Explained: Why Protests Over RG Kar Rape-Murder Have Gained Such Momentum In Bengal

Popular outrage over the ghastly rape-murder of the trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in north Kolkata continues to gain momentum. 

Processions and demonstrations which started last week are continuing unabated even 11 days after the grisly crime that has shaken the conscience of the people of the city in particular and Bengal in general. 

Even though the probe into the case was handed over to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) by the Calcutta High Court last week, the protests have refused to die down.

Kolkata, and many cities and towns of Bengal, are reverberating to cries of "we want justice" every evening. If anything, the cries have only got louder over the past few days. 

The reason for the unrelenting protests is popular anger over the state government’s, and particularly Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s, handling of the crime. 

A series of missteps and alleged cover-up attempts, along with callous insensitivity displayed by the authorities, has fuelled the anger and outrage. And the anger is also a manifestation of urban middle class angst against Banerjee, especially over the increasing social unrest in the society under her patronage. 

Right from the time the body of the trainee doctor was discovered at the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital early 9 August, the hospital authorities and the state government have mishandled the entire situation. 

These are the major missteps by the hospital and state authorities that have fuelled and intensified anger and outrage among people:

* The parents of the victim were informed about five hours after the discovery of the body by a senior doctor that their daughter had fallen ill.

* A little over half an hour later, the parents were informed that their daughter had died by suicide.

* After they rushed to the hospital, the distraught parents were kept waiting for three hours before being allowed to see the body of their daughter.

* The then principal, Dr Sandip Ghosh, refused to meet the parents.

* The hospital authorities did not lodge an FIR (first information report) with the police. An FIR was lodged only late that night, about 17 hours after the discovery of the body.

* Ghosh passed very insensitive remarks and allegedly tried to shame the victim by wondering what she was doing at the seminar hall all alone at that time of the night.

* The autopsy was allegedly conducted very hurriedly.

* The police allegedly forced the parents to cremate the body of their daughter that very day in a hurried manner.

* The popular perception is that the police did not secure the crime scene properly and that led to destruction of evidence.

* Soon after the crime, the hospital authorities sanctioned the breaking down of walls of some rooms near the crime scene, thus triggering suspicion that evidence was being destroyed.

* Banerjee went to the victim’s house at Sodepur in the northern suburbs of the city and offered the parents a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. That led to allegations that she was trying to silence the parents with money. 

* The mob attack on RG Kar Hospital last week gave rise to grave suspicion that it was a blatant attempt to destroy evidence. The conduct of the police personnel, who ran away to save their lives instead of resisting the attack on the hospital, strengthened such suspicions.

* Though one person — a member of the state’s notorious civic police, Sanjay Roy, has been arrested for the crime — the common perception is that he is just being made a scapegoat. That’s because the crime, according to doctors and forensic experts, could not have been committed by just one person and two or three others would definitely have been involved. 

* There was a blatant attempt to shield Dr Sandip Ghosh by the state government. Even as skeletons came tumbling out of his cupboard and he resigned following pressure, he was rehabilitated as principal of another prestigious medical college in the city. 

Students and junior doctors of that medical college launched vociferous protests, and the state government deployed two senior Trinamool Congress leaders (one a minister and the other an MLA) to pacify the protesters. 

The state government’s blatant attempt to protect Ghosh, who has been accused of running many rackets at RG Kar, gave rise to suspicion that the ruling party has a lot to hide. 

The shielding of Ghosh earned the state government a sharp rap on the knuckles from the Calcutta High Court. 

The Kolkata Police’s attempts to silence protests by issuing notices (over 280 so far) to social media users and influencers for posting what it termed as ‘misinformation’ has fuelled more anger. 

The brutal lathicharge on protesters in front of Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday (18 August) triggered more anger against the state government and Banerjee. 

This anger was evident when hundreds of doctors accompanied two senior physicians — renowned cardiologist Kunal Sarkar and chief medical officer of Bardhaman, Subarno Goswami — to the Kolkata Police headquarters (Lalbazar) on Monday (19 August) who had been summoned by the cops for their social media posts and for participating in protests.

The police caved in (judiciously) to popular anger and chose to let the two doctors go after asking them a few inane questions. 

On Monday (19 August), the victim’s family accused Banerjee of trying to influence witnesses. That also fuelled more anger against Banerjee. 

Irresponsible statements and threats issued by senior Trinamool Congress leaders against protesters have also triggered anger and outrage. 

Minister Udayan Guha said at an event on Sunday (18 August) that he would break the fingers of those accusing Banerjee of wrongdoing. 

Bankura Lok Sabha MP Arup Chakraborty warned doctors of retaliation if they continued with their protests. He also warned people pointing fingers at Banerjee that he would break their hands. 

Chakraborty also warned police against allowing more protests and reminded them that they are being watched and action would be taken against them later. 

Meanwhile, Banerjee led a protest march in the city a few days ago, earning ridicule and also charges of trying to deflect attention from the popular protests raging all over the state.

The Calcutta High Court’s and the Supreme Court’s criticism of the conduct of the Bengal government has also reinforced the popular impression that a cover-up was attempted and the Banerjee government is in the wrong. 

What has also contributed to the outrage is that the victim hailed from a poor family and her parents struggled to put her through school and college. She was a good student, did well in examinations and secured admission into a state-run medical college by sheer hard work. 

The young victim, a trainee doctor, was someone the average middle-class person can easily identify with. She was, to the middle classes, ‘one of us’. 

To have her life snuffed out in such a brutal manner, and that too at her place of work (a hospital, no less) by a member of the civic police force brought the horrific crime very close to the homes of the urban middle classes. 

The civic police force in Bengal, the brainchild of Banerjee, has gained a lot of notoriety. Trinamool party cadres — widely looked upon as thugs — are recruited into the ill-trained, poorly paid and undisciplined force that is now closely identified with extortion rackets. 

That a member of this force which comprises almost entirely of ruling party cadres committed the gruesome crime is another reason for the widespread outrage. 

The urban middle class in Bengal has, over the past few years, been simmering with anger over the reign of the goons under Banerjee. She is widely perceived to be patronising those who provide critical muscle power to her party. 

One such man enjoying the patronage of the ruling party who had been rewarded with an appointment in the notorious civic police force committing the heinous crime has led to the unprecedented and unrelenting outpouring of rage. 

The ongoing protests will, eventually, die down. But the anger of the urban middle class against Banerjee will continue to simmer, only to manifest itself over another protest over yet another outrageous act by a Trinamool-patronised thug. Because, after all, it is the goons who rule the roost in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal.