West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), the collective under which junior medicos across West Bengal built their movement in the aftermath of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case, held a mass convention in Kolkata on Friday to decide the future course of their movement.
In the convention held in the auditorium of IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital, a proposal to place a symbolic statue of an oppressed woman in RG Kar premises was passed. Junior doctors also announced that there would be a rally and a mass gathering in the Esplanade area on October 2, the day of Mahalaya which marks the beginning of Durga Puja festivities.
The doctors made it clear that they would continue their movement unless all of their five demands were met. The convention was attended by doctors from RG Kar MCH and other state-government medical colleges and hospitals along with people from other sections of life, including film personalities and social activists.
Dr. Aniket Mahato of RG Kar, a leading face of the junior doctors’ movement said, “People generally don’t get justice that’s why they have joined our movement. We must not let this fire go off. We don’t seek anything but justice. Everyone must understand why we want justice.”
Dr. Mahato questioned the delay in the investigation, emphasising that the junior doctors' decision to end their strike and resume work should not be mistaken as a sign of weakness.
Dr. Manimoy Bandyopadhyay, the director of IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital, hoped everyone involved with the heinous crime would be convicted. “It is unimaginable that such a heinous incident could happen in any hospital. All those who are directly or indirectly connected with it should be identified,” he said at the convention.
Doctors demanded that the system of intimidation and threats by the politically powerful be eliminated from hospitals. They also raised questions about why some developments about the CBI investigation were not being made public.
“The Chief Justice was distressed upon reviewing the contents of the envelope provided by the CBI, which contained details about the death. Had he spoken for just three to four minutes about what was inside, it might have eased the concerns of the 10 crore people in West Bengal,” Dr. Diptendra Sarkar, a senior surgeon in Kolkata, said at the convention.
Director Kaushik Ganguly demanded the removal of people like Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar who has been arrested by the CBI, from all sections of the society and urged junior doctors and others at the convention to keep faith in the judicial system for justice. “Justice will take time but we must be patient,” he said.