Three prominent Bengali theatre personalities on Tuesday announced their decision to return state-sponsored awards in protest against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

They also criticised Kolkata Police and Trinamool Congress leaders for their allegedly insensitive handling of the RG Kar incident.

Veteran playwright Chandan Sen was the first to declare his decision to return the Dinabandhu Mitra award, the highest honour by the state government in the field of theatre. Following suit, actor-director Biplab Bandopadhyay said he would return the Natya Academy Award he received this year for best director, along with ₹30,000 cash prize.

Later in the evening, actor Sudipta Chakraborty also decided to return the Special Film Award, which included a cash prize of ₹25,000 she received from the state in July 2013.

Sen, Bandopadhyay and Chakraborty said their action was also in response to a recent statement by actor and Trinamool MLA Kanchan Mullick, who had suggested that protestors return the awards they had received from the government.

Sen, known for his acclaimed plays like Dayabaddha, Aniket Sandhya, Gyan Briksher Phal and Ek Nayoker Sesh Raat, received the Dinabandhu Mitra award in 2017. The award included a memento, a citation, and a ₹25,000 cash prize. In his letter to the director of the information and culture department, Sen described himself as “one of the lakhs of protestors on the street” and said he could no longer keep the award after Mullick’s comments.

"I wish to survive as one of the protestors, without the award," Sen wrote.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Sen expressed his shock that Mullick’s comments had not led to any action from the government. "It seems that Kanchan Mullick was speaking on behalf of the state government. I decided to return the award as a theatre artist, which teaches us the importance of inclusiveness," he said.

So far, only Trinamool MP and theatre activist Partha Bhowmik has reached out to Sen following his decision. Bhowmik, however, refrained from commenting publicly on the matter, stating, "It is Chandan Da's personal decision. I am not the right person to comment on it."

Actor Bandopadhyay, in his letter to the secretary of Rajya Natya Academy, expressed his anger and shame over the RG Kar Hospital incident and the subsequent actions of the Bengal government and police.

"The state government's response to cover up the truth is disgraceful. The award has become a burden to me, especially after Kanchan Mullick’s remarks," Bandopadhyay wrote on social media. He further said: "The government demands unquestioning loyalty in exchange for these awards, but I reject that loyalty and return the award with contempt."

Chakraborty, whose recent portrayal in the play Binodini has been widely praised, echoed similar sentiments in her letter to the information and culture department.

"Being recognised by our state government was once a matter of immense pride. But in the wake of current status of our state and related comments of Kanchan Mullick, I hereby wish to return the honour and will continue to demand justice both legal and social standing on the road," Chakraborty wrote in a social media post.

Voicing her support for Sen and Bandopadhyay, she said: "They have demonstrated great courage, and I am proud of them."

As the demand for justice in the RG Kar case grows louder, the government remains silent on both its alleged failures in ensuring security and the criticism from these prominent theatre figures. The protest, which has seen support from various sections of society, has also sparked a significant response from the entertainment industry, with actors and other personalities joining the protests on the streets.

However, Sen, Bandopadhyay and Chakraborty are the first from the entertainment industry to announce the return of the awards.

In August, Parimal Dey, a renowned educationist from Alipuduar, had decided to return the Banga Ratna award conferred on him by the Bengal government in 2016 in protest against the RG Kar incident.

As of Tuesday evening, no one from the government got in touch with the three theatre personalities.