Want justice for city & people, ready to quit for this: CM after jr docs keep her waiting
Times of India | 13 September 2024
Kolkata: Thirty-two junior doctors went to Nabanna at 5.30pm on Thursday after getting a third invite in three days from Bengal govt but then left without entering the meeting room, where CM Mamata Banerjee waited for more than two hours before giving vent to her anguish and frustration at the continuing impasse.
"They do not want justice, they want the chair," Banerjee charged, before saying she was "willing to resign for people's sake"."I do not want the CM's position. I want justice for the city and its people. I also want justice for the murdered RG Kar doctor. I hope people understand this," she added.
Banerjee's double reference to "justice" sought to balance the cry for punishment for the brutal crime with a growing sense of unease in the city about the continuing cease-work at govt hospitals and the street protests that have severely impacted traffic and hit business in the state's most important festival season.
"I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I want them to accept the Supreme Court's verdict. I support everyone supporting them. But we also want justice for common people, for those who need medical treatment. I have tried my best. I apologise to the people of Bengal that I could not solve the problem in three days. I forgive the doctors again. My only request is: please return to work," she added.
The CM also made it clear that the door was not being slammed on future possibilities of dialogue. "No disciplinary action will be taken. We will wait patiently but please join work. And, if they still want to talk (after this), I will tell my officers to sit with them," she said, adding that the Emergency Services Maintenance Act would not be invoked against doctors as it was done in UP. "I was born out of protests myself," she explained.
Banerjee also referred to the "politics" behind the protests for the first time since Aug 9, when a junior doctor was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College. "I have been greatly disrespected. There have been misunderstandings on social media because of fake news, slander, character assassination. People sought justice for Tilottama. But they do not know there is a political colour to it. These people (protesters) do not want justice, they want the chair," she said, before adding she was "willing to resign".
Thursday's developments followed the junior doctors' bus journey to state secretariat Nabanna from their Swasthya Bhavan protest site following the government's third invite for talks. The first invite came on Tuesday and the second came on Wednesday. Junior doctors had rejected both, citing a number of reasons ranging from who was sending them the invite to the number of doctors that were being invited. They first specified that they would be satisfied with an invite only from either the state chief secretary or the CM's office and then said the delegation strength needed to be at least 30. Then they added the one clause that led to Thursday's abortive attempt: live streaming of their proposed dialogue with the CM and other senior officials.
Banerjee explained why the government was against live-streaming: "The matter is sub-judice, certain protocols must be followed. But we were ready to video-record the meet. Three cameras were set up. We could have handed over the recording to them after taking the Supreme Court's permission. We could have also provided it to the court. We would have held a joint press conference if the meeting was positive. They could have spoken to the media if they were unhappy with our decisions."
Junior doctors, however, stuck to the live-streaming demand before taking the bus back to their Swasthya Bhavan protest site. "Is asking for live-streaming to maintain transparency an ego issue? We wanted to discuss our five-point demand," West Bengal Junior Doctors' Forum representative Arnab Mukhopadhyay said. "This movement is a public movement and we want people to see the discussion. We are still hopeful and we want to talk to the government to end this impasse," another junior doctor said.