Junior doctors continue protest, demand talks with competent authority

Say rain, heat, earthquakes will not be able to stop our protest till we get justice for Abhaya

Kolkata: Agitating junior doctors continued their sit-in demonstration outside the State Health Department headquarters in Salt Lake for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday demanding justice for the medic raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, even as incessant rain lashed the city.

They, however, said they are looking forward to talks with a competent authority to resolve the ongoing impasse. “Rain, heat, earthquakes will not be able to stop our protest till we get justice for Abhaya and our other demands are fulfilled. We are here for a noble cause and no force will be able to stop us from getting that,” Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating doctors, said.

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“But if someone thinks we are rigid, stubborn then that is absolutely a wrong thing, they must have something in their mind. We are doctors and not politicians. There is no politics and only demand to cleanse the health system,” another agitating doctor Soumya Chakraborty said.

Since Friday afternoon, West Bengal has been witnessing incessant rainfall due to a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal. The junior doctors who are on ‘cease work’ since August 9 evening, are also demanding the suspension of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, Health Secretary NS NIgam, Director of Health Services, and Director of Medical Education for “failing” in their duties in the context of the Kar incident.

The junior medics are also demanding adequate safety and security measures for all women health professionals in the state. They have also written to President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from Union Health Minister JP Nadda to intervene in the matter to expedite the investigation.

The body of the postgraduate woman doctor was recovered from the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. A Kolkata Police civic volunteer was arrested the next day in connection with the crime. The CBI has been conducting a probe into the rape and murder of the woman medic, following a Calcutta High Court order.