MLA Tapash Chatterjee. File photo
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Trinamool Congress leaders continue to target junior doctors on strike in West Bengal. A key Minister and an MLA have ridiculed the resident doctors who are continuing their 37-day protest demanding justice for the woman doctor who was raped and killed on duty at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
In a video that surfaced online on Monday, Rajarhat-New Town MLA Tapash Chatterjee was heard saying, “Clapping and disco dance does not ensure the success of a movement. They can only ensure common people are inconvenienced. A true movement has a certain manner of progressing.”
In his public address, Mr. Chatterjee highlighted that the Chief Minister had visited the junior doctors’ protest site outside the State Health Department headquarters (Swasthya Bhawan) at Salt Lake, invited them to her residence for a discussion, waited for hours on Saturday night for them to enter her house, and how she also offered the delegation tea.
In a similar vein, senior Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Monday strongly condemned the protests by junior doctors, calling their movement “hypocritical” and “more than what is necessary.”
‘Political force’
“There is a political force playing in the background. Do doctors dabble in politics? They are saying they do not trust the Chief Minister, but they certainly trust her when they receive their salary,” Mr. Chowdhury told local mediapersons. “They are testing the patience of the common people, which they should not.”
He also alleged that protesters seek instability and that they deliberately wish to clash with the police. “What kind of education have they [the doctors] received? The Chief Minister has manners, which is why she is not openly criticising their antics,” the Trinamool Congress Minister added.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh shared audio clips that allegedly depict arguments between protesting junior doctors over arriving at an understanding with the government. He claimed that there are two conflicting groups of doctors — one which wants a solution and end to the deadlock, and the another which doesn’t.
In the audio of the phone conversation, two voices, allegedly belonging to protesting doctors, can be heard arguing. One of them said the other should take responsibility if punitive action is taken against all protesting resident doctors and chalked it up to the latter’s unwillingness to carry forward discussions with the State administration.
“Some circles want this impasse [between protesting doctors and the government] to continue. Despite the Chief Minister making requests to them like a parent, some circles do not want to cooperate because they want this deadlock to continue,” Mr. Ghosh said. “It is worth examining whether people with political interests are trying to mislead and exploit the emotions of the protesting doctors.”
Deny allegations
Representatives of the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front denied these allegations on Monday prior to their meeting with the Chief Minister.
“Many people have alleged that we have no intentions of conducting a discussion or coming to a resolution, but that is false,” a protesting doctor, Kinjal Nanda, said on Monday. “Time and again we tried to see whether the administration is equally willing to do so. The fight that we are fighting is to uncover the truth and ensure justice is served.”
Earlier, Trinamool Congress leaders Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Lovely Maitra, Kanchan Mullick, Udayan Guha and Atish Sarkar stirred controversy by making caustic remarks about the agitating doctors and issuing threats to them.
Published – September 16, 2024 10:16 pm IST