Friday, 20 September 2024
Friday, 20 September 2024
September 2: Lalbazar dharna
Junior doctors from medical colleges in Calcutta marched and sat in protest all through September 2 night and on September 3 morning near Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, demanding the resignation of then city police commissioner Vineet Goyal over what they called serious lapses in the investigation into the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 and Goyal’s force’s inability to stop goons from vandalising the same hospital during a mammoth citizens’ protest on August 14 night. The protests over the RG Kar horror had been building. The doctors’ marching turned it into a crescendo. What unfolded was unseen even in a city known as the city of protests.
September 3: Doctors gift spine to CP Vineet Goyal
The 24-hour impasse between protesting junior doctors and the cops – who had built impressive barricades to stop the protesters from reaching Lalbazar – broke on September 3 evening when commissioner Goyal relented and met a group of 22 protesters demanding his resignation. They gifted him the replica of a human spine, symbolic of the need to do what is right.
September 9: Supreme Court hearing
The Supreme Court issued a directive to the protesting junior doctors in Bengal to return to work by 5 pm September 10 failing which the state government would be free to take disciplinary action. The Telegraph Online spoke to junior doctors on the same day and they stated that they were disappointed after the hearing.
September 10: Doctors’ protest reaches Swasthya Bhawan
The junior doctors of Bengal upped the ante in their protest on September 10, marching towards Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the health department in the Calcutta suburb of Salt Lake aka Bidhannagar. They marched with symbolic brooms and a model of a brain, symbolising the need to clean up the health administration in the state. They said they had five demands for the state government to take action on. The five demands were speedy justice in the rape-murder, suspension of RG Kar former principal Sandip Ghosh, removal of the director of health services (DHS), director of medical education (DME), removal of Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal and deputy commissioners north and central, and an end to the “threat culture” in government teaching hospitals.
September 10: Overnight slogans and demands
Throughout the night, the doctors remained outside Swasthya Bhawan, chanting slogans and calling for justice for their murdered colleague. They also demanded a total clean-up of the health administration of the state.
September 11: More protesters join
By the next morning, more people, including common citizens and doctors from Bengal's districts, joined the protest, increasing the movement’s strength and support.
September 11: Food arrives for protesters
Many anonymous donors, including local residents, contributed by sending food to sustain the protesting doctors, displaying solidarity with their cause. "At the end of the day these are just 24-25 year old young individuals who would lead the next generation. Whether one supports the protest or not, we helped as a sign of humanity,” Ankit Bhattacharya, an ad agency owner from Lake Town, told The Telegraph Online.
September 11: Support base swells
Some individuals who could not reach the protest site also helped doctors with dry food items and snacks by sending supplies via online stores. All the while, the protest site buzzed with a mix of anger and determination to fight for what’s right.
September 12: Corporate offices support protestors
People working in nearby corporate offices visited the protesting doctors and provided assistance. Some offices allowed the doctors to use their washrooms. “I fully support the junior doctors in their cause,” a Senior Representative at The Techno India Group, who did not wish to be identified told The Telegraph Online. “Their fight for better working conditions and patient care is a cause that we should all back. They are standing up for the betterment of health care and as a community we should help them in every way possible. My colleagues and I have visited the protest site more than a couple of times and are in regular touch with the doctors to offer any support they need — whether it's regarding food, using washrooms on our campus or any other necessities."
September 12: Protesters help police constable having asthma attack
During the protest, a police constable, Nibedita Sarkar, suffered an asthma attack. A protesting doctor quickly stepped in, providing medical aid and saving her life. "Whatever I did at midnight is my duty. Had it been elsewhere also I would have done the same," Dr Bipresh Chakraborty, a senior resident doctor of gastroenterology at SSKM Hospital, told The Telegraph Online.
September 12: Protests continue in the rain
Despite the rain the following morning, the junior doctors remained undeterred. They continued their protest, determined to see justice served and the health administration cleaned-up of individuals who the doctors said were key to the “threat culture” and government healthcare hubs.
September 12: Exhaustion and anger Swasthya Bhawan
When The Telegraph Online visited Swasthya Bhawan on September 12, some protesting doctors were chanting slogans in anger, while others rested, exhausted after days of waiting for justice.
September 12: Support from senior doctors and students
The protest grew stronger as senior doctors and MBBS students from medical colleges across Bengal’s districts also joined in solidarity with the junior doctors.
September 12: Assistance from women from Nadia
Three women from Nadia arrived at the protest site to assist the junior doctors, bringing essential materials and showing their support. “We have come here to offer our support to the junior doctors. We have come with tarpaulin, ORS and food to extend help so that they do not face any kind of issues. We want justice for Tillotama [one of the names given to the RG Kar victim] otherwise we are not returning back to festivities,” Laxmi Das, one of the women from Nadia, told The Telegraph Online.
September 12: Deadlock over CM meeting
On the same day, the junior doctors agreed to meet with chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, the Bengal state secretariat. However, the meeting could not take place due to a disagreement over live-streaming, causing a deadlock even as the protesters’ delegation waited outside the secretariat.
September 13: Doctors continue protesting despite rain
On September 13, despite the rain in Kolkata, junior doctors continued their protest at Swasthya Bhawan..
September 13: Doctors seek President’s intervention
On the same day, the junior doctors wrote to the President of India, seeking her intervention in the ongoing protests and the injustice they were protesting against.
“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 from Bengal wrote in their letter.
“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 stated.
September 13: Mamata Banerjee cites deaths due to protest
On Friday, September 13, Mamata Banerjee posted on X that 29 people had died due to the junior doctors’ strike in West Bengal. She announced compensation of ₹2 lakh for each of the deceased’s families, leading to further rage in the protest. The doctors insisted that their seniors were filling in for them. The junior doctors also pointed out that the health care of all of Bengal cannot depend on trainees who are only learning treatment protocols.
September 14: Mamata visits protest site
The next day, after a night of continuous rain, chief minister Mamata Banerjee made a surprise visit to the junior doctors' protest site. She assured them that she would look into their demands and urged them to resume their duties. She said she had come as their Didi and not the chief minister. She expressed concern that they were sitting-in in the rain.
September 14: Failed meeting with the chief minister
Later that evening, the junior doctors visited the chief minister’s house for a meeting on the invitation of the government. The meeting ended in failure as the doctors demanded immediate live streaming and video recording of the discussion, which was not agreed upon. The doctors later said they agreed to all the state government’s demands but were told it was too late. Before that, the chief minister urged them to come inside her home and have a cup of tea. They stood fast in protest outside in the rain.
September 14: Emotional return from CM’s house
The junior doctors returned from the meeting emotionally drained. On the bus ride back, they chanted “We want justice,” full of tears, feeling unheard once again.
September 14: Return to Swasthya Bhawan
After the failed meeting, the doctors once again returned to Swasthya Bhawan to continue their protest. Their demands for justice in the rape and murder case of their trainee colleague remained at the forefront of their movement. They also sat unrelenting on their demand for discussion on all five points.
September 16: Meeting invitation from CM accepted by junior doctors
The next day, the junior doctors agreed to meet the chief minister at her Kalighat residence. The government email made it clear that this was the fifth and final invitation extended by the CM, with the meeting scheduled for 5 pm. Although the doctors had insisted on live-streaming or video recording the meeting, they agreed to attend on the condition that the minutes of the discussion would be recorded and shared by both parties, a proposal the state government accepted.
September 16: CM announces transfers and removals
In a late-night statement after the meeting with junior doctors, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced major transfers. Among those removed were two senior health officials, the DHS and DME, Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal and the city’s deputy police commissioner, north.
September 17: Junior Doctors' Mixed Response to CM's Actions
Although not entirely satisfied, junior doctors gathered at Swastha Bhawan late at night to celebrate some of their demands being fulfilled by the chief minister.
September 17: Viswakarma Puja with black kites
The Telegraph Online visited Swastha Bhawan on September 17 morning, the day of the fourth hearing in the Supreme Court. The protesters celebrated Viswakarma Puja with black kites, asking for justice for RG Kar.
September 17: Supreme Court hearing
“The case is with the CBI & justice is to be served in two parts one to hold all those who are responsible and second to see that such kind of cases do not happen in future. The CM has assured us that security in hospitals will be checked and we are waiting for the same to be implemented and receive the written copies of the documents from her end. We wanted the resignation of DC North, South, the DHE, DMS & CP. Some of them have received transfer and some still remain on the list.'' Dr Sayan Mandal, intern at Midnapore Medical College, told The Telegraph Online.
September 17: Doctors go into huddle
Junior doctors held a meeting among themselves on September 17 to discuss how to continue their protest.
September 18: Another meeting with govt
The next day, the junior doctors sought another meeting with the CM to stress on their fourth and fifth demands. They met the chief secretary at Nabanna sabhaghar on the same day at 6:30 pm.
September 19: Cease-work lift announcement
After a 42-day strike, Bengal’s junior doctors announced on Thursday night they would resume “essential services” at the hospitals from Saturday and end their Swathya Bhawan sit-in after a march to the CBI office at 3 pm on Friday. They, however, warned they would return to a “complete cease-work” unless the state government implemented safety measures at hospitals within seven days. Their move came after Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant issued directives on safety and security at hospitals.
