| Friday , March 20 , 2015 |
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150320/jsp/frontpage/story_9811.jsp#.VQt66NKUeSo
Forgive them, for flock dare not bring up Park Street before Didi |
| Our Bureau |
| My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.... Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor man. James 2:1-13, The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien has been in touch with nuns of CJM (Convent of Jesus and Mary), Delhi, throughout the day, and has spoken to the Archbishop many times Bengal government's statement, March 14, 2015 Calcutta, March 19: Mamata Banerjee may or may not have read the Bible but Derek O'Brien should have - and drawn her attention to another event that took place in Bengal on March 14. Between 2.30pm and 3.30pm that Saturday, a funeral service was held at St. Mary's Church on Calcutta's Ripon Street for the woman who was raped after leaving Park Street on February 6, 2012. She died last Friday because of a brain infection. Neither Mamata nor O'Brien or any Trinamul leader at the forefront of a slander campaign against her was present at the service. They should have: it was their last chance to atone and seek forgiveness - an ennobling lesson that Christianity teaches. Consider other telling pieces of statistics. Ranaghat: The distance from Kalighat, where Mamata lives, and Ranaghat, where the elderly nun was brutalised on Saturday, is 75 kilometres. The chief minister covered it in three days - an exemplary step expected of leaders who stand by victims and communities in their hour of trauma. Park Street: The distance from Kalighat to Park Street, which came to be identified with the brutalisation of the woman (whose house was elsewhere in the city) in 2012, is 5km. The chief minister has not covered that distance - even after 1,135 days and counting. Ranaghat: In four days, the Mamata government realised that it was hitting a dead-end in the Ranaghat probe and decided to seek a CB> investigation - something that cannot be faulted as an administrative decision. Park Street: Over 1,000 days have passed since the Park Street incident and the main suspect is yet to be arrested. The chief minister is still to seek a CB> role in tracking him down. Ranaghat: One justification the chief minister cited while seeking the CB> probe in the Ranaghat case was the possibility of the culprits crossing the borders. Park Street: The same logic applies to the Park Street case, too. Kadir Khan, the main suspect, is suspected to be hiding in Bangladesh. Calcutta police have alerted Interpol through the CB> but the central agency does not play any role in the probe. A red corner notice has been issued against him, according to a Calcutta police officer.  Through the sweeping generalisation, O'Brien ducked the foundation on which law - both divine and human - is built. O'Brien should be familiar with Galatians 3:28 that says "ye are all one in Christ Jesus". The Trinamul chief spokesperson declined to take further questions on the subject, which would have included one on why no known political face from his party thought it fit to attend the funeral service on Saturday. O'Brien - and Mamata - should hear what the woman's father said today: "After her death there could have been some show of condolence or remorse but it didn't happen... nobody came and nobody bothered (from the government). "There was neither a sorry nor a hello from anybody (in the government or the party) but we also didn't expect...." Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the Trinamul MP who followed up Mamata's infamous " sajano ghatana (concocted incident)" comment with a statement that the Park Street incident was "a misunderstanding between two professional parties", was not available for comment tonight despite repeated attempts. Ironical, considering that a few hours ago on Thursday she had been made one of the spokespersons for Trinamul under O'Brien. The only person who is somewhat associated with the Trinamul government and was present at the funeral appeared to be Michael Shane Calvert, the Anglo-Indian community's representative in the Assembly. Calvert, nominated by the Mamata government to the Assembly, said this evening: "She had to go through the ordeal of having to face people who looked at her as a victim and she had to face a terrible situation. Being a member of the community, I thought it was fair to show solidarity with the family." CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra was there, too. Prosenjit Bose, convener of the Gana Mancha and a Left-wing economist who led a march on Park Street to condole her death and demand justice, said: "The government seems to be more proactive in the Ranaghat case because the person concerned is a nun and there is nothing wrong in that. But the Park Street victim was also a woman.... Why wouldn't she get justice?" "Of all the blunders made by the state government, the biggest has been the branding of so many rapes and atrocities against women as ' sajano ghatana', starting with the Park Street incident," said Barry O'Brien, a BJP member and brother of the Trinamul chief spokesperson. "Trinamul had refused to accept the Park Street case as rape. If the government is so sincere on dealing with crime against women, why wasn't the Park Street case handed to the CB> ?" asked Mohammad Salim, the CPM member of Parliament. Ranaghat: The state government and Trinamul issued multiple statements highlighting what they have been doing and who they have been in touch with to address the situation. Park Street: The woman had sent a message to Mamata, through the media: "Ma'am, I need your support. If you show compassion towards me, no one will have the audacity to pass remarks (maligning her)." But last Saturday, Mamata missed the last chance to reach out, if not to the lady, then to those who survive her. |