The rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024 has sent shockwaves across the country. This heinous crime not only ended a promising life but also exposed the deep-seated issues plaguing West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC). The incident has brought to light the pattern of violence, corruption and suppression of dissent that has become the hallmark of the TMC’s rule in the state and the culture of impunity that seems to pervade the state.
The RG Kar Hospital rape and murder is not an isolated incident but a symptom of the larger malaise afflicting West Bengal under TMC rule. The state has seen a spate of political killings, post-poll violence and attacks on Opposition party workers, especially those associated with the BJP. NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo was allegedly beaten up by a police officer at Tiljala PS when he was probing the murder of a 7-year-old girl. The panchayat polls held in July 2023 exposed the extent of violence and intimidation in the state with over 42 lives lost and ballot boxes found in drains.
As per the State Election Commission figures, the TMC won around 7,000 seats (9.47 per cent) out of 73,887 uncontested seats in the 2023 panchayat polls while in 2018 panchayat polls, the TMC won 20,000 seats uncontested amidst allegations of Opposition being prevented from filing nominations. The attack on then MoS Home Affairs Nisith Pramanik’s convoy in February 2023, allegedly by TMC supporters, showed the brazen disregard for safety and security of even high-ranking government officials.
Since the 2021 state Assembly elections, over two dozen BJP workers have lost their lives including Avijit Sarkar in Kolkata, Debabrata Maity in Nandigram and Uttam Ghosh in Ranaghat. The NHRC report on post-poll violence in West Bengal documented numerous cases of rape and assault on women by TMC workers and painted a grim picture of the state’s law and order situation. A total of 2,093 women advocates from 28 states and 8 Union Territories of India and 146 retired officials have written to the Supreme Court judges asking them to take cognisance of the post-poll violence in West Bengal since May 2, 2021, and the erosion of rule of law and institutional breakdown in the state. Corruption and misgovernance have become synonymous with the TMC’s rule in West Bengal.
The state’s economy has suffered, big companies have left and unemployment has skyrocketed. Infrastructure projects have been stalled and the once thriving city of Kolkata has lost its sheen. The case of Dr Sandip Ghosh, former head of RG Kar Hospital who faced serious allegations of corruption, body trafficking and selling biomedical waste is an example of the rot within the system.
Under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, minority appeasement and persecution of Hindus has surfaced repeatedly. In 2024, the Calcutta High Court cancelled OBC certificates of 77 communities issued since 2010. Seventy-five of them belonged to the Muslim community. Reportedly, of the 35 communities added to the OBC list by Mamata Banerjee government in 2012, 34 were Muslims. Even the division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha noted, “this court’s mind is not free from doubt that the said community has been treated as a commodity for political ends.” The state CM called it a “BJP order” and refused to accept it.
The brutal murder of RSS worker Bandhu Prakash Pal, his pregnant wife and 8-year-old son in Murshidabad in October 2019, raised suspicion of a communal angle and a possible cover-up. During anti-CAA protests in December 2019, Hindu passengers on a train in Kolkata faced a nightmarish ordeal as a Muslim mob resorted to stone-pelting and arson while the police remained mute spectators. The state government has been accused of curbing Hindu religious freedom, imposing restrictions on Durga Puja celebrations and idol immersions to accommodate Muharram processions. The Calcutta High Court in 2016 accused Mamata Banerjee of indulging in minority appeasement by ordering organisers to immerse their idols by 4 pm on Doshomi, the final day of West Bengal’s biggest festival, Durga Puja.
Next year, in 2017, the West Bengal government announced that during that year’s Durga Puja, visarjan ceremonies will not be allowed a day after VijayaDashami on October 1 due to Muharram. Despite this, the Calcutta High Court had struck down the decision last year in 2016 after multiple Public Interest Litigations (PILs) were filed. The TMC’s appeasement of the Muslim community has created resentment among the Hindus who feel their rights and safety are being compromised. Since 2012, Mamata has been intolerant towards dissent and flak.
Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for sharing a cartoon featuring Mamata and was discharged after 11 years. Mimi Chakraborty, actress and former TMC MP, was threatened with rape and online harassment after she participated in a protest demanding justice for the RG Kar Hospital victim. The Kolkata Police’s move to issue notices to social media users for sharing a spoof video of the chief minister and threatening them with legal action is another example of the government’s attempt to silence free speech.
The RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case has become a national issue demanding justice for the victim and accountability from the powerful. The transfer of the investigation to the CBI is a step in the right direction but it’s just the beginning of a long journey. The incident has exposed the larger issues plaguing West Bengal – political violence, corruption, Muslim appeasement and suppression of dissent.
It’s time the Central government, judiciary and civil society held the TMC government accountable for its actions and inactions so that the rule of law prevails and the voices of the victims are heard. The fight for justice in West Bengal is not just for a single case or community; it’s for the soul of democracy and the principles of equality, liberty and freedom of speech.
Yuvraj Pokharna is an independent journalist and columnist. He tweets with @iyuvrajpokharna. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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