RG Kar and the Calcutta Syndrome

Kolkata: The Stockholm Syndrome occurs when the victim forges an emotional association with the captor. The Lima Syndrome happens when the captor forms an emotional connection with the victim. The Calcutta Syndrome, as curated by the gruesome R G Kar Medical College tragedy, is when victims insist on rigorous justice as opposed to pleasing appeasement.

In the Calcutta scenario, the victims are many, by dint of merit or appropriation. The junior doctors who are on strike simply represent the tip of the movement. Sensible stable-minded citizens, across sectors, have merged voices to evoke the swift and due punishment of the crime.

The perpetrators seem to be connected to the governance machinery, those responsible for the meaningful conduct of civil society. Collective flak is being shared by politicians, judiciary, police and administrative officials. Some, in turn, are playing a provocative double role as whistleblowers, through resignations and revelations. Truly, a unique clash of civilisations.

In a quirky role realignment, the state machinery is trying hard to distract the citizens from the imminence of festivities.  A pioneering shopping festival has been announced, in the template of Dubai. Tourism authorities are promoting Youth Hostels for the holiday season, with diligent fervour. Hotels are announcing their bespoke packages, tempting well-endowed gentry. Durga Puja preparations have visibly commenced, with structures being established. The honourable Chief Minister is publicly requesting locals to suspend gravitas and invoke celebrations.

But the city is refusing to budge. The junior doctors are continuing their strike and a meeting with the Chief Minister was once again scuttled, due to an impasse on video recording. While, in a notable development, the principal of R G Kar and the OC of the concerned police station were arrested for the murder and rape case.

On a softer yet serious note, South Calcutta's prolific shopping district of Gariahat is pensive and paranoid, as footfalls are not translating to windfalls. Many Durga Puja Committees are making a Meta production of returning the state largesse of Rs. 85,000.

Families across denominations are vowing to downgrade, or possibly upgrade, the indulgent carnival to simply a celestial show of respect. Entertainers are divided as livelihoods clash with belief systems, at the most lucrative time of the year. New clothes and biryani be damned, the equilibrium of civility must be restored. This is the mood of the day.

The unusual tension between the state and the subject is the accomplished foundation of the Calcutta Syndrome. In multiple instances, across time and geographies, states have attempted to enforce their curriculum through punitive discourses. Thus, earning the ire of both local citizenry and global leadership.

In this case, the ruling disposition is sincerely attempting to co-opt people through the sanitised equivalent of Bacchanalian lures, linked to the cascading festive season. A move truthfully incapable of impressing or influencing the masses, at the present time.

What started off as a perishable agitation by junior doctors is now assuming shades of a mass movement, deeply peaceful while being scathingly meaningful. Perhaps, the core Bengali psyche is undergoing a volatile renaissance, intellect and aptitude breaking bread with overdue societal integrity. Deeply inclusive in mobilisation but clearly rooted in the intellectual chutzpah of the race, as a scalable unifier. This is more special than can be easily imagined, as the Bengali is rarely attuned to marry thought with action.

In so many ways, the Calcutta Syndrome can become a role model for the nation at large. A worthy successor to Gokhale’s ‘What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.’ In terms of decisive impact, nor just persuasive brainpower. The inescapable collective horsepower of a liberated gentry is no longer subject to the unfair fancies of those in authority, whether designated or imposed. A desirable version of Make in India, that is abundantly scalable.

It is sincerely expected that the RG Kar rape and murder will be solved shortly, under the auspices of the venerable CBI. It is direly necessary for the governing forces to unite, to ensure that future tragedies do not occur. The Calcutta Syndrome must become a benchmark for civil society as we know it. It is no longer a matter of choice.