RG Kar case: Sit-in protest by junior doctors continues

Kolkata, Sep 11 : The protest by the representatives of the medical fraternity in front of Swastha Bhavan, the state health department headquarters, over the R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital rape-murder case, continued on Wednesday.

The protests braved frequent spells of showers at night and said that they would continue their peaceful demonstration till their demands were met, which included the suspension of the Health Secretary, Director of Health Services, and Director of Medical Education.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday had asked the striking junior doctors to return to duty by 5 p.m. on Tuesday which is already over.

On Tuesday evening, the protesting doctors even rejected a call from the state government to send a small delegation to the state secretariat Nabanna and hold a discussion with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, newly-appointed Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and the state health secretary Narawan Swarup Nigam.

On Monday night some members of the victim’s doctor’s family reached in front of Swastha Bhavan to express solidarity towards the protesting doctors. Praising the determination with which the medical fraternity representatives had been carrying out their protesting demonstration facing all odds, the victim’s father said that this willpower of the protests keeps the hope for justice for his daughter alive.

The victim’s mother, while expressing solidarity towards the protesting doctors, strongly objected to the Chief Minister’s call on Monday to people to return to festival mood refraining from continuing demonstrations.

“The protest is the real festival at this moment to ensure justice for my daughter. I thank all of you for being with us in this moment of crisis,” she said while addressing the protesting doctors.

On Tuesday after, thousands of representatives from the medical fraternity from all corners of the state, including senior and junior doctors, medical students and representatives from the nursing fraternity, led a protest march towards Swastha Bhavan, the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

On being stopped near the entrance, the protesters started a sit-in demonstration at the spot, which is continuing.