Congress ‘observes’ intriguing silence on Kolkata rape
Kolkata's gang-rape case sparks outrage over Congress' silence, raising questions about selective outrage and its political stance toward TMC and Mamata Banerjee.
News Arena Network - Chandigarh - UPDATED: July 1, 2025, 08:11 PM - 2 min read
BJP members stage a demonstration against the alleged rape of a student at a law college, in Kolkata, Tuesday.
Within less than a year, Kolkata has once again been shaken by an alleged gang-rape, this time in a law college. This is within less than a year of the horrific gang-rape and murder of a doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, that shook the entire nation. Some statements like one by ruling Trinamook Congress leader Kalyan Bannerjee that what can the government do if a friend commits a rape have understandably been condemned by everyone, including some leaders from the TMC, but not the Congress.
The party has 'observed' a complete silence over this rape incident. There have been no streams of tweets by party leaders, as in other cases. The party leaders do let loose the hell if any rape is reported in a BJP-ruled state. Yes, hell must actually break loose over any such heinous crime and the Congress does perform its role and duty as the principal opposition party in the country.
All India Mahila Congress president, Alka Lamba has always been vocal on women’s issues. Particularly when it comes to crimes against women, and that to heinous crimes like rape, she comes on the forefront holding various BJP state governments in the dock and even involving the central government.
People gather at the premises of Alipore Court before the accused arrested in connection with the alleged gang rape of a student at a law college, are produced, in Kolkata, Tuesday.
However, she seems to have limited and restrained her outrage towards the BJP ruled states only. If and when any crime against women takes place in any BJP or its alliance ruled state, be it Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or Rajasthan, she does not take a minute to use the AICC podium to condemn the incident. And rightly so, such incidents deserve to be condemned in harshest possible words. She performs her role well as the head of the women wing of the party.
But, shockingly, she did not utter a single word against the heinous crime that took place in South Calcutta Law College. It was widely and extensively reported across the country. The Trinamool Congress expelled its party leader, alleged to be the prime accused, from the party. But Lamba chose to be quiet, lest it upset the TMC bosses, who though themselves had acted against the accused.
Similarly another senior leader and an aggressive campaigner against the BJP, Supriya Shrinate, who heads the AICC Department for Social Media and Digital Platforms, also preferred not to utter a single word against the South Calcutta Law College incident.
This is just one of the examples where the Congress has been seen lacking courage and credibility in calling a spade a spade. When it restricts and restrains its criticism and condemnation to the BJP and the BJP ruled states only and exempts the non-BJP ruled states, its high moral standing gets a drubbing.
Lawyers exchange words with police personnel demanding strictest punishment for all culprits involved the alleged gang rape of a student at a law college, in Kolkata, Tuesday.
In a similar case, the Congress preferred to remain quiet when Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and son of the Chief Minister MK Stalin, compared Sanatan Dharam with disease like dengue, malaria and coronavirus suggesting it needs to be eradicated. This is quite obvious that had similar abusive language been used against any other religion the party would have felt outraged and rightly so. So should it have felt outraged over the abuse of the Sanatan Dharam, a religion practiced by the majority of Indians, which it did not.
In the age of social media these things do get noticed. People are more aware and more informed today than twenty years ago. They do not need to be told by anyone what a particular political party did or not did. They frame their own opinions based on direct experiences, which the social media provides to each one of them. And once the media points out such discrepancies in the Congress “selective approach and outrage”, the party damns it as ‘Godi Media’. The party will need to rethink and redo its strategy on such issues and incidents.
It is quite understandable that the Congress leadership does not want to annoy and antagonise the Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The party believes, and rightly so, that she is one of the few strong regional leaders in the country who have succeeded in checking the expansion of the BJP. If the BJP has not managed to win Bengal so far, it is only because of her.
In the process, the Congress has sacrificed its own interests and leaders including the party veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who was made to lose by Ms Banerjee with a meticulous strategy. Despite not having any alliance with the TMC and despite Ms Banerjee repeatedly snubbing the Congress time and again, the Grand Old Party has always avoided any criticism of and confrontation with her in the hope and belief that as long as she succeeds in preventing BJP’s advent to Bengal, the party seems to be fine with her.
That explains the reason that why the Congress did not come out with any authoritative statement on the Kolkata gang-rape case, in which the prime accused happened to be a TMC member, who has since been expelled form the party.
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