Try GOLD - Free
Tell Mamata that Men don't Own the Night
The New Indian Express Vellore
|October 19, 2025
It began with a scandal that should have shamed the state, not its women.
First a girl brutally gang raped in a Kolkata hospital by a politically connected thug. More recently another medical student, this time from Odisha, raped in Durgapur. The response of power is "women shouldn't go out at night." This was spoken not by some patriarch from the past, but by Mamata Banerjee, the modern Durga of Bengal politics as if the chief minister has become her own moral policeman. Echoing the vibe was her minister, again a woman. So history circles back: Sita sent to the forest, Ahalya turned to stone, Draupadi stripped in the court; and now, in 21st-century Kolkata, women told to stay home "for their own safety." The script is ancient; only the speaker has changed. Pause. Rewind. Did the only woman chief minister in India just blame women for walking in the dark? Yes. Yes, she did. What makes her remark chilling is not merely its content but its context. It came under her watch; a state governed by a woman who rose from the pavements of protest to the pinnacle of power, who defied police batons, political mafias, and masculine derision. For decades, Mamata embodied defiance. She was the woman who would not be told to sit down. Yet power, it seems, has its own grammar and in that grammar, women too can become enforcers of the very silence they once broke. The truth is simple: the state had failed to protect women, and its lea
This story is from the October 19, 2025 edition of The New Indian Express Vellore.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The New Indian Express Vellore
The New Indian Express Vellore
BIHAR LEADERS FACE YOUTH TEST
WITH the Bihar election campaign gaining steam, the spotlight is increasingly focused on three key factors—the caste calculus, alliance chemistry and women’s vote—that past elections have highlighted.
3 mins
October 23, 2025
The New Indian Express Vellore
Rural women's participation in workforce high
25 Bhairav Light Combat Battalions likely to get ready within six months
1 mins
October 23, 2025
The New Indian Express Vellore
NE MONSOON RAIN BRINGS DOWN TN POWER DEMAND
WITH the northeast monsoon bringing heavy rainfall, the state’s power demand has dropped over the past few days.
1 mins
October 23, 2025

The New Indian Express Vellore
Punjabi singer shot at in Canada, gangster’s aides claim responsibility
PUNJABI singer Teji Kahlon was shot at in Canada and associates of gangster Rohit Godara claimed responsibility for the attack.
1 mins
October 23, 2025
The New Indian Express Vellore
'India conceals, Trump reveals,' says Cong on US Prez's Russian oil claims
THE Congress on Wednesday used a phone call from White House greeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Deepavali to take a swipe at the Centre. The attack came after US President Donald Trump repeated his claim that India is “not going to buy much oil from Russia”.
1 min
October 23, 2025

The New Indian Express Vellore
A tribute: Naroditsky touch in chess lessons
FOR over two weeks in Singapore at the World Championships last November and December, GM Daniel Naroditsky had inadvertently become my eyes and ears.
1 mins
October 23, 2025
The New Indian Express Vellore
Four die in separate wall collapse incidents due to heavy rain in 3 districts
A woman and her daughter died after a wall of their house collapsed near Puduchathiram in Chidambaram taluk of Cuddalore district early on Wednesday.
1 min
October 23, 2025

The New Indian Express Vellore
Raj student doing MBBS in Russia goes missing, family alleges foul play
A 24-year-old student from Kafanwada village in Laxmangarh, Alwar district, has gone missing in Russia under mysterious circumstances. Ajit Singh, son of Roop Singh Chaudhary, was pursuing an MBBS degree at the Bashkir State Medical University in Ufa, Russia, and has not been seen since around 11 pm on October 19. His mobile phone has been switched off since then.
1 min
October 23, 2025
The New Indian Express Vellore
PSG score seven, Barca hit six on a goal-filled night
PARIS Saint-Germain scored seven, Barcelona hit six and Erling Haaland struck his 24th goal of the season on an actionpacked night in the Champions League.
1 min
October 23, 2025
The New Indian Express Vellore
MINDFUL METROPOLIS
Here are five options to experience and explore Singapore's spiritual culture and way of living...
3 mins
October 23, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size