News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 23rd October 2024
Videos of meeting between the junior doctors and CM show some questionable moments which has left netizens in awe. On the one side: young men and women whose colleagues had been on hunger strike for nearly three weeks. On the other: the veteran, the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, confronting perhaps the biggest crisis of her tenure.
“Would you like to have some tea?” asked the chief minister.
“No ma’am. Our friends have been on hunger strike for the past 17 days. We don’t want tea,” a woman doctor responded sharply. This set the tone for the next two hours.
At one point, Aniket Mahato, a third-year resident doctor of R.G. Kar and prominent face of the movement who had just been released from the hospital after fasting-related complications, confronted Banerjee directly, “Ma’am, should we take the side of a rapist or a criminal?”
Many were astonished when Banerjee, a seasoned politician, gave in to the physicians’ demand to livestream. Despite prior legal concerns from the government, she consented to this meeting, which was attended by the state’s top bureaucrats. It’s unclear why she had this abrupt change of heart while the case was still pending. Banerjee, however, remained steadfast on important matters. She rejected the physicians’ call for the dismissal of the state’s principal secretary of health, Narayan Swarup Nigam.
“An accused cannot be labeled as such until it is proven,” she said, adding “I’m speaking from a legal standpoint.” “If there are allegations, we call someone an accused. If the allegations are proven, we call them guilty. That’s both grammatically and legally correct,” Ghosh retorted.
A violent argument broke out as Banerjee chastised medical college principals for suspending students for allegedly engaging in “threat culture.” She also voiced her displeasure with the administrators’ recent attempts to improve the environment in medical schools and accused them of engaging in political gamesmanship.
“I don’t want anyone’s career to suffer. Principals should inform us when they receive allegations. We will do the investigation,” she insisted. “You have suspended 47 students without informing us. Isn’t this part of a threat culture?” The junior doctors immediately objected to the question. R.G. Kar Medical College resident physician Kinjal Nanda, a well-known protester, stated, “The previous principal kept us waiting for hours.” We were prevented from meeting him by those who were accused of “threat culture.” We repeatedly told the government, but nothing changed.
Embarrassing the government even further, Mahato said, “Sexual harassment, exploitation, and threats were rampant on campus. Students felt unsafe and unsupported.” At another point when Banerjee was talking about her government’s achievements, Mahat was heard saying, “Can only speak when she allows us to speak!” The conversation took an awkward turn when Banerjee urged the men to protect their woman colleagues. “You also have a responsibility, to take care of your sisters. Sisters have the responsibility of taking care of their brothers,” she said, raising eyeballs in the room.
