Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 29: Some alleged irresponsible remarks on the rape of a student of a Law College in south Kolkata has once again brought out in the public the fissures in the ruling Trinamool Congress leadership with just a few months left before West Bengal go to the polls early next year.
The TMC have started taking pot-shots at each other and even indulging in personal attacks as the party distanced itself from MP Kalyan Banerjee’s and MLA Madan Mitra’s controversial remarks. MP Mahua Moitra has termed the statements “disgusting” and said Trinamool differs from other parties in calling out such statements, irrespective of who makes them.
Mr Banerjee has shot back with a personal attack, saying that Ms Moitra has returned after her honeymoon and launched an attack on him. He also accused her of “breaking a family”, a nasty remark referring to Ms Moitra’s wedding with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra last month after divorcing his wife. This comes months after a public spat between Trinamool MPs in Delhi and the party leadership won’t be happy with this at a time it is gearing up for the Assembly polls.
A 24-year-old law student was raped in the college’s security guard room adjacent to the students’ union office on June 25. Main accused Manojit Mishra, 31, is a college alumnus and a temporary staff while the two other accused Pratim Mukherjee and Zaid Ahmed are believed to be current students. All three have been arrested. It is alleged that Manojit raped the student, while the other two shot videos to blackmail her later. The college’s guard has also been arrested. Manojit Mishra is part of the Trinamool’s youth wing, but the party has insisted that this won’t protect him from the harshest punishment.
Soon after the matter came to light, Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee made a controversial remark that many flagged as victim-blaming. “If a friend rapes a friend, how can you ensure security? Will there be police in schools? This was done by students to another student. Who will protect her (victim)?”
Another problematic statement came from party MLA Madan Mitra. “This incident has sent a message to girls that if someone calls you when the college is closed, don’t go; nothing good will come of it. If that girl had not gone there, this incident wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
The remarks drew condemnation on social media and the BJP tore into the Trinamool Congress, with senior party leader Amit Malviya calling the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool a “party of rape-sympathisers, rape enablers and serial offenders.”
Amid the row, the Trinamool leadership distanced itself from the two leaders’ remarks. “The remarks made by MP Kalyan Banerjee and MLA Madan Mitra concerning the heinous crime at South Calcutta Law College were made in their personal capacities. The party unequivocally disassociates itself from their statements and strongly condemns the same. These views do not reflect the position of the party in any manner whatsoever,” it said on X. “Our stance remains resolute; we have zero tolerance for crimes against women and demand the strictest possible punishment for all those involved in this heinous crime,” the Trinamool added.
Sharing Trinamool’s post, Krishnanagar MP Moitra said, “misogyny in India cuts across party lines.” “What differentiates @AITCofficial is that we condemn these disgusting comments no matter who makes them,” she wrote. Ms Moitra has, in the past, clashed with Mr Banerjee on several occasions.
Kalyan Banerjee earlier hit back at the Trinamool post and asked if the party was indirectly supporting the leaders shielding criminals. “Mere academic statements won’t bring any real change unless immediate action is taken against those leaders directly responsible. What’s even more unfortunate is that some of the leaders who emerged after 2011 are themselves under question in such crimes. I also wish to clearly distance myself from those who are encouraging or protecting these criminals. To truly understand the intent behind my words and statements, a certain level of moral and intellectual alignment is required – which, unfortunately, seems to be missing,” he said.
In a direct attack on Mahua Moitra, he raked up her personal life and recent wedding. “Mahua Moitra has come back to India after completing her honeymoon. And after coming back to India, she has started fighting against me. She is saying I am anti-women. What is she? She has broken up a family and married a 65-year-old guy. Did she not harm the lady?
“The women of the country will decide whether she broke up the family. And she is saying I am anti-women. She is against all women leaders of her constituency. She doesn’t allow anyone to work,” he said, adding, “An MP expelled from Parliament for breach of ethics is preaching me. She is the most anti-woman. She knows only to secure her future and make money,” he added.
The student’s rape case has come as a massive challenge for the Mamata Banerjee government ahead of polls. Ten months back, the rape-murder of a Kolkata doctor at a government hospital had sparked national outrage. And this incident has now given the main opposition BJP another political opportunity to corner the Trinamool Congress.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) member Archana Majumdar on Sunday visited the Law College, where the 24-year old first year student was allegedly raped. She claimed that the police could not provide her with the details of the whereabouts of the survivor. “The commission stands beside her,” she said, maintaining that the NCW’s mandate is to assist a survivor as long as she wants.
Majumdar said it is necessary to speak to her parents as well. “It’s a part of the investigation (by the NCW),” she said. She said the NCW, in such cases, speaks to the survivor as well as the parents and tries to find out what they require, including security, assistance in carrying forward her education, etc.
During her visit to the law college, Majumdar was seen having a verbal exchange with the police officers present. An assistant commissioner of police (ACP) present at the college said apart from the NCW member, two others accompanying her were allowed to enter the campus after noting down their mobile numbers. “No videography or still photography will be allowed inside,” he said.
Following the survivor’s complaint, the police have arrested all the three accused and the security guard who was reportedly forced to sit out and vacate the room for the accused to commit the crime. The police formed a nine-member special investigation team (SIT), led by an assistant commissioner rank officer, to probe the case.
Opposition political parties, including the BJP and the Left, have been holding protests over the alleged gang rape, claiming lawlessness in the Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal and lack of safety in educational institutions.
The Vice Principal of the law college Nayana Chatterjee said the administration got to know about the incident through the media. She said the police initially did not disclose the incident to her or her staff, saying they were on official duty. She said the police sought her permission to enter the premises on Thursday, a day after the alleged crime and told her their visit was “confidential” and asked her not to inform the security guard. She also said the police sealed the two rooms on the ground floor on Thursday.
The vice principal said the victim or any other student didn’t approach the college administration after the incident. “No guard, no staff or any student called me or mailed me,” Ms Chatterjee said. She said she got to know about the “disaster” through the media on Friday.
Ms Chatterjee said the main accused in the rape case Manojit Mishra was a former student and was hired as a temporary faculty member a few months ago. She said he was hired as they had a “very poor number” of permanent staff. He was being paid Rs 500 a day, she said.
She also said the security guard wouldn’t do his duty properly. “Every day he used to leave by 1:30 pm because he is a patient with high blood sugar,” she said.
