Interview/ Sagarika Ghose, Rajya Sabha member, Trinamool Congress
MAMATA BANERJEE HAS never shied away from a political challenge. But the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata seems to have put her government in West Bengal on the back foot. After a thumping victory in the assembly elections in 2021, her Trinamool Congress Party had performed well in the Lok Sabha elections this year and increased its seat share despite facing allegations of scams, sexual assault and land-grabbing against its leaders.
The Trinamool has always received strong support of women voters thanks to Mamata’s aura and her welfare schemes. But now women also seem upset about her government’s failure to protect a young doctor at a hospital. A barrage of misinformation spread through social media did not help, either. But the Trinamool has now started countering the rumours and setting things right. At the forefront of that mission is Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose. “What happened was social media took off in a certain direction, guided by the BJP IT cell and by certain vested interests, which kept on putting out various fake theories,” she says. “We cannot expect media sensationalism to determine the narrative of a law and order investigation or a criminal investigation.” Excerpts from an interview:
Q/ Did the Mamata Banerjee government and the Trinamool Congress fail to understand the gravity of the situation initially?
A/ I would not agree with that because within hours of the crime taking place, our chief minister was on the scene. She was in touch with the police and the family from August 9, the day the body was discovered. It was all Mamata Banerjee calling for speedy investigation in the case. It was not a case of failing to register the importance. What happened was social media took off in a certain direction, guided by the BJP IT cell and by certain vested interests, which kept on putting out various fake theories. An investigation takes place according to the gathering of evidence, the police procedures, the formal established legal procedures. So, we cannot expect media sensationalism to determine the narrative of a law and order investigation or a criminal investigation. We were not uninformed on the nature and the gravity of the crime, but we were led to counter the fake theories that began on social media, largely because of the operations of the BJP IT cell.
Q/ Do you think the government failed to arrive at a single-point decision on how to deal with the situation? Did the division within the party affect decision making?
A/ There were certain lapses. I won’t deny that. But we have to separate the surround sound from the actual law and order investigation into the crime that took place. The body was discovered on the morning of August 9 in the seminar hall. The police arrived on the scene and a general entry diary was recorded at 10:10am. Unnatural death was registered at 1:45pm. The autopsy was done by a board of autopsy surgeons in the presence of the judicial magistrate, the mother of the victim and five female doctors as per the request made by the family of the deceased. The entire procedure was videographed. Then the body was handed over at night to the family. And at 11:45pm, the police registered the FIR. This was explained to the court when the court asked why the delay in filing the FIR.
The police gave a minute-by-minute account of the day to the Supreme Court. The court asked very tough questions, but in the end accepted the version of the Kolkata police. The police had cracked the case. They had found the accused within 24 hours. DNA testing and DNA matching were done.
The principal (Dr Sandip Ghosh) was transferred (Ghosh resigned on August 12 and was appointed principal in another state-run medical college), but his transfer was revoked. He is now on long leave. There might have been gaps in accountability there. I don’t think it was the chief minister’s decision to transfer the principal. It was done by the health department. It was certainly an accountability lapse on the part of the administration. The principal failed to provide a safe environment at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. And for that, he should have been held immediately accountable. I don’t think these lapses occurred due to divisions within the party.
The West Bengal government has come up with a programme for women who are working on the night shift called Rattierer Sathi. We have enumerated a list of steps that the government is taking to make sure that women who are working on the night shift have access to adequate restrooms and also can access security helplines through a mobile app that we are developing. A young life has been tragically lost. A daughter of Bengal has been lost. Her dreams have been snuffed out. We are anguished over this. We share your anguish, as women politicians particularly. We feel the best tribute to her is not letting this happen again. We will do our best to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
Q/ Did Dr Sandip Ghosh’s proximity to Mamata Banerjee affect the investigation?
A/ I don’t think proximity to Mamata Banerjee stops anyone from being prosecuted. We have several ministers of the Bengal government who are currently in jail. You can be known to Mamata Banerjee, but if there are crimes against you, if there are charges against you, you will be prosecuted and jailed. The doctor may have known Mamata Banerjee; I as a senior journalist knew Mamata Banerjee. She used to send me New Year messages also. She is the chief minister of the state. She knows a wide range of people.
The case is now with the CBI. If there is evidence against this doctor, he will be prosecuted. There’s no question about that.
Q/ The protests happening in Bengal have become a movement. What would be the outcome of this movement?
A/ In Uttar Pradesh, if you protest, your home is bulldozed. But in Kolkata, you can protest, you can attack the police, and the police observe restraint. They only reacted when the law and order was threatened. The idea was to provoke the police. The idea was to get the police to do something which would be termed a police excess and then to bring on President’s rule. That is what the BJP wants. They want to dismiss an elected government, recapture lost ground. The Nabanna Abhijan protest on August 27 showed the BJP’s desperation.
But I would make a huge distinction between the BJP’s protests and what has been going on in the rest of the time in Kolkata. Protest is a fundamental right and we feel the anguish of citizens. No protest has been stopped. There have been protests by women’s groups, by specially-abled groups, by mothers, by junior doctors. We are not only allowing these protests to happen, but we are listening to them. These protests will certainly galvanise the Bengal government to take further steps to ensure the safety of women.
Q/ The Trinamool Congress has always swiftly dealt with social media campaigns against it. What went wrong this time?
A/ The social media can often take off in a certain direction. Those who are investigating a crime have to investigate the crime. You can’t expect the police to give real-time tweets on what exactly they are trying to do. Maybe a little bit of time was lost in that lag when all these theories were spinning around. But I think we have covered a lot of ground now. And a lot of this misinformation, rumours and theories are being challenged and set right.
I would appeal to the media to understand what a crime is. It takes a bit of time for a crime to be investigated and for evidence to emerge. But if you are on social media and speculating wildly about all kinds of theories, then you are making life difficult for the police. It was also compounded by the fact that the BJP jumped in and started spewing a lot of fake news from its handles. I think that has been corrected now.
Q/ Women voters in Bengal have always had Mamata Banerjee’s back. Do you think they are upset with her now?
A/ Everybody is angry. It is not just women. Young people are angry, the old are angry. A cheerful young doctor with the whole life ahead of her has been raped and killed at a place of healing. She was going to heal people. And she was cut down by this vicious criminality. So there is a lot of anger. And there is a lot of questions being asked as to why we could not keep her safe.
People are angry, but I think they see sincerity in Mamata Banerjee. She has been talking continuously to the police and to the family of the victim. She has dedicated the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad foundation day to her. And she has also said a big sorry to our daughter and to all women who have suffered at the hands of criminals and who have suffered crimes. She is anguished beyond belief. She is heartbroken. That is why she is asking for capital punishment for the culprit. People will see that Mamata Banerjee has always stood by the victim and is sincere in whatever she is trying to do.