A GROUP of people disrupted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s speech at a college in Oxford University, displaying placards and heckling her over election violence and the R G Kar college rape case in her State. According to a video shared by the Students Federation of India (SFI), UK on their social media platforms, the protesters repeatedly interrupted her speech on her various claims and showed placards that mentioned, among other things, “2023 TMC-engineered election violence”. Banerjee was addressing a gathering at Kellogg College at the University of Oxford on Thursday on ‘Social Development – Girl, Child and Women Empowerment in West Bengal’ and was almost 30 minutes into the speech when she was talking about industries coming to her State.

 

Members from the audience reminded the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief how Tatas went away from her State, apparently referring to the Singur protests by her party in 2008 that prompted the Tata group to move out their plant for Nano car manufacturing from West Bengal. She replied that Tatas are back and set up their industry in Kharagpur and Rajarhat area. But soon people standing at the back started shouting and heckling Banerjee on points raised in her speech. They also held placards pointing out incidents such as the election violence in 2023 in West Bengal, and also the violence unleashed by TMC workers.

 

“I can’t hear, please speak more loudly,” Banerjee said and in reply to allegations about the R G Kar college case, she said, “The case is sub-judice, also, it is with the Central Government, not with us.” “Please don’t do politics here on this stage. That you can do with me in my State, not here,” she added. A post-graduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered on the campus of the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9, 2024. The case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.