With celebrities joining the commoners, protests around the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata are gaining steady momentum. Former India captain and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly joined the bandwagon as he recently condemned the incident, but his comments sparked a controversy in various quarters. However, Ganguly later issued a clarification on his earlier statement.
On August 11, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Kolkata, Ganguly said that as the father of a daughter, he was deeply shaken by the incident. However, he added that West Bengal and India are considered safe, and no judgement should be made on the entire system based on a single incident.
"Very unfortunate. Strict action should be taken. This incident is terrible... Really really scary... Everything is possible everywhere. So security system, CCTV cameras should be prepared accordingly. This incident can happen anywhere. Strict action should be taken. Very hard work done,” he during an event organised at Biswa-Bangla Convention Centre.
"I don't think everything should be judged on an isolated incident. There is no room to think that everything or everyone is not safe for this Such accidents happen all over the world. So it is wrong to think that girls are not safe. Not only in West Bengal, but everywhere in India, women are safe. Where we live is the best place. One should not judge by one incident," he added.
Sourav Ganguly issues clarification
Ganguly soon faced backlash on social media for his comment, especially where he mentioned that West Bengal should not be judged based on one incident.
{{/usCountry}}Ganguly soon faced backlash on social media for his comment, especially where he mentioned that West Bengal should not be judged based on one incident.
{{/usCountry}}However, on Sunday, Ganguly issued a clarification, saying that his earlier statement was misinterpreted.
"Last Sunday I spoke about this. I don't know how my statement was interpreted. This is a terrible incident. The culprits should be punished in such a way that no one can do anything like this in the future. The investigation is going on. I hope the culprit will be identified and punished. The way people are protesting, if this incident happened anywhere in the world, this is how people would have roared," Ganguly explained.