Kolkata rape-murder case: Junior doctors slam BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari; continue protest amid rain

A group of junior doctors on Friday criticised Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari for claiming that those chanting “Go Back” at Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Agnimitra Paul were not junior doctors. The agitating doctors emphasised that they would not allow their protest to be politicised.

The statement comes even the Trinamool Congress released a video suggesting that some junior doctors were receiving support from a nearby BJP office, The Telegraph reported.

“We will not allow anyone to use our movement for political gain. We condemn Suvendu Adhikari’s statement that those who shouted ‘Go Back’ at Agnimitra Paul were not junior doctors,” The Telegraph quoted a doctor as saying.

During a press conference outside Swasthya Bhavan, where the junior doctors have been protesting demanding justice for the 31-year-old trainee doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, the protesters called for improvements in the state’s healthcare system.

They urged for stronger infrastructure to prevent patients from traveling far for minor ailments and requested an efficient referral system to reduce hospital visits.

Junior doctors write to President Murmu, PM Modi

Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal have also written to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting their intervention in the RG Kar hospital impasse.

Copies of the four-page letter written by the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front were also sent to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union health minister JP Nadda.

A post-graduate trainee was raped and murdered in state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Junior doctors have been on a ‘cease work’ since then.

Additionally, the doctors demanded the holding of student union elections in medical colleges, the formation of a resident doctors’ association, and transparent elections to the West Bengal Medical Council.

Earlier, the Joint Platform of Doctors and the Indian Medical Association’s Bengal chapter had called for the dissolution of the state medical council and fresh elections.

At the press conference, the junior doctors reiterated five demands: identifying and arresting those responsible for the RG Kar rape and murder, the resignation of Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal, disciplinary action against the former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, safety measures for healthcare workers, and the resignation of top health officials in the state.

CCTV cameras at the protest site

Junior doctors in Kolkata continue their protest for the fourth consecutive night amid heavy rain at Swasthya Bhawan in the Salt Lake area. In an effort to monitor the situation and ensure security, the Kolkata Police have installed CCTV cameras at the protest site and surrounding areas, news agency ANI reported.

The move comes as the junior doctors maintain their stand, demanding justice and calling for enhanced safety measures at medical institutions, even after the Supreme Court set a deadline for doctors to resume work on Tuesday.

Earlier on September 13, junior doctors in Kolkata criticised West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for rejecting their request to live telecast a meeting and for not meeting with them. They argued that their request was reasonable, given that parliamentary discussions and many administrative meetings are broadcast live.

The doctors expressed frustration over being asked to leave electronic gadgets outside the meeting hall, which prevented them from recording the proceedings.

Speaking to the media, Anustup Mukherjee, one of the doctors, said that they tried to negotiate for live telecasting the meeting with the state government, but that issue remained non-negotiable.

“If all parliamentary discussions can be live telecast, if even the chief minister herself encourages live telecast of all her administrative meetings, then perhaps our request was not unjustified. Also, as we are headed towards the discussion regarding our demands of justice and not any subjudice matter, we did not find any breach of code of law in our request for live telecast. We are also asked to leave all our electronic gadgets outside of meeting hall, which negates any chance of video recording from our side. But unfortunately, this issue remained non negotiable,” Mukherjee told reporters.