All India Trinamool Congress (AITC/TMC) Rajya Sabha MP and money laundering accused Saket Gokhale has once again stoked controversy during a pitiful attempt to defend Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government in the brutal rape and murder case of a 31-year-old trainee doctor of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Rather than understanding the genuine concerns of the protesters and empathising with the suffering of the victim’s family, he opted to attack those who dared to challenge the incompetence of the state administration which not only exhibited utter negligence but shamelessly deployed a fleet of lawyers in courts to conceal the truth.
Saket Gokhale recently locked horns with the people who have traditionally been on the same ‘secular’ and ‘liberal’ plank which his party claims to represent. First, he attracted the ire of former NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt who invited him to participate in her program “Bottomline with Barkha” on her YouTube channel “Mojo Story” on 22nd August. It was a discussion on the Supreme Court’s critical comments on the Kolkata Police in relation to the incident. She was also joined by senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, women’s rights activist Ranjana Kumari and Bharatiya Janata Party’s spokesperson Radhika Bhattacharyya.
#KolkataHorror I In 30 yrs I've never told a guest to leave my show. The TMC spokesman today was obnoxious. He revealed how he does not care for the victim at all & how, he seeks to bully women. Show went on just fine after he was removed. In full here https://t.co/MVV2k8x3Vo pic.twitter.com/SCElMccVIv
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) August 22, 2024
She recounted how the authorities tried to mask the instance including misrepresenting it as suicide, Sandip Kumar Ghosh the controversial principal of the institution was transferred instead of being removed from his position and a mob of 7000 people attacked and vandalised the hospital. When she asked the TMC leader to acknowledge that the government could have been more responsible, he accused the media of misrepresenting facts. He maintained that the emergency room had not been damaged as clarified by the Kolkata Police. However, Barkha Dutt retaliated that she stood by her statement and invited the authorities to take her to court. “I think you completely revealed your absence of priority. You are just being a troll,” she charged.
An incensed Saket Gokhle responded by asking why she wasn’t in Badlapur covering the recent sexual assault. Since he had no answer to her pertinent inquiries, he took out the victim card and claimed that the media was focused on West Bengal only as it was ruled by Mamata Banerjee. “(Rape of) 4-year-old children in Maharashtra don’t matter but Kolkata does because it is ruled by TMC and not BJP.” He persistently defended the administration, criticised the media and continuously cut her off to avoid answering the tough questions.
“You have shown an absolute lack of integrity,” Barkha Dutt lambasted his rude conduct on the show and added, “I have camera recordings of each and everything carried on this platform or written by me. Maybe if your government communicated more transparently, the parts of what we now know to be fake would not have spread like wildfire and doctors would not have sat on this program quoting them.” She reminded that his party had appointed a government lawyer to represent Sandip Ghosh in the Kolkata High Court which prompted the Chief Justice to question how the man became so powerful and what is the administration trying to hide.
Tired of his frequent disruptions, she muted him and challenged, “I can have a one-on-one live for an hour anytime you want. I invite you to a place and time of your choice. We’ll go live and get the audience to do a jury verdict after that on whether you reveal more integrity or I do. It is my open invitation to you.” She called his behaviour “absolutely ridiculous” and highlighted, “You have behaved like a troll and unveiled how much you care about the victim. I’m saying it again I invite the Kolkata police to sue me. Please investigate my work. It is not our failure that your government could not communicate in real-time. Everything we have reported has been told to us by a doctor on camera. I was not born yesterday. You have every right to your opinion of me but you do not have the right to bully me or silence me and I will not be bullied or silenced by you.”
The Rajya Sabha MP voiced his frustration on being muted and alleged that he was there to participate in the discussion and not be a spectator. He argued, “I didn’t get a chance to speak after your monologue,” as Barkha Dutt asked Sanjay Hegde to express his views. She then turned to Saket Gokhale and directed him to leave the show “if he can’t participate in it with civility” as other members of the panel also objected to his actions. His crass conduct resulted in his humiliating dismissal.
Saket Gokhale vs India Today anchors
Saket Gokhale appears to have a tendency to get scolded for his inappropriate actions. On 23rd August, India Today’s journalist Nabila Jamal slammed him for “editing and morphing” her clip, claiming that she had seen the postmortem report personally and it said that the victim doctor had 150 milligrams (mg) of semen in her private part. He alleged that “the Supreme Court busted the fake news yesterday” and she “openly lied to push a sinister BJP agenda,” in a social media post. However, she called him out “for floating the suicide theory and allowing scope for misinformation.”
Notably, the Supreme Court had dismissed the claim that 150 grams of semen was found, while Nabila Jamal mentioned 150 milligrams, a considerably lesser quantity.
Nabila Jamal asked him to visit RG Kar Hospital and placate the doctors who have been protesting there for two weeks, as he had too much time on his hands. Afterwards, she accused him of attacking her because she “highlighted his corruption and money laundering charges.”
Shame on you for floating the Suicide theory and allowing scope for misinformation!
— Nabila Jamal (@nabilajamal_) August 23, 2024
Clearly you've got lots of time at hand, do come to RG Kar hospital & pacify those protesting doctors who've been there 2 whole weeks. Editing & morphing my video shouldn't be your priority.… https://t.co/H8ohLs8KCz
On the same day, the parliamentarian was again chastised by Akshita Nandagopal, deputy editor and anchor at India Today for sharing a fraudulent ‘fact-check’ post in the name of the media company which alleged that “Kolkatta Police had vandalised all evidence” concerning the rape and murder of the trainee doctor. The post then stated that CBI (Central Bureau Of Investigation) has established that “all investigating documents and scenes of crime were videographed by the Kolkata police” and there was no tampering.
She wrote, “I choose to largely ignore your obviously motivated posts, but this is fake. It’s not India Today’s property.” She rebuked him for failing to carry out a fact-check before uploading online. “If only TMC MPs spent as much time ensuring justice for Abhaya (victim doctor) as much as they’re spending on social media,” she further remarked.
Hi @SaketGokhale, I choose to largely ignore your obviously motivated posts, but this is FAKE- it’s not India Today’s property… amazing that you don’t FACT CHECK before tweeting 🤡
— Akshita Nandagopal (@Akshita_N) August 23, 2024
If only TMC MPs spent as much time ensuring justice for Abhaya as much as they’re spending on… https://t.co/mYrc0lCKGZ
TMC’s miserable attempts to conceal, evade, defend or disregard
The TMC government has been in the dock ever since the shocking rape and murder case came to light. The Mamata Banerjee administration has startlingly been seen trivializing the situation, accusing the opposition including the BJP and the Left, justifying the dereliction of duty and even providing counsel to argue for the accused principal in high court. As the only state led by a female chief minister, her government has been working overtime to avert responsibility and brazening out their misconduct instead of serving justice and supporting the victim and the protesters who are concerned about their lives and safety.
She also went to protest against the instance that transpired under her own regime, making a complete joke out of the serious agitation and announcing, “Within Sunday (18th August) CBI has to facilitate the hanging of the guilty and complete the entire probe. Our Kolkata Police has completed 90 per cent of the probe,” while simultaneously sending attorneys to defend RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh which even forced Calcutta High Court to question the dubious intention of the administration.
The controversial man was recently made the OSD (Officer on Special Duty) instead of being terminated after he was pressured to resign from his post. He was also appointed the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital but was ousted after severe protests. Former Deputy Superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Akhtar Ali had filed a case against him in the Calcutta High Court.
He asserted, “Sandip Ghosh was engaged in illicit activities, including the trafficking of unclaimed bodies and biomedical waste. This waste was sold to individuals connected to his security team and was later transported to Bangladesh.” He further accused him of soliciting bribes from students in exchange for passing grades and taking a 20 per cent commission on every hospital tender, awarding contracts exclusively to his close associates. Furthermore, Suhrita Paul, who was picked as the principal of the medical college was also removed owing to the demonstration.
It’s a suicide: Kolkata Police to victim’s parents
While Mamata Banerjee wrote off the public’s outrage as a political plot by the Left and the BJP, agitating doctors charged they don’t trust the government because it is working to cover up the matter. The victim’s parents disclosed that they received a call from the department informing them that their daughter had killed herself. The mother indicated that anyone could know it was a murder just by looking at the body. “First we got a call from the hospital that your daughter is sick, then the call was disconnected. After that when I called and asked what happened, they told me to come to the hospital. When we called again, the (caller) identified himself as Assistant Super and said your daughter has committed suicide. She went on duty on Thursday and we got this call on Friday at 10:53 pm,” the distraught woman informed.
“When we reached there, we were not allowed to see her, we were allowed to see her at 3 o’clock. Her pants were open, there was only one piece of cloth on her body. Her hand was broken, and blood was coming out of her eyes and mouth. Just by looking at her, it seemed that someone had murdered her. I told them it is not suicide, it’s a murder, We worked so hard to make our daughter a doctor but she was murdered,” she stated. The police, however, insisted that they never classified it as a suicide.
The parents mentioned that they had to wait hours to see the body of their daughter. The mother complained that the police were attempting to wrap up the inquiry hastily. The father also stated that her daughter’s body was cremated in a hurry. According to him, her body was burnt before the other two that were in the crematorium and the staff also confirmed the same. Renovations were reportedly started close to the crime scene even as the investigation was underway. Other doctors questioned whether this was an attempt to obliterate the proof.
Will shut hospital: Calcutta High Court
The West Bengal government and state police were reprimanded by an angry Calcutta high court for vandalism at RG Kar Medical College at 14th August. The judge called the incident a “complete failure” of state machinery and threatened to “close down” the public facility due to obvious mismanagement. A crowd of 7,000 people stormed the scene with the intention of demolishing the seminar room where the rape and murder occurred while the police hid in the restrooms and called for assistance from the nurses. Additionally, a video emerged showing someone telling the crowd, “Let’s go to the seminar room.”
The episode further highlighted the shortcomings of state machinery when hundreds of protesters broke over police barricades to storm RG Kar Medical College and Hospital around midnight as admitted by Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal. “When so much commotion is going on, you should have cordoned off the entire area. The police usually have intelligence on these matters. If 7,000 people were to gather, it is hard to believe that state police did not know. This is an absolute failure of state machinery. Could this vandalism have been prevented is the question. Who did it come later,” noted the division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya.
The judge questioned why there were no orders issued to stop people from illegally gathering near the hospital. The state administration was also questioned by the court regarding the “urgency” of renovations close to the location where the deceased doctor’s body was found on 9th August. “What was the urgency? You go to any district court complex and see if ladies have any restrooms, I say this with responsibility. What has the PWD (Public Works Department) done? We’ll shift patients to another hospital and close the (RG Kar) hospital,” the court warned.
Supreme Court slams lapses in probe
The case which resulted in widespread outrage and demonstration across various sectors, led the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance. A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on 22nd August pointedly questioned senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, about the disparities in the police records, outlining how the First Information Report was lodged nearly 14 hours after the victim’s body was discovered.
“Nothing seems to explain why the FIR was registered at 11.45 pm when the incident was reported in the morning. What’s the reason for the FIR almost 14 hours after the discovery of the body? What was the principal of the college doing? What was his connection and after he was made to step down from that hospital, how was he made the principal of another hospital? Let the probe continue. We are going to assess the investigation,” the apex court pronounced further exposing the truth behind the inquiry executed by the Kolkata authorities.
TMC’s action against own MP for demanding custodial interrogation of Kolkata Police Commissioner
Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, a senior leader of the party and Rajya Sabha member of parliament conveyed dissatisfaction regarding the investigation into the case, hinting at an apparent division within the ruling TMC in West Bengal. He urged the CBI to question Vineet Goyal, the commissioner of Kolkata police and Sandip Ghosh while they are in custody. He had taken to social media to call upon the agency to act fairly and interrogate the two. However, he received a notice from the Kolkata police directing him to go to the Lalbazar police headquarters within a few hours, in response to his demand.
Meanwhile, party leaders also denounced him for his remark. Senior Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh claimed that Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal made every effort to resolve the matter and he was directly in charge of it. He expressed regret that Sukhendu Shekhar Roy shared such a post about the top cop.
The trainee doctor was raped and murdered as she was resting after a 36-hour-long shift at the hospital which sparked demonstrations by the doctors and other medical professionals in the state. Sanjay Roy, the prime accused in the case was later taken into custody by the authorities.
