Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared her “personal” inability to accept the Supreme Court judgment, expressing concern about the future of the families of the 25,000-odd sacked school employees and askingwhether the BJP wanted Bengal’s education systemto collapse.
Shortly after the Supreme Court verdict, seen as a body blow to the ruling Trinamool Congress a year before Assembly elections, the chief minister launched a political fightback while clarifying that her government would implement the judgment and repeat the selection process.
“We have only the highest regard for the judiciary, and there aren’t any allegations here against any judge…. But as a common citizen of this nation — again, with due respect to the judges — I personally cannot accept this verdict,” Mamata said at a news conference in Nabanna.
Mamata added: “We cannot criticise the judge but I can express my opinion, from a humanitarian point of view, about the verdict.”
Mamata was speaking after chairing an emergency meeting to explore the government’s options following the apex court judgment.
As the BJP, Left and the Congress blamed Mamata for the fiasco and demanded her resignation, the chief minister sought to play victim. She flagged the humanitarian aspect of the sackings and alleged a systematic victimisation of Bengal by the BJP, aided by the CPM — a card she had played successfully in the 2021 state elections.
She implied that the judgment had thrown the baby out with the bathwater by handing equal punishment to those whose appointments had been individually established to involve illegality and those whose had not.
“There should be compassion in dealing with such cases. I am here to stand by them (those affected) on humanitarian grounds,” she said.
“When people are in trouble, they experience pain... desperation. Along with these 25,000 people are several lakh others in their families…. Is triggering a collapse of the education system of Bengal a target for the BJP? How much more will you target Bengal?”
With the disclaimer that she was making “a political statement, not related to the court order”, she attacked the BJP over recruitment scams in states ruled by the party.
“What happened during the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh… in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar… what punishment did the culprits get? Our then education minister (Partha Chatterjee) is in jail because of the CBI, but we did not say anything,” she said.
“How many times, how many people must you punish for one individual’s crime?”
Mamata trained her guns at multiple state BJP leaders, including former high court judge and current Tamluk MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay, state BJP chief and junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, and the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.
She also assailed CPM Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya for his role as a lawyer in the matter.
“Bikash Babu, the world’s greatest legal luminary.… I fail to understand why he is yet to get a Nobel Prize -- he must. I am considering a personal recommendation for him,” the chief minister said.
“Have you really no shame for your actions? What did the CPM do during its regime? What happens in BJP-ruled states?”
She added: “When you filed your case, why did you not consider the eligible and the ineligible (tainted and non-tainted)? You didn’t even allow the state government to take care of this…. Why will you always target Bengal? How are our students and youth at fault?”
She went on: “Among those whose appointments (have been) cancelled are 11,610 (people) teaching Classes IX-X, 5,596 (teaching) Classes XI-XII…. Everyone knows how crucial those four classes are as the gateway to higher education.”
Mamata continued with an oblique Bengal-versus-Bahiragoto line that had paid dividends in the last Assembly polls.
“Why should Bengal always be singled out? Is it a crime now to be born in Bengal? Are you so very afraid of Bengal’s talent? Are you trying to ensure that Bengal is pushed down a path of regression?” she asked.
“I really hope you are not trying to erode the significance of education by bulldozing the entire education system? I am acutely aware of the goals of the BJP and its government at the Centre.’
‘Transfer’ logic
Mamata also had a “personal question”: If a Delhi High Court judge could be punished with a “simple transfer” after the alleged discovery of sackfuls of cash at his residence, why couldn’t similar punishment be handed out to the 25,000-odd school staff of Bengal?
“They could have easily transferred my 25,000 brothers and sisters…. Let good sense prevail,” Mamata said.
She vowed to stand by those affected by the judgment and urged them to remember who was responsible – the BJP and the CPM, according to her.
She promised to visit a Netaji Indoor Stadium event, to be held on Monday by an association of the “deprived teachers” to seek justice.
“I will listen to everything they have to say…. I will tell them not to lose patience,” she said.
Mamata suggested that the Supreme Court’s approach to the matter had changed after Justice Sanjiv Khanna replaced Justice D.Y. Chandrachud as Chief Justice of India.
“The previous CJI, D.Y. Chandrachud, had ordered a stay on the matter. Can we not expect a little bit of humanity and a chance at self-defence from the current CJI?” she said.
“The law does not change and verdicts do not contradict each other. But here, the previous CJI gave a judgment (sic),” she said.
“Not to criticise the current CJI, but speaking about law and judgments... one CJI ordered a stay, the other CJI cancelled (the appointments). You can find the meaning of this.”