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RG Kar rape-murder case: TMC MP's ‘fast-unto-hospitalisation’ jibe at protesting doctors sparks row
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee alleged that the main goal of the protesters was to gain media attention and get admitted in the hospital.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on Monday sparked a row over his remark on doctors protesting against the RG Kar rape and murder case.
The TMC lawmaker accused the doctors of lacking the resolve to conduct a “genuine” hunger strike and said their fast unto death was becoming “fast unto hospitalisation”.
The senior MP's comment comes as health condition of two more protesting doctors worsened on Monday, and one among them was hospitalised, news agency PTI reported.
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“What kind of hunger strike is this? It starts from the protest venue and ends once they get hospitalised. The hunger strike that we know is a fast-unto-death, not a fast-unto-hospitalisation. What these doctors are doing is a fast-unto-hospitalisation. Do they have just this much fire in their belly?” Banerjee asked.
The TMC MP also questioned the timeline of hunger strike claiming that it starts at the protest venue and eventually ends at the hospital. He also alleged that the main goal of the protesters was to gain media attention and get admitted in the hospital.
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“Just the day before yesterday, I saw one of the doctors join the fast and get admitted to a hospital the next day. Such tricks are being employed to gain media attention,” he added.
Meeting fails to resolve impasse
The meeting between representatives of 12 doctors' associations, state chief secretary Manoj Pant and home secretary Nandini Chakraborty failed to resolve the deadlock as the state government refused to set a timeline to implement their list of demands to ensure the safety and security of doctors in West Bengal.
Pant claimed that the state government addressed seven out of their ten demands and urged the junior doctors to end their hunger strike "immediately".
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“For the remaining three demands, they were requesting specific timelines. These are administrative decisions that the state needs to consider, so we cannot provide a deadline at this point. We assured them that we have noted their issues and grievances. We urged them to persuade the junior doctors to withdraw their hunger strike, as we are concerned about their health and well-being,” Pant said.
The doctors questioned the absence of health secretary NS Nigam from the meeting, who the government claimed is in Delhi to oversee the Supreme Court hearing in the RG Kar rape and murder case. Sacking Nigam and launching departmental enquiry into his actions is one of the key demands of protesting junior doctors.
The hunger strike from October 5 followed nearly 50 days of ‘cease work’ in two phases. Their agitation began after an on-duty postgraduate trainee was raped and murdered inside state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024.
(With PTI inputs)
