West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that CPI(M) and BJP workers were involved in the vandalism at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
After meeting the Governor, Mamata Banerjee told the press that the people who vandalized the hospital during the protests were “outsiders.”
“I have received information that outsiders, some political party workers of ‘Baam and Ram’ have done this. Students have no role in it. I condemn the incident and I will hold a rally tomorrow demanding hanging sentence (for the rape accused),” the Chief Minister said.
In the past, Mamata Banerjee has accused the Left and the BJP of conspiring against her government.
“I saw flags of the Left and BJP… the way they attacked the police. One of my officers-in-charge was missing for one hour. Later, he was found wounded. But the police did not list the patients. They did not use force. We have done a lot of aandolan (agitation) and never done things like that inside hospital,” she said.
On Wednesday night, thousands of women across West Bengal joined the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest to seek justice for a 31-year-old trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar hospital.
Although the protests were mostly peaceful, violence erupted outside RG Kar hospital. A mob forcefully entered the hospital, vandalizing the emergency ward and damaging police vehicles parked outside.
Police said that about 40-50 people, pretending to be protesters, entered the hospital and vandalized property. In response, police used tear gas and batons to break up the mob.
In view of the blatant hooliganism in RG Kar Hospital, the CPI(M)-led Left Front on Thursday demanded the resignation of CM Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal’s Health and Home minister over the violence at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
On a similar demand, the BJP also said its women’s wing will hold a candlelight rally to her residence on Friday in protest.
Alleging that law and order has “failed” in the state, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said that the saffron party will also hold a sit-in demonstration near RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a woman postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered last week, leading to huge protests.
He said that the BJP’s women’s wing will hold a candlelight rally to Banerjee’s south Kolkata residence at Kalighat from Hazra crossing on Friday to protest the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital in the early hours of Thursday.
