Kolkata Doctor’s Rape-Murder: Fury At Mamata Justified, But Why Is BJP Silent On Bihar Episode?

It is the story of two rapes, one in Kolkata and another in Muzaffarpur – the first one a middle class doctor and the second one a Dalit girl. Both incidents took place took place within a gap of two days.. While in case of one, following massive protests across the country, the Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder of a doctor which took place in the night of August 9, at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital., in the case of the other gangrape of a Dalit girl, nobody is mentioning it as if gangrape of a Dalit is nothing to be of big concern.

On August 15, two Supreme Court lawyers, Ujjawal Gaur and Rohit Pandey, addressed a letter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, urging him to take suo motu cognizance of the horrific incident.

The lawyers argued: “The nation looks to the judiciary as the ultimate guardian of justice, the last refuge for those whose cries have been silenced by brutality. Her death must not be in vain; it must galvanise us to act, to ensure that no other woman suffers such a fate”. CJI DY Chandrachud will hear the case on August 20.

But the apex court did not act suo motu in the case, more horrific and gruesome than R G Kar, that took place on August 11 in Muzaffarpur of Bihar. In doctor’s case the perpetrators of crime are presumably unknown faces. But in Muzaffarpur, the perpetrators are known and belong to rich and powerful families. Ironically the middle class of Bihar, the conscience keeper, as was seen in the case of doctor, did not raise its voice of protest

The perpetrators of ghastly crimes ought to be delivered exceptional punishment. They must not go scot-free. But sad enough the Dalit girl of Bihar, whose parents are daily wage labourers, is being denied even proper attention. In her police complaint, the girl’s mother said that around six sons of powerful and rich people of the nearby village, one of them she identified as Sanjay Rai, barged into their hut on August 11 and told the parents to hand over their daughter as “ they want to enjoy her”. Scared parents requested to forgive. But the power-mad lads did not listen to their request. They forcibly took away the girl.

In both the cases, the rapists have common name; Sanjay Roy in case of Kolkata and Sanjay Rai in Muzaffarpur case. While Roy was arrested the very next day of expose, Rai of Muzaffarpur is absconding. However FIR also mentions: “Rai had been threatening to kill her if we did not marry her off to him. How could we have married my teenage daughter to a 45-year-old man?”

Undoubtedly, R G Kar Hospital doctor needs justice and it should be done through fast-track court. CBI has taken over the investigations of this gruesome murder after rape of the 31-year-old. But the Dalit girl deserves no less. She has none to raise voice on her behalf. The only party which has come to her support is the CPI(ML). Ironically the BJP which has taken lead to spread the agitation in support of murdered Kolkata doctor across the country through its organisational network, preferred to maintain a passive silence in the case of Muzaffarpur, though it is in power in Bihar and has its two leaders as the deputy chief ministers.

This exposes the duality of the BJP’s concern for women’s safety. In Bengal while BJP intends to create a situation, exerting moral pressure from the middle class, to embarrass Mamata and put the state under presidents’ rule, in Bihar Dalit girl’s killing does not move the BJP and even other major opposition leaders.. BJP is resorting to all kinds of dirty games to malign West Bengal government. But in Bihar none of its top leaders visited the parents of girl and express even “fake” sympathy.

While the supporters of the doctors strike argue that nation looks to the judiciary as the ultimate guardian of justice, this cliché does not find place in the case of Muzaffarpur. True enough the Muzaffarpur girl family requires more. They have no social resources, forget about the financial support; they cannot access the seat of state power. They cannot take a delegation to the chief minister. The cries of the Dalit parents have been silenced by brutality and both the centre and the state government are responsible.

Two SC lawyers mentioned in their letter to CJI; “Her death must not be in vain; it must galvanise us to act, to ensure that no other woman suffers such a fate,” but they have no such words and empathy for the dalit girl. While political activists managed to convince Calcutta High Court, which is too willing to listen to public voice, for a CBI probe, none thought it proper to raise dalit’s case before Patna High Court.

Always alert to put Mamata and her government on mat, this time too the Kolkata High Court agreed to have a CBI probe even after being aware that the track record of CBI in cracking the cases is worse. The Calcutta High Court had in the past, in other cases had ordered a number of CBI probes. But it is clear it has attained little success in these cases. . . Even after a week of the gruesome murder, the CBI has not succeeded in , finding out the real motive behind the murder and identification of culprits..

The design of BJP also gets exposed in the operation of Amit Shah of directing the state police forces to provide situation reports every two hours following the protests by doctors, nursing staff, and others against the alleged rape and murder of the doctor. Amit Shah who has never been concerned of the safety of the women has suddenly become proactive. Under his instructions, the home ministry would monitor law and order in all states. This is simply a mechanism to project Kolkata crime in a bigger proportion and dimension nationally.

Amit Shah must reply what action has he taken in the case of the gangrape of Bihar Dalit girl? As in the past this time too, media has played into the hands of saffron ecosystem. It is astonishing to see that media has played the information furnished to it, instead of applying and questioning the rationale of what saffron ecosystem fed. It was nice to see that in a situation when everything appears to have gone wrong, the TMC national spokesperson Mahua Moitra mustered courage to tell “put some facts on record” and “bust myths and fake propaganda. Be responsible while reporting. Genuine concerns need to be addressed. Fake news needs to be busted”.

The hearing of Supreme Court on Tuesday on Kolkata doctor rape issue is of crucial importance. The judges must see to it that the culprits are identified and punished asap for the gruesome crime, but at the same time, the Court has to give order for regulating the fake news in social media floated by the BJP ecosystem and other parties to create a situation endangering the law and order of the state. (IPA Service)