Never has Kolkata’s conscience been so loud and clear, paying urgent attention to its inner voice. Never before have the sedate Bengali Bhadroloks from all walks of life realised the exigency of stirring out of their comfort zone and saying, “Enough is enough.” Elites, busy professionals, marginalised people, outliers, vulnerable individuals, transgenders, sex workers, and the physically challenged have all come out in unprecedented numbers, sloganeering and lending their voices to the cause. The muffled cry of a rape and murder victim, seeking help through the soundproof walls of a seminar room where she rested after 36 hours of backbreaking duty.
The cry that got silenced forever on August 9th at midnight has returned to reverberate through millions of voices, screaming and demanding justice for her. The onus of having failed a young life and of remaining apathetic and quiet to the rot in the system for so long lies with the city and citizenry as well. Tilottama (beautiful lady), as Kolkata is often called, feels the day of reckoning has arrived. The danger is right at the doorstep, and if left unattended, it would devour everything.
An unprecedented call of conscience is sweeping through Bengal, courtesy of the crime and a deliberate attempt at cover-up. As time passes and suspected perpetrators remain at large, patience is wearing thin, ready to explode at any moment. Citizens have taken to the streets in force, challenging an administration that views the crime as an isolated case. Mamata Banerjee and the party’s second-in-command, Abhisekh Banerjee, are reeling out statistics from NCRB to depict the city’s safety compared to other metros. They are also alluding to other states where rapists come in distinct political stripes and get protection instead of punishment. Yet the collective consciousness, which has seen a mass awakening, is not ready to be trapped in the jugglery of justifications. Dry data is irrelevant to a society where 18.08% of the workforce are women who face daily fear and panic just going to work. After all, the rape and murder occurred at the victim’s alma mater, which she considered her second home.
Every other day, the city and its suburbs witness processions, protest marches, and candlelight vigils. Interesting slogans like “Amar ghar, tomar ghar/ R. G. Kar, R. G. Kar (My home, your home/ R, G. Kar), and Shok noi Droho (Revolution, not Grief), have flooded social media. Artists like Arijit Singh and Aysuhman Kharana have added their voices, creating songs and poems that reflect the collective outrage.
Even school-going teenagers are waking up to the need to raise their voices. A Howrah headteacher recounted how she was in two minds as to what should be her response to the heinous incident. She was dithering to involve the students in a protest due to government strictures and show cause notices, but thankfully they came forward to help the victim get justice. She expressed pride in their commitment to fighting for justice, regardless of age.
Apart from medical students and junior doctors of R.G. Kar, who had been on a sit-in demonstration since the incident, the first call of protest from society, “Reclaim the Night,” came from a 29-year-old independent researcher, Rimjhim Sinha. The call captivated thousands and challenged both the patriarchal mindset and the college principal’s victim-shaming of the young lady for being in the seminar room late at night. The slogan had an electrifying effect on women across socio-economic demography, prompting them to flood the streets and reclaim the night. At midnight on Independence Day, the women in Bengal were asserting their rights to have a safe and secure environment.
The city witnessed similar rallies over the Nandigram police firing in 2007 and rape cases in 2012, 2013, and 2022. Political analysts and social scientists see a marked change in how people have reacted this time. They say that conscience-keepers from all walks of life are leaving behind their political preferences or identities. Apart from the Left student and youth wings’ intervention to prevent a hasty cremation of the victim, the uprising has consciously barred political banners, festoons, and party slogans. The aim was to keep the movement from becoming a political slugfest. Political banners that appeared occasionally faced backlash from the crowds seeking justice.
It was a conscious decision to let people decry the incident and denounce the authorities, rather than politicians doing so. Bringing in political parties would have undermined the sole aim of delivering justice to the parents, who struggled hard to see their daughter become a doctor. Realising that politics divides rather than unites, diverges rather than converges, and disbands rather than combines, politicians chose to wait to see the movement coalesce and consolidate into a cohesive whole. Of course, they had been on the sidelines and throwing their weight behind the logistics, personnel, and even financial support. But that was that! Incidentally, on ‘Reclaim the Night’ events, a band of lumens, allegedly from the ruling party, had a free run in the hospital premises, vandalising it and wiping off vital evidence of the crime. Mamata blamed her political adversaries, the BJP and the Left. But people could see through the dubious design of divide and rule.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. Views personal)
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