A ‘Spine’ and A Deputation: Protesting Doctors Meet Kolkata CP, but Unhappy with the Outcome

The protesting doctors of the West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Front marched towards the police headquarters in Lal Bazar on Tuesday, following the Kolkata Police's decision to lift the barricades, allowing the junior doctors who had been demonstrating for 22 hours, to advance. A delegation of 22 student representatives was granted permission to meet with Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and present their demands, which included a call for his resignation among other issues. The protest, called the “Lalbazar Abhiyan,” began on Monday in response to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The deputation submitted by the protesting doctors outlined a host of issues that they wanted to bring to the notice of the police commissioner and demanded his resignation over the brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old PGT doctor, and the mob vandalism at RG Kar Hospital during the wee hours August 15. “You have failed as CP of Kolkata police to ensure a transparent investigation of the rape and murder of ABHAYA and speedy arrest of the culprits involved in the same. You have failed as CP of Kolkata Police to protect the students of R.G.KAR from a heinous mob attack on the night of 14th August and Kolkata Police acted as a mute spectator of the event and as an explicit act of cowardice fled the scene & tried to divert this administrative failure as "Assessment Failure.” In view of the aforementioned historic failure which serves as a blot in the policing history of this country, we demand you to step down from the Chair of Police Commissioner immediately,” read their deputation.

The standoff between the Kolkata police and the protesting doctors of the West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Front ended after the police lifted the barricades and allowed them to march ahead. The doctors had begun their march from College Square at 2 pm on Monday and were halted by a nine-foot iron barricade and guard rails set up at Phears Lane. Subsequently, hundreds of junior doctors sat down on the road leading to the Kolkata Police headquarters, demanding the resignation of Commissioner Vineet Goyal, and held a sit-in demonstration for over 20 hours. Despite efforts by the police to disperse the protesters, they remained on the road, blocking traffic and pledging to continue their protest until their demands were addressed.

“We spoke to the Commissioner, he heard us out and admitted that there were lapses on August 15 when the hospital was vandalized,” said a junior doctor who was a part of the delegation that met with the Police Commissioner. The junior doctors expressed their dissatisfaction with the initial handling of the case and the slow progress of the investigation. They criticized Commissioner Goyal for alleged incompetence and called for his immediate resignation as a measure of accountability.

The doctors have been protesting over the brutal rape and murder of an on-duty PGT doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The police arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer of the welfare department of the Kolkata Police, whose Bluetooth earphones were found near the victim's body and was seen on CCTV footage near the crime scene. The case has since been transferred to the CBI following a Calcutta High Court order, ensuring a thorough investigation into the heinous crime.