Mamata debunks allegations of 'threat' to agitating doctors
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she did not threaten junior doctors at state-run hospitals, who have been continuing cease-work for 21 days now to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic.
Banerjee said accusations that have come from certain quarters of her threatening the agitating junior doctors are "completely false" and part of a “malicious disinformation campaign”.
"Let me most emphatically clarify that I have not uttered a single word against the (medical etc.) students or their movements. I totally support their movement. Their movement is genuine. I never threatened them, as some people are accusing me of doing. This allegation is completely false," she wrote on X.
Addressing a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, Banerjee had on Wednesday urged the agitating junior doctors of Bengal to urgently consider returning to duty and said she doesn't want to lodge FIRs against the striking doctors in consideration of their future careers.
Agitating doctors interpreted the chief minister's remark as a "veiled threat" and rejected her appeal to join work.
Banerjee also wrote, "I have spoken against BJP. I have spoken against them because, with the support of the Government of India, they are threatening the democracy in our state and trying to create anarchy. With support from the Centre, they are trying to create lawlessness and I have raised my voice against them."
The chief minister also issued a clarification with respect to her “snap back” message to her supporters against “the conspirators who need to be unmasked”.
“I also clarify that the phrase ("phonsh kara") that I had used in my speech yesterday is a quote from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The legendary saint had said that occasionally there is need to raise one's voice. When there are crimes and criminal offences, voice of protest has to be raised. My speech on that point was a direct allusion to the great Ramakrishnite saying,” she posted on her social media timeline.
The BJP, on Wednesday, accused Banerjee of threatening opposition parties by abandoning her previous slogan of 'badla noy, badal chai' (no revenge, only change) in response to alleged insults from the opposition.
At the TMCP rally, Banerjee remarked that the slogan needed to be updated to reflect changing times and situations.
"The time has come to resist and protest when you are insulted and maligned with false propaganda. Although I never promote violence, when faced with such ugly attacks, do not take it lying down and snap back. How you respond is up to you," she said, referring to a story around the 19th Century Bengal mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
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Water leakage in main dome of Taj Mahal due to incessant rain in Agra
ASI claims no damage to monument
Agra (PTI): The main dome of the Taj Mahal here witnessed water leakage due to incessant rain for the past three days which inundated a garden on the premises.
The purported video of the submerged garden on the Taj Mahal premises went viral on Thursday and caught the tourists' attention.
However, a senior official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Agra circle, said there is leakage in the main dome due to seepage and there is no damage to it.
Talking about the leakage in the main dome of the Taj Mahal, Rajkumar Patel, Superintending Chief of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Agra circle, told PTI, "Yes, we have witnessed the leakage in the main dome of the Taj Mahal. After that when we checked it was due to seepage and there was no damage to the main dome. We have checked the main dome through a drone camera." On Thursday evening, a purported video of 20 seconds went viral on the internet in which one of the gardens of the monument submerged with rain water. It caught the attention of the tourists, who visited the Taj Mahal and many shot video of it.
A local resident, who is working as a government approved tour guide, said Taj Mahal is the pride of Agra and the entire nation, adding it provides employment to hundreds of locals and those who are working in the tourism industry.
"Proper care should be taken of the monument because for the tourism industry people it is the only hope," said Monika Sharma, a government approved tour guide.
Agra witnessed an incessant rain from the past three days due to which water logging problem could be seen in most of the parts of the city.
One of the National Highways was choked with rain water, crops submerged with rain water and posh localities of the city witnessed water choking due to continuous rain.
The Agra administration has ordered the closure of all schools due to rain.
