THE OVER a month-long standoff between junior doctors and the West Bengal government worsened on Thursday as the protesters refused to join talks, following which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that they wanted her “chair” not justice as she offered to resign “for the sake of the people”.
“Ora chair chaite esheche, justice na. Ami manusher sharthe padatyag korte raji achi. Ami mukkhomantritto chaina (They are here for the chair, not justice. For the sake of the people, I am ready to resign. I don’t want the chief ministership),” Banerjee said at a press conference. “I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected that the issue would be resolved today,” she said.
Banerjee made the remarks after a delegation of protesting junior doctors reached Nabanna (state secretariat) but refused to join talks, insisting on their demand for live-streaming of proceedings, even as the CM waited inside for “over two hours”.
“We have no problem in live-streaming, but the matter is sub-judice… We said all discussions will be documented and recorded. We kept three video cameras also. If the Supreme Court gives permission, we will share the recording with them also. When a case is sub-judice, live-streaming cannot be possible. In our letter also, we said that we can’t allow live-streaming,” she said.
“I waited for three days with my highest officials… We also want justice for the victim, we want justice for the treatment of the common people… We are not taking action (against protesters). It is our duty to tolerate,” Banerjee said.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had asked the junior doctors to rejoin work by Tuesday evening, adding that it could not stop the state government from taking disciplinary action if they failed to do so.
“The SC gave a deadline. It said that after the deadline, any step can be taken by the state government. We are not taking any step. To those who came to the gate of Nabanna but didn’t join talks, I appeal to them to return to work,” Banerjee said.
“We have been waiting for over two hours, hoping that reason would guide the junior doctors… I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected that the issue would be resolved today,” she said.
“Some of the protesters wanted to attend the meeting. But three or four people who received instructions from outside ensured that nobody attended it… I have been insulted, my government has been insulted… We have tolerated a lot of canards and insults for the last 33 days,” Banerjee said.
The junior doctors have been protesting since August 9, following the rape-and-murder of a junior doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
After Banerjee’s press conference, the protesting doctors also addressed the media at the gates of Nabanna. They said they sought live-streaming to ensure transparency, but their request was denied by officials.
“The CM said she can leave her chair. We are disappointed. We did not come here for her chair, we came here with our five-point demand… What is wrong with live-streaming? Is the demand unjustified? If the SC can hold live hearing, why can’t the state government,” said Dr Aniket Mahato, one of the protesters. Saying that they have been protesting on the streets for over a month now, he said they were ready to “wait more”.
“We still believe that the door is open for discussions. We are still hopeful that we will reach a solution through discussions. We are ready for talks. If we are called, we will sit for talks. Our agitation will continue,” he said.
Besides live-streaming of proceedings, the protesters had insisted that the CM should be present at the talks, and that their delegation would comprise 30 people.
Responding to their demands, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant had called them for a meeting at Nabanna at 5 pm on Thursday, assuring that the CM would be present. He had, however, asked them to limit the size of their delegation to 15 members, and said live-streaming would not be allowed, but the proceedings could be recorded “to maintain transparency”.
At 5.15 pm, a 30-member delegation of the protesters reached Nabanna. While the government allowed the increased delegation size, it turned down the demand for live-streaming.
Besides Pant, Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar were among those who engaged with the junior doctors at Nabanna.
“We are trying to convince them. Live-streaming or not is not important. Dialogue is important. Only dialogue can solve the problem. The CM is waiting for more than one-and-a-half hours. There is a limit,” Pant said earlier.
“They are insisting on live-streaming. We have arrangements for video-recording. Generally, such meetings don’t get live-streamed. We want to talk to them with an open mind,” said DGP Kumar.
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