Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 13: In a bid to prolonged the issue and evade any settlement with the state government, the agitating junior doctors in West Bengal have written a letter to the President Droupadi Murmu and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting their intervention in the impasse over the situation created following the rape and murder of a trainee postgraduate doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.
The copies of the four-page letter have also been sent to the vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was a former governor of West Bengal and had been at loggerheads with the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and the union health minister JP Nadda.
A spokesman of the junior doctors confirmed that the letter was drafted earlier this month but posted on Thursday after a delegation of junior doctors refused to hold talks with Ms Banerjee on Thursday evening on the grounds that the state government disallowed live telecast of the proceedings because the issue was sub-judice. The junior doctors have already twice defied the Supreme Court’s orders to resume duty and restore normal health services in the state-run hospitals.
“We humbly place the issues before your esteemed excellency, as the head of state, so that our unfortunate colleague who has been the victim of the most despicable crime shall receive justice, and so that we, the healthcare professionals under the West Bengal Health department, may be able to discharge our duties to the public without fear and apprehension.
Stating that there has been a rise in “institutional threats, violence and vandalism” since the protests began, the doctors added, “Your intervention in these trying times will act as a beacon of light to us all, showing us the way ahead out of the darkness that surrounds us.”
Towards the end of August, Ms Murmu had said she was dismayed and horrified by the rape and murder of the trainee doctor. “What is more depressing is that it (the Kolkata rape and murder) was not the only incident of its kind… it was part of a series of crimes against women,” she had said, adding, “In the 12 years since Nirbhaya, countless rapes have been forgotten by society. This collective amnesia is obnoxious.”
On Thursday, the West Bengal government had invited the protesting doctors for talks again but they did not attend despite reaching the venue because their demand for a live telecast of the meeting had not been met. After waiting for the doctors for over two hours, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was willing to step down if her resignation could help the public cause and that she was not enamoured by the chief minister’s post.
Hinting that some leaders of the agitating doctors had been acting at the behest of the BJP to derail a negotiated settlement of the impasse, she said, “I know many in the delegation were interested in talks. But two of three people were giving instructions from outside. We have seen all that. We could see that because it was being recorded by the press, which were standing right behind… They were giving instructions – ‘Do not negotiate, do not go to the meeting’,” she said.
“The horrific nature of the crime, the alleged attempts to cover it up, and the ensuing climate of fear have awakened the nation, demanding an impartial investigation and a prompt, fair, and rational trial,” the doctors wrote in the letter.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front on Friday also conducted a protest march to Kolkata police headquarters to press for the resignation of police commissioner Vineet Goyal over alleged mishandling of the case. Carrying posters and placards, the Left activists shouted slogans against the TMC government and demanded that Goyal be interrogated by the CBI, which is currently probing the RG Kar case. The protestors were stopped near the police headquarters, as steel barricades were put up to stop the activists from marching ahead.
“I don’t want the CM’s post,” Banerjee had said in an address to the media. “Our government has faced a lot of insult…There is a colour [political colour in the protests]. People came out on the streets for justice. But I hope people are understanding that…they [her rivals] just want the chair. I am ready to resign in the interest of the people,” she had said. She also urged the doctors to return to work, emphasising that people are suffering, including those needing heart or kidney operations and women in advanced stages of pregnancy.
Later, Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said he would “socially boycott” Mamata Banerjee, stating he would not share any “public platform” with her. “In solidarity with the Bengal society, I resolve that I will socially boycott the Chief Minister. Socially boycott means I will not be sharing any public platform with the Chief Minister nor will I participate in any public program which involves the Chief Minister,” Bose said in a video statement.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had asked the doctors to join work by 5pm on Tuesday, but both the Bengal government and the protesters drove a hard bargain on the conditions for the meeting that could have ended, or at least taken a step towards ending, the impasse. The two sides were engaged in a lengthy mail exchange; the doctors had put forth several demands including justice for the 31-year-old victim and end to what they called threat culture in Bengal’s medical system, among others.
The chief minister and her party said the campaign by junior doctors are turning fatal for patients that require emergency services, but the protesters asserted that senior doctors were on duty and health care services were unaffected by their demand for justice.