West Bengal seems to be going through a massive upheaval and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to be smack in the middle of it. After BJP winning 18 seats in Lok Sabha, the Chief Minister seems to be fast losing control. After the protests by doctors and citizens chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ on several occasions as a mark of protest, now some notable Muslims of Kolkata have written a letter to Banerjee expressing anguish over the latest events in the state.
In the letter, the notable Muslims have written that they are Muslims who are living in Kolkata for decades and have been deeply concerned by two events that have recently occurred – the attack on doctors and the attack on former Miss India Ushoshie Sengupta.
They say that the attackers in both these cases were Muslims, a part of their community and that they are deeply anguished and embarrassed by it.
They then proceed to list two ways in which this problem can be solved. First, the letter says, that the culprits must be brought to book. They say that not just in this case, but in all cases where the culprits are Muslims, they should be brought to book since the growing perception is that just because some criminals belong to the Muslim community, they are allowed to get away, are shielded and the Muslims community appeased.
The second suggestion made in the letter is to initiate an outreach programme where Muslim youth and families across Kolkata can be sensitised in the area of gender sensitivity, civic consciousness, law compliance etc. This, they say, would need long term patience but needs to be implemented right away.
In a horrific incident in Kolkata recently, former Miss India Universe Ushoshi Sengupta was dragged out of her car and attacked by seven Muslim men raising further concerns about the increasingly deteriorating state of law and order in the West Bengal. The attackers, in this case, were Sheik Rahit, Fardin Khan, Sk. Sabir Ali, Sk. Gani, Sk. Imran Ali, Sk. Wasim and Atif Khan.
Before this, West Bengal medical services were on suspension after an 85-year-old Muslim man had died of natural causes and doctors were attacked by a Muslim mob. Support for NRS doctors poured in from across the country with lakhs of doctors going on strike. Eventually, Mamata Banerjee, after blaming outsiders for the strike, conceded to the demands of doctors.
