TMC MP Jawhar Sircar To Resign from RS, Turns on Mamata With Open Letter Seeking Justice for Abhaya

Kolkata: Jawhar Sircar, the Rajya Sabha MP from Trinamool Congress ( TMC ) has announced that he is resigning from Rajya Sabha; not only this, the TMC MP has also written an open letter CM Mamata, turning on her, demanding justice for Abhaya, the trainee doctor who was brutally raped and murdered in the seminar room of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

TMC MP Jawhar Sircar to Resign From Rajya Sabha, Turns on Mamata

Addressed to the Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress , Jawhar Sircar has begun the letter by saying that he has decided to ‘resign from Parliament and also from politics altogether’. Sircar alleged that he was ‘heckled by the senior political leaders of the party’ after his public statement that ‘corruption must be tackled by the party and government’.

TMC 's Corruption and ‘Strong-Arm Tactics' of Leaders Highlighted

The Rajya Sabha MP has also revealed in the letter how the Mamata government was involved in corruption and a certain section of the party's leaders were also involved in strong-arm tactics. Jawhar Sircar's letter read, “I get amazed to see that several elected panchayat and municipal leaders have acquired big properties and move around in expensive vehicles. This hurts not only me, but the people of West Bengal.”

‘I Was Hoping for your Direct Intervention….’: Sircar on Mamata's Involvement in RG Kar Case

Jawhar Sircar, in the letter has also said that he has been very disappointed to see that the corrupt leaders have got top positions and that Mamata Banerjee did not directly intervene in the Kolkata Rape and Murder Case.

In his words, "I just cannot accept some things, like corrupt officers (or doctors) getting prime and top postings. No. Believe me, the present spontaneous outpouring of public anger is against this unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt. In all my years, I have not seen such angst and total no-confidence against the government, even when it says something correct or factual. I have suffered patiently for a month since the terrible incident at RG Kar Hospital, and was hoping for your direct intervention with the agitating junior doctors, in the old style of Mamata Banerjee . It has not happened…"

‘Movement for Abhaya is Also Against State Government and Party’

Jawhar Sircar has said it out loud and clear, that this movement of the people seeking justice for Abhaya, is also against the state government and the political party; he also said that the steps taken by the Mamata-led govt were punitive and of very little significance.

He said, “Whatever punitive steps that government is taking now are too little and quite late. Let us analyse frankly and realise that the movement is as much for Abhaya as it is against the state government and the party. This calls for course correction immediately or else communal forces will capture this state… Please do something to save the state.”

TMC MP Jawhar Circar Writes Letter to Mamata - Full Text Here

Read the full text of the letter written by Jawhar Sircar to Mamata Banerjee …

While thanking you sincerely for giving me such a great opportunity to represent the problems of West Bengal as an MP in the Rajya Sabha, I must inform you that I have decided to resign from parliament and also from politics altogether.
Thanks to you, I had the unique benefit of understanding the political process of the nation at the highest level for 3 years, which is a rare privilege. I did not seek any further reward or party post, as no one who has any political ambition joins politics so late, at 69/70 years. The primary purpose of joining as an MP, without any direct involvement in party politics, was that it offered an excellent forum to carry on the struggle against the autocratic and communal politics of the BJP and its Prime Minister. To that extent, I have some satisfaction and my several interventions in parliament, that are available on YouTube or on Sansad TV archives, will prove how hard and effectively I have fought against the authoritarian, divisive, discriminatory and anti-federal policies of the Modi regime.

But, in 2022, a year after I joined, I was quite shocked to see on TV and print the open evidence of corruption that the former education minister had indulged in. I made a public statement that corruption must be tackled by the party and government, but I was heckled by senior leaders in the party. I did not resign then as I had hoped that you would carry on your public campaign against 'cut money' and corruption that you had started a year earlier. Besides, everyone knows that there is no party anywhere that does not have a corrupt section. I was also persuaded by well-wishers to remain as MP in order to carry on the battle against a regime that is the greatest ever threat to Indian democracy and civil liberties.

Though I carried on my task in parliament with fervour, I became increasingly disillusioned as the state government seemed quite unconcerned about corruption and the increasing strong-arm tactics of a section of leaders. As you know. I was the only prominent officer who was not given any plot in Salt Lake or anywhere by the previous regime - for speaking out too critically. I have grown up in a middle-class family in Kolkata and in my youth, I have travelled in suffocating public transport, hanging on to the footboards of buses. So,, after 41 years in the IAS, I can live without embarrassment in a small middle class flat, next to a big slum and drive a very ordinary 9 year old car. But I get amazed to see that several elected panchayat and municipal leaders have acquired big properties and move around in expensive vehicles. This hurts not only me, but the people of West Bengal.

It is also true that leaders in other parties and other states have amassed much more wealth, But West Bengal is unable to accept this extravagant corruption and domination. I know that the present Central regime thrives on the multi-billionaires that it has enriched, and not a day goes when I do not accuse it of dirty crony-capitalism. I just cannot accept some things, like corrupt officers (or doctors) getting prime and top postings. No. Believe me, the present spontaneous outpouring of public anger is against this unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt. In all my years, I have not seen such angst and total no-confidence against the government, even when it says something correct or factual. I have suffered patiently for a month since the terrible incident at RG Kar Hospital, and was hoping for your direct intervention with the agitating junior doctors, in the old style of Mamata Banerjee . It has not happened and whatever punitive steps that government is taking now are too little and quite late. I think normalcy may have been restored in this state much earlier, if the caucus of the corrupt doctors was smashed and those guilty of taking improper administrative actions punished immediately after the scandalous incident happened.

It is my belief that the mainstream of the agitation is non-political and a spontaneous one and it is not correct to take a confrontational stand, by labelling it political. Of course, the opposition parties are trying to fish in troubled waters, but the mass of the youth and the common people who are out agitating on the streets every second day do not encourage them. They want no politics: they want justice and punishment. Let us analyse frankly and realise that the movement is as much for Abhaya as it is against the state government and the party. This calls for course correction immediately or else communal forces will capture this state.

I had to say all this in writing as I have not had the opportunity to speak privately with you in several months. I express my gratitude again for the opportunity you gave me to raise Bengal's issues in parliament for 3 years, but I do not wish to continue as MP at all. My commitment to fight corruption, communalism and authoritarianism in the Centre and the States is simply non-negotiable. I shall go to Delhi soon and offer my resignation to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and will also disassociate myself totally from politics. Please do something to save the state and my regards and best wishes are with you.