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Kolkata doctors write to President Murmu, continue protest
Doctors also alleged that police remained mute spectators on August 15 when a mob ransacked the hospital even as doctors ran to find shelter.
Protesting junior doctors in West Bengal have sought intervention of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as they distanced themselves from all parties and stuck to their demands on Friday, indicating that no immediate resolution was in the offing in deadlocked talks with the state government.
The doctors’ letter to Murmu – issued on Thursday morning but only made public on Friday – surfaced on a day the state government said 29 people had died due to disruption in health care services and announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh for their families.
“Your intervention in these trying times will act as a beacon of light to us all, showing us the way ahead out of the darkness that surrounds us,” the junior doctors wrote in their letter to Murmu. Copies of the letter were also sent to vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Prime Minister’s Office and Union health minister JP Nadda.
The letter – which was sent hours before a delegation of junior doctors reached the state secretariat on Thursday evening for talks with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, but sat outside the auditorium for two hours because the government didn’t agree to their demand of livestreaming the negotiations – blamed the RG Kar Hospital authorities and state government officials.
“The head of the institute in question along with the state police and certain state government officials had allegedly mishandled the entire forensic and legal proceedings, with little regard for either the sanctity of the crime scene that was mobbed by several persons, or for the victim’s parents, coercing them into submission to fit a narrative that suited their interests,” the letter said.
It also alleged that police remained mute spectators on August 15 when a mob ransacked the hospital even as doctors ran to find shelter. On August 28, Murmu had voiced her deep dismay and horror in her first public remarks on the brutal rape and murder.
Junior doctors across the state have been on strike since August 9 demanding justice for the junior doctor who was raped and murdered in RG Kar Hospital last month. The incident triggered a nationwide uproar.
They have five demands – justice for the doctor; action against all officials responsible for alleged tampering of the evidence; action against former RG Kar Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh; the resignation of Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal; and the creation of a safe environment for doctors in medical colleges and hospitals in West Bengal.
In its last hearing on the case, the Supreme Court has asked the doctors to return to work by 5pm on Tuesday. But the agitators defied the deadline, saying their demands hadn’t been met.
On Friday, the doctors clarified that they were not affiliated with any political party and said their letter was not issued in response to the stand-off with Banerjee on Thursday. They also named Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
“We are opposing those who are trying to use our protest for political gains. That’s why leaders such as Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Agnimitra Paul had to face go back slogans. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari is trying to malign the protest. According to him the go back slogans were raised by some notorious outsiders. We want to say again that if anyone tries to use our protest for political gain we would give the same reaction again,” a protesting doctor told the media.
“This is a people’s protest. No one is an outsider here. Our fight is apolitical. We don’t want to comment on the statements made by a political leader. Whatever we have to say we have taken it up with the government through official means,” a protesting doctor told media persons.
At around the same time, the state government alleged that at least 29 people have died in the state as they didn’t get proper medical treatment due to the strike.
“It is sad and unfortunate that we have lost 29 precious lives due to disruption in health services because of long drawn cease work by junior doctors. In order to extend a helping hand to the bereaved families, State government announces a token financial relief of ₹2 lakh to family members of each deceased person,” Banerjee wrote on X.
The developments came a day after Banerjee said she was willing to resign for the sake of justice and indicated that the protesters were politically motivated and wanted her chair, not justice for the 31-year-old junior doctor.
“I am even willing to resign for the sake of the people. I don’t want the chief minister’s post. I want the people to get justice, Tillottama (a reference to the rape victim) to get justice and for the common people get medical treatment,” Banerjee said in a dramatic press conference.
The body of a second-year postgraduate student, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the hospital, was found on August 9. The crime took place at the third-floor seminar hall of the chest department late at night and police later said that multiple lacerations and wounds were found on her body.
A 31-year-old civic volunteer with the police, Sanjay Roy, was arrested the next day in connection with the case and was sent to 14-day police custody. But by then, the crime had left Kolkata stunned and prompted sweeping protests by doctors who struck work and women’s groups demanding safety.
The investigation was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which later arrested Sandip Ghosh on corruption charges.
Since the gruesome crime, protests have swept Kolkata as agitators have alleged a string of missteps by the state administration and actions by Ghosh and the city police to tamper with evidence. The government has denied all allegations.
The BJP attacked the state government.
“When Covid hits or when people die of dengue, the chief minister tries to downplay the death toll. Now she is increasing the death toll,” said Adhikari.
Doctors also contested the toll, saying that only 7,500 of the 93,000 registered doctors in the state were junior
