RG Kar protest: Junior doctors’ hunger strike enters day 4; mega rally today

Kolkata: The hunger strike by seven junior doctors at Esplanade, protesting the rape and murder of their colleague from R.G. Kar Medical College Hospital, has reached its fourth day on Tuesday.

Coinciding with Maha Panchami, the doctors, both senior and junior, have organised various protest activities throughout the day. While the seven junior doctors continue their fast at Esplanade, junior doctors across the state have initiated a 12-hour token hunger strike starting at 9 am on Tuesday.

Notably, senior doctors and representatives from nursing and healthcare workers have also joined the junior doctors in this token protest. In addition to the hunger strikes, a major rally is planned for the afternoon at 4:30 p.m., starting from College Square and proceeding to the protest site at Esplanade. This rally aims to unite all members of the medical community.

The junior doctors have called on the public to join them in the 12-hour hunger strike and participate in the rally to show solidarity. “We had been able to carry forward our protests to this extent just because of the mass support from all sections of the society. So we are requesting the people, our biggest source of inspiration, to join us in this protest on Tuesday,” said a representative of West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), the umbrella body spearheading the movement of the junior doctors on this issue.

The protests began on Saturday evening, with six junior doctors—three women and three men—initiating the hunger strike. On Sunday evening, a seventh doctor joined their cause. 

Agency