London: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s maiden speech at the Oxford University’s Kellogg College was disrupted by student protestors, raising questions about the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital on Thursday, March 27. The protest was organised by the UK’s unit of Students’ Federation of India, who raised posters during her speech.
Referring to the students as “left and ultra-left communal friends”, Banerjee stated that the case is sub-judice and the central government is handling it. “Please do not do politics here, this platform is not for politics. That you can do in my state not here and you know better than about crowd funding and all,” she added.
Banerjee's Response to the Protestors
Banerjee was delivering a lecture on the ‘Social Development – Girl, Child and Women Empowerment in West Bengal’ when the incident took place. In response to the questions on the RG Kar rape and other issues related to the state, Banerjee held a photograph of herself where she was injured and covered with bandages and said, “I will answer you, first see my picture, how an attempt was made to kill me. You should give me a chance to speak. You are not insulting me, you are disrespecting your institution. These people do this everywhere. They do it wherever I go.”
Denying the protestors’ claims of her statements of victim-blaming, she further said, “You are lying. Don’t do it brother. I have special affection for you. Do not make it a political platform. If you want to make it a political platform, you go to Bengal and tell your political party to become even stronger, to fight against communal people.”
What Did the SFI Allege?
Confirming that the protest was organised by them, the SFI took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “We openly opposed her (Banerjee) blatant lies by asking her to provide evidence of the social development she claims to have pioneered in West Bengal. Instead of allowing us to peacefully express our opinions, the police were called.”
"We questioned her on her statements of victim-blaming and lethargy against the RG Kar incident. When Mamata Banerjee claimed to support the students and democratic rights in Bengal, we asked her why the students have not been able to hold university elections for last 6 years," they added.
Have a look at the entire thread here:
The students wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxis) also criticised the CM’s lethargy against the RG Kar incident. “In support of the students and working masses of West Bengal, SFI-UK raised its voice in opposition to Mamata Banerjee and the TMC’s corrupt, undemocratic rule,” their statement read.
As the protests subsided, Banerjee asserted that she is not intimidated by this and added that she would visit Oxford twice a year.
