With fans of bitter rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal hitting the streets together to protest against the rape-murder at the state-run RG Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata witnessed never-seen-before scenes on Sunday, the day the season’s first derby was supposed to be played at the Salt Lake Stadium. One thing is clear: it’s not just about football anymore.
The cancellation, according to the TMC’s political rivals and critics, is the latest in a series of what they describe as miscalculations during the ongoing demonstrations — from the transfer of 42 doctors, including a few involved in the protests, to rolling back that order amidst a heated debate and alleged favourable treatment of the controversial former principal of RG Kar Hospital.
Every such move has triggered new debates, giving protesters and the TMC’s political rivals fresh ammo and increasing pressure on India’s only woman chief minister, who has on her part stressed transparency and accused the Left and the BJP of politicising the protests and fomenting trouble. But it appears that the Mamata government’s recent decisions have not only backfired but have also set off chain reactions that have jolted the very ground she stands on.
A Cancelled Match & Cancelled Faith
In West Bengal, football is not only an emotion, people look at it as their religion. The abrupt cancellation of the derby over security issues and in anticipation of chaos puts West Bengal Police in further jeopardy, showing the force is unable to handle the crisis.
Fans, already on the edge, looked at it as more than just a disruption of the sport — they saw it as a symbol of unnecessary government interference. They asked how the same police, which said they did not have adequate personnel to secure the match venue, had just enough personnel deployed for the Sunday demonstrations outside the stadium. As protests flared and emotions ran high, the TMC’s critics quickly linked the decision to a broader narrative of a government that’s losing control and making hasty decisions only to worsen the situation.
Quicker Into Quicksand
Over the past decade, Bengal’s handling of incidents of crime against women has been marked by controversies. Investigation records have also been dismal. But these incidents never affected Banerjee’s electoral fortune.
In 2012, when an Anglo-Indian woman alleged gangrape in the posh Park Street area, Mamata Banerjee’s government was a year old. She initially dismissed the incident as “sajano ghotona” (fabricated incident), undermining the gravity of the crime and drawing flak from certain quarters. A team of senior police officers, led by a woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, however, stood up and investigated. The prime accused, who was believed to be related to an influential TMC leader, was arrested four years after the incident. The woman IPS officer was subsequently side-lined.
Critics allege that the Kamduni gangrape and murder case of 2013 further exposed the state’s record of handling crimes against women, with the accused getting bail, even as the Crime Investigation Department (CID) failed to establish a strong case — leaving the victims’ families without justice. In the Sandeshkhali case earlier this year, the Mamata administration took nearly two months to arrest Shahjahan Sheikh, now an ex-TMC leader, despite widespread outcry. One of her late MPs, an actor-turned-politician, had infamously threatened to use rape as a political tool and warned that he would unleash his party men on women aiding his opponents.
Banerjee’s frequent victim-shaming and labelling of rape cases and protests as “politically motivated” reveal a troubling pattern of negligence and disregard for women’s safety, according to her opponents. Critics also say that the repeated failure to act swiftly and decisively in these cases underscores a broader issue of indifference to women’s rights and safety in West Bengal, even though the chief minister stresses that such allegations are meant to defame her and points to the several women-centric schemes she has launched.
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