OUTRAGE - Mamata runs into blockade

Blockaded near the Convent of Jesus and Mary school in Ranaghat, chief minister
Mamata Banerjee’s face mirrors her mood as she waits in her vehicle.
Picture by Amit Datta

Kinsuk Basu and Subhasish Chaudhuri, TT, Ranaghat, March 16: The dam broke this evening in Ranaghat, leaving Mamata Banerjee marooned in an SUV as a wave of anger eddied around her.

For nearly an hour, the chief minister's convoy was immobile because of a march that appeared to have taken on a life of its own and transformed itself into a blockade over the rape and robbery at the Convent of Jesus and Mary High School.

The protesters, which included many students and youngsters, were demanding the arrest of the assailants and a CBI probe. Three days after the brutality, nine people have been detained for questioning in the rape-and-robbery case. But no one had been arrested till late tonight.

The sight of Mamata sitting still in an SUV, surrounded by screaming protesters, for so long against her will was an unusual - and telling - sight in a state where she had proved again and again that she did not need lessons on how to protest.

If this evening's wave had a uniform, it was the white school uniform that was visible amid a crowd of at least a 1,000 people who waylaid the chief minister opposite the school while she was on her way back to Calcutta after calling on the brutalised 74-year-old nun at a hospital.

If it had a signature roar, it was "We want justice" - a chant that stood out not because of the words but because of the accent that suggested schooling in an English-medium institution.

While staying put in an SUV, Mamata told this newspaper that "there are political elements here".