerjee is unwilling to tread the soft path. She and her leaders are trying to shift the blame on BJP. Her leaders described the students’ march as “a failed one”. This is not going to calm people’s anger. It is true that the student protests in Bangladesh could be rankling in Mamta’s mind, and she ordered the police to deal with protesters harshly. But Mamata must realize: the issue in Kolkata is an emotional one and it cannot be controlled by lathis and bullets.
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