‘Mamata Banerjee, Please Stop Playing To The Gallery’

The Constitutional Conduct Group, a group of former civil servants, have written an open letter to Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor in R. G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata.

The veteran bureaucrats and diplomats wrote that they are concerned about the lack of answers to certain disturbing questions which have been raised by the media. In their letter, that have highlighted the following questions:

“It is widely rumoured that a racket, involving sex, drugs, human organs and medical waste was being run in the RG Kar hospital and that the unfortunate victim of this case had reported these facts to her seniors, but no action was taken. If this is a wild allegation maliciously reported in a section of the media, why has it not been appropriately countered by the State Government?

“Why was the rape and murder of the trainee doctor reported to her parents in instalments, first as illness, then as death, then as suicide, and only finally as a case of rape and murder? The Kolkata police have denied that they had told the parents that it was a case of suicide; if so, who did?

“The Principal of the college should have contacted the family and lodged the FIR. Not only did he not do this, he wanted to know why the doctor on duty had gone to sleep in the seminar room, knowing fully well that there was no place for the doctors on duty to rest at night.

“Why was the Principal of RG Kar Medical College transferred from the college, only to be accommodated as the Principal of another prestigious medical college in Kolkata?

“The parents of the murdered trainee doctor seem to have reported that other junior doctors were complicit in this rape-murder. If true, it is a very, very serious matter and strictest action needs to be taken against these doctors, as well as to prevent the possibility of anything like this happening in the future.

“It seems that the junior doctors have specifically asked for action to be taken against the following medical college personnel: the former Principal, the Medical Superintendent, the Dean of Students Affairs and the HOD of the Chest Medicine Department. Why have they singled out these personnel?

“We are aware that the RG Kar Hospital and Medical College is a prestigious institution, and more than a hundred years old. Why is it that its infrastructure and facilities continue to be so very poor? What has the State Government done to maintain the infrastructure and provide better facilities and safety in this hospital, or to get Central funds for this?

“Why were the hospital premises, the scene of such a heinous crime, left unprotected by the police resulting in the destruction of many areas a few days later by vandals who had apparently infiltrated the protest groups?”

They also raised concerns that they found some of the actions taken by the CM “inexplicable” as she also is West Bengal’s Minister for the Home and Health Departments. “It was for you and your officers to take steps to prevent the commission of the crime, or solve it quickly before the CBI stepped in. What is the point, then, in your leading protest marches? Who or what are you protesting against?” the CCG asked.

They accused her of “playing to the gallery” by asking that the probe by the CBI should be completed by Sunday, August 18. “You know as well as anyone else that investigation of such a serious crime cannot be completed in a few days. Besides, all crimes have to be tried by the courts, and sentences on conviction can only be passed by them. Demanding that the guilty persons be hanged will not influence the court’s decision,” the CCG stated in their open letter.