Calcutta. The doctors have been on hunger strike in this hospital for more than twelve days demanding justice for their woman colleague raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Bengal’s junior doctors are frustrated with delays in the Supreme Court hearings – which they feel are not progressing in their favor – and the pace of the investigation in the case.
The hunger strike is not limited to doctors in Bengal. Two doctors from Lucknow – Dr. Divyansh Singh of King George Medical College and Dr. Ranvijay Patel from KGMU – have also completed 36 hours of fasting in solidarity with their junior compatriots in Bengal.
In Allahabad also doctors went on a hunger strike expressing their angst over the incident and not being satisfied with the system over its handling of such a terrifying murder.
At present, 10 doctors across India are on hunger strike. Seven have been hospitalized in Bengal – six in Calcutta and one in north Bengal. All of the hospitalized doctors are being closely monitored by the medical teams. Though there are plans to downshift them from CCU once their health stabilizes, at present the doctors remain weak and are still not out of danger.
Dr Soham Paul, 27, a junior doctor at Midnapore Medical College, said “In Bengal, one doctor from our college and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health joined the indefinite hunger strike fast yesterday [Tuesday].
“The way the state government is handling this situation is terrible. Ultimately, we are standing in the same place from day one with no help and support. Our on-duty doctors are being picked by police as and when they feel like. Yesterday, when Dr Tapabrata Roy was detained, we went to the Maidan police station. The police were unable to inform us why he was held. They simply told us that they thought that his dress code could create issues and hence he was held,” Paul said.
Dr Roy, who was part of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s medical team for the Durga Puja Carnival of the state government, wore a badge saying ‘Pratiki Onoshonkari’ [on symbolic hunger strike].
Following pressure from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), he was eventually released.
The protesters, who held their carnival after the Calcutta high court struck down prohibitory orders clamped by Kolkata Police, also accused the cops of disrupting their movement by allowing vehicles into the protest area.
Despite the tensions, the protesters, including junior doctors, formed a human chain.
“The Supreme Court hearing is simply focusing on monitoring the CBI’s investigation on the Abhaya case,” said Sanchali Chakraborty, a second-year postdoctoral-trainee student at SSKM.
“The CBI is also working as per the Supreme Court hearing dates. I feel the hearing is always put on the second half after a gap of 15 to 20 days. Yesterday also the CJI kept saying I have two more cases to hear. They are always in a hurry. This case should get more importance. The court is also not bothered about our movement. “The state is not at all bothered about our hunger strike and neither do they want to change the system for the better. Very soon after our GB [general body] meeting, we will try to file a case in the high court regarding our movement,” Chakraborty added.