There’s no irony deficit in Mamata Banerjee. A trainee doctor was raped and murdered, possibly by a gang, but it is the Trinamool supremo who is the real victim. The West Bengal Chief Minister withdrew general consent from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) but now wants the agency to not just complete the probe but hang the accused by Sunday (August 18). Not to forget, the streetfighter is doing what she does best — take to the streets and demand justice for the victim in her own state, where she is also the home minister and health minister.
The horrific rape-murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s busy RG Kar Medical College and Hospital put Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress in a tight corner. One of her key constituents, women, is protesting like never before. That was an organic protest as was seen after the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder in Delhi. With popular sentiment against Mamata, the opposition parties too tried to wrestle her to the mat. This has all the makings of Mamata’s Singur.
However, it was Mamata who painted herself into a corner. Her administration mismanaged the golden hour of probe and tried to project the sexual assault as a suicide. Then the well-connected principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was reappointed to a plum position within 4 hours of his resignation. The accused who has been arrested is well-connected too.
MAMATA BANERJEE: FROM VICTIM-SHAMING TO VICTIM-SAMING
How does an experienced Mamata wriggle out of such a tight spot? Resort to victim-saming, after all the history of victim-shaming, starting from calling the Park Street gangrape case a “sajano ghotona” (fabricated incident).
With the High Court handing over the investigation to the CBI, it is a perfect time for Mamata to set a deadline and demand justice. The CBI is encroaching upon her turf, and she is the helpless and wronged Chief Minister.
And don’t people remember that it was Mamata Banerjee who threatened her own Kolkata Police with a CBI investigation if they didn’t crack the case soon? The same CBI whose powers to probe in West Bengal was curtailed by Mamata by withdrawing the general consent.
The Kolkata Police most likely have done what it had to. There are questions over transparency and if the crime scene has been compromised.
The National Commission for Women’s or NCW’s preliminary findings highlighted a glaring deficiency in the investigation conducted by Kolkata Police.
And now it is up to the CBI to investigate and nail the guilty. The CBI, which was earlier branded a “caged parrot” by the Supreme Court, has a tardy track record.
DOESN’T CBI HAVE KANGAROO COURTS LIKE TRINAMOOL?
With the CBI now in the hot seat, the familiar playbook can be followed. The hints have already been dropped by Derek O’Brien, a quizmaster who has all the answers.
Meanwhile, Bengal also gave an ultimatum to the CBI, to ensure capital punishment for the culprits by Sunday (August 18). She called for a hanging too.
“By Sunday, CBI has to facilitate the hanging of the guilty and complete the entire probe. Our Kolkata Police has completed 90 per cent of the probe,” she said.
This isn’t a tough task in a state that has kangaroo courts aplenty. Mamata Banerjee must be familiar with the instant justice meted out by Trinamool members like Tajimul Haque, better known as JCB. If a single person can do justice through Taliban-styled salishi sabha (kangaroo court), then what’s preventing the CBI from acting fast?
On the other hand, protesters and the opposition have accused the Kolkata Police of mishandling the case.
There have been around 300 spontaneous protests that saw tens of thousands of people, mostly women, across West Bengal to ‘Reclaim the Night’. The protests have turned into a scathing indictment of the government.
They are as much about women’s safety as about seeking an “administration and a police that is competent and not under the thumb of political patrons allegedly from the ruling Trinamool Congress, writes Sikha Mukerjee.
So, what can poor Mamata Banerjee do now? Just follow the playbook.
MAMATA BANERJEE IS PROTESTING, BUT AGAINST WHOM?
On August 16, Derek O’Brien made it clear that it was the CBI on which all responsibility now rests. And it has to give daily updates, unlike the Kolkata Police.
“CBI, which is now handling the case, must give daily updates on the investigation. The deadline given by the CM to Kolkata Police to complete the investigation was August 17. The same must apply to CBI,” said O’Brien. “CBI taking over the case shouldn’t lead to it being quietly buried,” he added, displaying the concern for the victim and women’s safety Trinamool members share with Mamata Banerjee.
Mamata went a step ahead and announced that she would hold a rally on Sunday to protest and demand justice for the Kolkata trainee doctor. Protest against whom? The Kolkata Police report to the Minister of Home and Hills, who happens to be Mamata Banerjee.
“What have we not done? What action did we not take? As soon as I came to know of the incident, I spoke to the police commissioner and spoke to the parents (of the woman),” she said.
Yes, words speak louder than actions. And what else could a helpless woman have done more?
Mamata, the street fighter, has already warmed up for Sunday’s rally.
Before the Sunday rally, Matata Banerjee took out another rally in Kolkata on Friday. She said she was demanding justice. She knows she is in the crosshairs of the public and the opposition. “I am a politician, but I am humane individual. Never did anything wrong to anyone,” she said on Friday.
In some time, popular anger will subside as people get busy fighting their daily battles. By then, Mamata, the ultimate victim, would have followed the playbook and painted the CBI, not the rapists, as the villain in the case.
The Trinamool members can throw green gulal and exult: From Khela Hobe to Khela Hoyegeche. The game’s over.
