‘Visit hunger-strike venue, express solidarity,’ VC of CU asks public to visit protesting doctors

Kolkata: Santa Dutta, the acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, has encouraged people to take time during Durga Puja to visit the junior doctors on a fast-unto-death strike in Kolkata.

As the festival begins on Thursday, Dutta has called on festival-goers to show their support for the seven junior doctors fasting at Esplanade in protest of the rape and murder of their colleague from R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. “The victim junior doctor at R.G Kar is yet to get justice. The macabre event proves how unsafe women are still in their workplaces. The junior doctors are on a hunger strike in protest. So my request to the revellers is to take out some time from your pandal-hopping, visit the hunger-strike venue and express solidarity. The junior doctors are on hunger-strike for the welfare of society,” Dutta said at a seminar at CU.

She also indirectly referenced Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent remarks urging people to embrace the festive spirit. “Those who believe in festival rituals will surely perform that. But there is no reason to impose festivity on people. The general festive mood is not there this year,” she said.

Dutta's message aligns with the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), which has noted that their movement gained momentum thanks to the widespread support from the public.

In related news, CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat released a statement on Tuesday, emphasising that the victim in the R.G. Kar case has become a symbol born from the protests against the violence she endured. “She is called Tilottama – one who combines in herself the best of all. The solidarity struggles for justice for Tilottama — have shaken not just Bengal but the country. Thousands of self-mobilised citizens, their conscience awakened, have come out for street protests in solidarity,” Karat’s statement read.

Agency