RG Kar stir loses steam as splinter group says protest ‘politicised, focused on toppling health dept’

A new body of doctors, suspended for promoting a “threat culture”, says the initial movement had lost its focus and become politicised. Their focus is on justice for the murdered junior doctor.

File photo of junior doctors' protest at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Kolkata: Divisions have emerged among doctors fighting for justice for a junior doctor raped and murdered in August while on duty at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, with a faction of protesting doctors forming a new outfit called the West Bengal Junior Doctors Association. The new outfit has accused the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, which was spearheading the movement against the Mamata Banerjee-led state administration after the heinous crime, of losing focus and becoming politicised.

The new body, mostly comprising doctors earlier suspended for promoting a “threat culture” at the hospital, says its primary goal is justice for the murdered junior doctor.

They formed the outfit after the Kolkata High Court stayed the suspension on 22 October. The case will come up for hearing again this month.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, on the other hand, had extended its demands to the dismissal of the Kolkata Police commissioner, health secretary and senior officials for not carrying out their responsibilities.

“We were victims of threat culture. The movement that began for justice has shifted focus on toppling the health department and has been politicised,” Sourav Das, one of the leaders of the newly formed West Bengal Junior Doctors Association, told ThePrint.

“We want to fight for justice for the victim which should be the focus,” he added.

Das was one of 51 RG Kar Hospital doctors suspended on 5 October over allegations of intimidation and promoting a “threat culture” on campus.

As the protest continues, the new body will be calling for a mass convention this month to chart its strategy for demanding justice and better security for doctors.

But Aniket Mahato, one of the faces of the protests that rattled the TMC government, told ThePrint the new faction consisted of those who were part of the problem.

“This new association has been formed by those who have been part of the threat culture that is part of the problem we are seeking justice from. They have their democratic rights but we will continue our rallies to seek justice,” said Mahato.

ThePrint spoke to several RG Kar junior doctors who claimed the new faction was seen to be close to former principal Dr Sandip Ghosh, now in the CBI net.

“This association comprises interns and MBBS students, who were known to be close to the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, which was close to ex-principal Dr Sandip Ghosh,” a junior doctor in RG Kar’s chest department said on condition of anonymity.

Another RG Kar junior doctor linked the new faction to the student-body elections slated early next year.

“The chief minister has assured there will be elections on campus within the next six months. This association has cropped up after that announcement,” said the junior doctor. “One cannot rule out the possibility that they are eyeing the council … this is an opportunity they think they can utilise before the elections are announced.”

Movement losing momentum

The mass protests that brought the state administration to its knees have lost some momentum in recent weeks with an element of fatigue creeping in. The chief minister’s intervention led protesting resident doctors in West Bengal to call off their agitation outside the health department on 19 September and end a hunger strike on 21 October.

The protests have also slowed because the doctors are preparing for their final exams in December.

The Trinamool Congress, pushed to a corner by the Opposition over the gruesome crime in the heart of the city, is relieved at the protest losing momentum. “What started as organic protests have been completely politicised and now there are factions. The people can now see clearly who wants justice and how,” TMC’s Kunal Ghosh told ThePrint.

The BJP said the doctors should extend the scope of their protest.

“The junior doctors should also protest outside the Supreme Court, which is hearing the case and the CBI office which is investigating the case. Even if they don’t know what they want to do,” Leader of the Opposition in the state Suvendu Adhikari told ThePrint.

Political analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay, however, said the protest cannot continue indefinitely. “The state government accepted the majority of the demands by the junior doctors. It’s quite naive to think that a protest movement should go on indefinitely only for the sake of it,” he told ThePrint.

(Edited by Sugita Katyal)