Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday addressed an Oxford University audience on her government’s achievements on social development and women’s empowerment but ran into disruption from a section of the audience that confronted her over the RG Kar rape and murder which triggered unprecedented and protracted protests across Calcutta.
Mamata displayed remarkable composure on stage at Kellogg College, saying such resistance only strengthened her resolve and offered to come to Oxford twice a year.
“I don’t like giving speeches…. I prefer cooking and knitting,” Mamata had said with a chuckle earlier in the day while travelling in a Mercedes bus from London to Oxford.
Five-and-a-half hours later when she rose to speak at Kellogg College of Oxford University, she showed no evidence of discomfort.
“I don’t know what to say… I am so honoured and privileged to be with you. Michie and Billimoria requested me to be here so many times, but I couldn’t earlier because of so many problems,” Mamata began on a humble note, referring to Jonathan Michie, president of the college, and Karan Bilimoria, British-Indian businessman and member of the House of Lords.
“I have been struggling since childhood after losing my father at nine,” Mamata said.
“As an Opposition leader, I was fighting… it was very difficult. Now we are in power for 15 years, but the situation of the economy is especially bad since Covid. We need resources to make life easier for the poor and the deprived sections of the society.”
Drawing attention to Bengal’s culture of inclusion, the chief minister said: “About 33 per cent people belong to the minority communities, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Gorkhas.... We have 6 per cent tribal people and 23 per cent Scheduled Castes. We don’t discriminate against anyone…. We believe in unity and oppose all attempts to divide the society.” As the audience responded with robust applause, Mamata added: “We work for all caste and creed.”
“In our state, I started the Kanyashree scheme for girls in schools, colleges and universities…. This reduced the dropout rate in our state. The United Nations recognised it and other states are following us,” Mamata said, adding that the state had 97 social security schemes.
Midway through her speech, some among the audience who had come armed with posters began to question her on the RG Kar rape and murder of a junior doctor and the flight of capital from the state, including the Tata group’s Singur exit.
Unlike on earlier occasions when confronted in public, Mamata kept her cool and stood her ground, requesting the protesters to behave. After some time, the protesters left as the organisers urged them to allow the chief minister to speak and some among the audience objected to such behaviour.
The audience of around 200 was made up mostly of students, researchers and teachers belonging to the Oxford fraternity.
After the address, she took part in a conversation with Michie and Bilimoria.
Bilimoria told The Telegraph that he decided to invite Mamata after a trip to Calcutta two years ago during which he was impressed with the development he saw.
“She is a woman and one of the most influential politicians in the country…. It’s a fantastic opportunity to know from her how she is working to ensure development for over 100 million people in a state whose population is more than that of the UK,” he said.
In his introductory remarks, Michie said students from India, especially Calcutta, had made a significant contribution to Kellogg College.
The session at Kellogg College, one of the 38 constituent colleges of Oxford University, was a key engagement in Mamata’s six-day trip to the UK.
The chief minister left her London hotel around 11.30am for Oxford, a 100-minute drive through west London and picturesque regions of Buckinghamshire and the country side of Chiltern Hills.
As the chief minister was about an hour ahead of her schedule, she took a brief coffee break at Randolf Hotel in the heart of Oxford town, opposite the historic Ashmolean Museum.
“Let me try out the piano,” Mamata said while walking up to an 1878-made piano in the hotel lobby and played We shall overcome.
The hotel, a local source said, was regularly frequented by former US President Bill Clinton when his daughter Chelsea was a studentat Oxford.
Mamata then set out on a half-hour tour of the Oxford campus during which she was accompanied by Ant Prewerton, one of the directors of the varsity who took her to Bodelian Library and then Divinity School.
The next stop was the Mawby Room at Kellogg College, where she had a closed-door meeting with academics specialising on India.
Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly and Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant accompanied her.
A source present at the meeting said Mamata’s plainspeak was appreciated by the academics.