Doctors' stir: Oppn parties slam Mamata, seek her resignation as Min

"Is this a way to deal with the agitating doctors? Instead of solving the problem, she is blaming the doctors, the BJP and others. This is completely absurd. If she can't control the situation, she should resign as the health minister," Majumdar said.

Published on: 13 Jun 2019 10:26 AM GMT

Doctors stir: Oppn parties slam Mamata, seek her resignation as Min

TMC govt revived handicrafts sector in Bengal: Mamata In the "Mardaani" series, the Bollywood star plays the central character of the police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy, and for her the films are an ode to all the women cops who have served the nation with utmost dedication. "'Mardaani' as a franchise stands for a woman standing up against crimes against women. So it's a franchise built on that. On the other hand, it also stands for... I will not say real cinema, but real events portrayed in as real way as possible. "It's a depiction of true events that people would have seen the actual cops dealing with in the real world. That's what we are trying to achieve with this franchise," Rani told PTI in an interview. The actor believes her character's superpower is empathy. "If you're not human, you can't feel or emote. Shivani is a woman, and she's bada**, strong, courageous and she's represents all these women cops who have served our country and our people tirelessly for so many years, but have not really been given the mainstream or that kind of an acknowledgement they deserve," she adds. Rani says audiences have always seen a heroic male police officer on screen and somewhere with "Mardaani" she is trying to break that mould of a larger-than-life cop. "Today when a person is thinking of a cop, somewhere, they will see my imagery of a female cop. This is how our country is, because there are so many female cops who are brave. So why are we never told about how courageous they are? "Why is it always about men? That's because in mainstream cinema, we've always seen those, larger-than-life cops. So somewhere I think it is, at least, breaking that mould." Crimes against women always angered the actor but after the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder, Rani says she felt a strong urge to talk about women safety and other social issues and 2014's "Mardaani", directed by Pradeep Sarkar, was born out of that rage. The actor, who is now gearing for the release of "Mardaani 2", says as an artiste she felt the best way to express her anguish was through cinema. "The first film was obviously, born out of the rage that we felt for Nirbhaya. I think as a country, we all were quite angered and shaken up. Because that was the first time through the media, we actually got to know the gory details of what happened to that woman. "I think there was this anger everywhere. And as filmmakers or people connected with films, I thought this is the only way I can channelise my anger and energy and give a positive message to the women out there. Make them aware of the problems and threats we face today." The actor, 41, says the idea of turning "Mardaani" into a franchise came because the makers felt with these films they could talk about the crimes prevalent in the society and try to offer some sort of a solution. "'Mardaani 2' deals with a serial rapist and talks about what happens to rapists who are juvenile criminals. It talks about how we need to be aware, because today, threat can come from nameless, faceless and ageless people. The person could appear innocent, could be under the age of 18, but he could actually be the perpetrator. "I think as a film, 'Mardaani 2' is very close to my heart because it not only talks about women empowerment, but also about creating awareness. I remember during 'Mardaani' there were a lot of women who said 'we can't see this film. It's too disturbing'. We don't want to watch this reality. I want to tell them that even if you turn your face away, that doesn't mean it's not happening. We need to be aware, we need to accept and educate ourselves," she adds. "Mardaani 2", directed by Gopi Puthran and produced by Yash Raj Films, will hit the theatres on December 13.

Kolkata: The opposition camp in West Bengal slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday for her alleged threats to agitating doctors and sought her immediate resignation as the health minister.

Bengal BJP vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said the chief minister, instead of solving the problem, was indulging in blame game.

"Is this a way to deal with the agitating doctors? Instead of solving the problem, she is blaming the doctors, the BJP and others. This is completely absurd. If she can't control the situation, she should resign as the health minister," Majumdar said.

ALSO READ: AIIMS resident doctors to boycott work on Friday in West Bengal

The chief minister on Thursday asked agitating junior doctors across the state to resume work and warned of action if the order is not followed.

Banerjee, who visited the state-run SSKM hospital in the wake of disruption of medical services in several parts of the state over the past three days, directed police to clear hospital premises, asserting that no one other than the patients should be allowed on the campus.

She had given the doctors a four-hour deadline to rejoin service, but later revised it to 2 pm.

The chief minister also claimed that the agitation was part of a conspiracy of the BJP and the CPI(M).

Accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo of politicizing the issue, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said Banerjee does not seem interested in ending the impasse.

"Is she is concerned about solving the problem, or would just want to politicize the matter? The way she was threatening the doctors, it seems she is not at all interested in ending the impasse," he said.

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Doctors across the state have called for a strike in protest against the attack on two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital in the city by family members of a patient, who died Monday night.

Services have been affected over the past three days in emergency wards, outdoor facilities and pathological units of many state-run medical colleges and hospitals and a number of private medical facilities in the state, leaving many patients in the lurch.

Despite the CM's warning, the agitating doctors were seen continuing the protest at the state-run hospitals.

They raised "we want justice" slogans before Banerjee.

Sources said a delegation of doctors would be meeting Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi Thursday to submit a deputation in connection with the ongoing protest.

BJP Doctor Mamata Banerjee TNJC

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Doctors' stir: Oppn parties slam Mamata, seek her resignation as Min

"Is this a way to deal with the agitating doctors? Instead of solving the problem, she is blaming the doctors, the BJP and others. This is completely absurd. If she can't control the situation, she should resign as the health minister," Majumdar said.

Anab Mehdi