Thursday, 19 September 2024
Thursday, 19 September 2024
The protest site in front of Swasthya Bhavan, the headquarters of the health department Bengal government in the Calcutta suburb of Salt Lake aka Bidhannagar, was rather quiet on Tuesday morning.
Missing was the charged atmosphere that was prevalent earlier at the storm centre of the medics’ protest demanding justice in the rape and murder of their colleague at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as well as an overhaul of the health administration in the state.
At 10am, many of the junior doctors were asleep. Those awake said most junior doctors are resting out their exhaustion, caused by the anxiety-filled Monday night meeting with the chief minister.
The meeting led to a series of key decisions. Based on the demands of the junior doctors, chief minister Mamata Banerjee transferred the commissioner of Kolkata Police Vineet Goyal and the deputy commissioner of the Calcutta North division. At 4 pm on Tuesday, a new commissioner will assume charge of the Kolkata Police.
The protesters grew in numbers as the Supreme Court hearing began at 11 am. Doctors, some of whom had just woken up, gathered to follow the proceedings. They shared phone connections, internet access and power banks to watch the live streaming.
As the hearing progressed, The Telegraph Online spoke to the protesters. What emerged was that the doctors will continue their protest and a general body meeting will take place after 4 pm to decide on the future course of action.
Another highlight of the conversations was that most protesters remained sceptical about the CM’s late-night decisions.
“I am hearing the Supreme Court hearing at the moment. We will have our GB meeting today at around 4 and then we will decide what to do. I am not sure, but we may decide to lift cease-work; but the protest will go on till we get justice,’’ said Saikat Das, a third-year postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College.
“The Supreme Court has not spoken in our favour yet. I hope this time something fruitful happens, and the court does something in our interest,’’ said Rahul Hazra, a final year MBBS student at the Midnapore Medical College.
As the court hearing concluded on Tuesday, Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising engaged in a heated debate over whether the Bengal government was in denial over the situation the doctors are facing.
“The Supreme Court hearing was disgusting last time and today also nothing is happening in our favour,” said Dr Lipika Gupta, 60, who had come to Swasthya Bhawan all the way from Baidyabati, Hooghly. “The brutal rape and murder incident has affected me badly. I can’t even imagine how such a crime can happen at the workplace. I strongly support the protests and I believe it must go on; just one-liner hearings that say ‘go back to work’ is simply not enough.”
She added: “Yesterday’s meeting with the CM was also unsatisfactory and from my years of experience I can very well say that the CP [commissioner of police] will get a higher posting just like the former principal of RG Kar.”
At the Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud orally observed that what the CBI had revealed in its status report to the court was “deeply disturbing”.
At Swasthya Bhawan, some protesters flew black kites demanding justice for the trainee doctor who was brutalised and murdered. In Bengal, September 17 or Vishwakarma Puja is associated with flying kites.
“Mamata banerjee has accepted our demands verbally, but we want it in written. Our second and third demands should also be met and officially announced. Verbally doesn’t work. Till then the protests would be on,” said Hazra.
Tanusree Roy, a 47-year-old homemaker, also travelled from Baidyabati, Hooghly, to be at the protest site. She travelled for over an hour in the morning to reach the protest site.
“I am here to support my son who studies in third year at the Calcutta Medical College,” Roy said. “I agree his future and career is affected with whatever is going on but I believe it [the protest] must go on. Neither am I satisfied with the Supreme Court hearing nor with the CM meeting yesterday.
“I believe they deserve better,” Roy added. “My husband is also a doctor and he also moved out of the government practice because of corruption. Now my son is also facing the same at his college. This must stop.”
Clearly, what Indira Jaising, the noted lawyer who represented the junior doctors in the Supreme Court, was right; the lack of trust between the protesting doctors and the Bengal government remains despite the chief minister’s outreach.
