Former Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar told Frontline: “Rather than make the nights safe for women, the Chief Minister’s words raise the question as to who has the right to move in the night. After the R.G. Kar case, the whole of Bengal came out to seize the night; but now, almost as a retort after a year, Mamata seems to be saying that the night belongs to the prowler, so don’t step out.”
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Jawhar Sircar pointed out that Mamata’s “overreaction” in times of crisis has always been “worrisome”.
“Where women are concerned, Mamata Banerjee seems to have a self-contradictory attitude. On the one hand, she extends her full support for a woman in her personal life, but if she feels feminine issues are being used against her, her attitude becomes archaic and patriarchal. This is something we have been seeing from the Park Street rape case in 2012. She is very liberal as long as it does not hurt her,” said Sircar.
