Calcutta:
Trinamool's second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee has issued a warning to party leaders: do not speak ill of anyone from the medical fraternity or civil society. The message on X comes amid multiple unkind comments by party leaders ever since his aunt and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had apparently urged them to “whistle”. The Chief Minister has denied making any such comment, but that has apparently not convinced any of her party leaders.
“Public representatives from all parties need to be more HUMBLE and UNDERSTANDING. I urge all @AITCofficial members not to speak ill of anyone from the MEDICAL FRATERNITY OR CIVIL SOCIETY,” the Diamond Harbour MP said. “Everyone has the right to protest and express themselves. This is what distinguishes West Bengal from other BJP-ruled states,” he added.
Public representatives of all parties must be more HUMBLE and UNDERSTANDING. I urge everyone in @AITCoficial Do not speak ill of anyone in the MEDICAL FRATERNITY OR CIVIL SOCIETY. Everyone has the right to protest and express themselves. This is what makes West Bengal unique…
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 2, 2024
On Sunday, Atish Sarkar, husband of a TMC councillor in Habra, lashed out at the protesters: “I will take a distorted photo of your mother and sister and hang it on the gate of your house. You will not be able to leave your house,” he said.
“Remember, our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee advised us to whistle sometimes. If we start whistling, you will not be able to leave your houses,” he was heard saying at a public meeting in his locality. After the video was widely circulated, the party suspended him.
Earlier in the day, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a four-time Trinamool MP and also a doctor, issued a statement apologising for her recent derogatory remarks about women doctors that angered the medical community.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the gruesome rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College on a local television channel, the MP said that during her days as a medical student, there was a tendency for female students to get qualifying marks by “sitting on the laps” of teaching doctors. She also said that female students who often protested against this were given lower marks.
He added that he never imagined that the “trend” would eventually take such an “unpleasant form.”
Actor-turned-Trinamool MP Kanchan Mullick wondered if the protesting junior doctors would refuse to accept their salaries and bonuses. “I just want to ask if the people who are on unemployment and are opposing the ruling party are accepting their salaries and bonuses. Will the people of my fraternity take back the awards given to them by the state government?” he said at a rally organised by the party in Konnagar.
In another video that was widely circulated on Sunday, a state minister, Udayan Guha, is purportedly heard asking party workers to retaliate against political opponents.
“Some political parties are trying to play politics in the wake of the RG Kar incident. If they bite us once, we will have to do it five times. If they leave a single tooth mark, we will have to do it five times,” he is reportedly heard saying.
Trinamool MP from Bankura Arup Chakraborty said that once party workers take a stand and “whistle”, those protesting against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital and “misleading people” will “run away like dogs”.
All this is apparently a rejoinder to something the Chief Minister had said at a recent meeting last week. But on August 29, Ms Banerjee clarified the comment on X.
“I also clarify that the phrase (“kara phone“The phrase I used in my speech yesterday is a quote from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The legendary saint said that from time to time, it is necessary to raise one's voice. When there are crimes and misdeeds, one must raise one's voice in protest. My speech on that point was a direct allusion to Ramakrishna's great saying,” his message read.
However, the party leaders' comments have angered the medical community and civil society, who have organised a massive protest against the rape and murder. Despite the Supreme Court's request to stop the protest and return to work, the doctors have continued with their plan of action.
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