Kolkata is gearing up for a protest that is reminiscent of both 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, which took place on the night of August 14 as well as a show of solidarity that people from across the world have shown in demand for justice for the RG Kar victim.
‘Let there be light, Let there be Justice’ is the name of the protest called by the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which has been spearheading the protests over the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. It is a peaceful protest which will take place on Wednesday night.
The protest is timed; it is the night before the next hearing in the RG Kar case in the Supreme Court, which had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter.
As a part of the protest, people across West Bengal will switch off the lights at 9 pm and come outside their homes to protest in a peaceful manner by lighting candles, diyas or any other light to seek justice for the RG Kar victim. Nobody has been asked to gather at any particular place.
Agitating doctors from the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front on Wednesday appealed to citizens to switch off lights in homes for one hour between 9 to 10 pm to show solidarity with the doctor who was allegedly murdered and raped in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital on August 9.
The doctors insist their protest is not about politics but a united call for safety and justice.
An intern at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, says. “This is not just RG Kar’s fight or India’s fight, this has also gone international and people are supporting us."
As the City of Joy prepares for another night of protest, the students and junior doctors are looking ahead with hope. They are waiting for the Supreme Court hearing on September 5.
The lights-off campaign’s call was given even as junior doctors continued their cease-work in West Bengal government hospitals’ outdoor patients departments across the state as their agitation entered the 27th day.
On Tuesday evening, the junior doctors met with police commissioner Vineet Goyal and gifted him a replica of the spinal cord, symbolising the need for upright public servants for a safer environment in hospitals and on the streets.
Goyal, in turn, told the protesters that he did whatever he could to the best of his ability and if his seniors say then he will resign.
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