Kolkata: With several political parties announcing parallel events in response to the ongoing crisis at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a young doctor was brutally raped and murdered last week, normal life in Kolkata may come to a standstill on Friday.
On Wednesday, the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, demanded that the CBI investigate the case and finish its inquiry by Sunday, August 18, and ensure that those found guilty are hanged. The ruling Trinamool Congress will hold a protest to support this demand.
On Friday at 3 p.m., the Chief Minister will lead a rally from Moulali to Esplanade. At the end of the rally, Banerjee is scheduled to make a speech to a group of people.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister said: “We are going to press for the hanging of the accused by Sunday. Our Kolkata Police had already completed 90 percent of the investigation. I am going to lead a protest march on August 16. I request all the mothers and sisters to join me.”
A few days after the victim’s body was discovered in the hospital’s seminar hall on August 9, Banerjee gave the Kolkata Police until Sunday to finish their investigation; if they couldn’t, she threatened to turn the matter over to the CBI.
However, on Tuesday, the situation took an unexpected turn when the Calcutta High Court immediately handed over the investigation to the central agency ahead of the specified time.
Meanwhile, the state unit of the BJP has called for a two-hour cease-work at all state government establishments across Bengal on Friday as a token protest against the R.G. Kar fiasco, starting from the rape and murder of the junior doctor to the ransacking of the emergency department of the hospital after midnight on Wednesday.
Starting at 2:00 PM on Friday, the BJP has also called for roadblocks in every district.
In addition, the CPI(M) has declared agitation campaigns across the state in support of Sandip Ghosh’s arrest. Ghosh resigned on Monday as the principal of R.G. Kar.
The situation is further compounded by a 12-hour nationwide strike scheduled for Friday in West Bengal, according to the SUCI (Communist). This strike is expected to have a significant impact on the state.
The state Secretariat, meanwhile, released a statement on Thursday night stating that the administration will take all necessary steps to preserve order and that any attempt to interfere with regular operations at government buildings and other locations will not be accepted.
According to the notification, “Given the call given by a political party for a 12-hour bandh on August 16, it has been decided that all state government offices shall remain open and all the employees shall report for duty on that date. It has been decided that no Casual Leave for absence either in the first half of the day or in the second half or for the whole day or any other leave shall be granted to any employee on the said date. The employees who were on leave on August 14 shall have to report for duty on August 16.”
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–IANS
