RG Kar protests turn murky as two rival junior doctors’ groups slam each other

Kolkata (The Uttam Hindu): The ongoing protests by the doctors of West Bengal over the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata, seem to be taking a murky turn with the two rival associations making accusations against each other. On one hand, West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), the original umbrella body spearheading the protests over the rape and murder, has accused the newly-formed West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Association (WBJDA) of being a group of those junior doctors who had been accused of “threat culture” within the premises of medical colleges and hospitals.

They have been accused of enjoying the patronage of erstwhile influential persons from the medical fraternity like the former principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh. On the other hand, representatives in the WBJDA, reportedly having the backing of ruling Trinamool Congress, have accused the WBJDF members of exploiting the rape and murder issues to serve self- interest, which includes mobilisation of funds from the public in the name of the protests. The WBJDA has demanded that the state government probe the activists of the WBJDF, including the source of funds mobilised by the front.

However, the WBJDF rubbished such allegations and claimed that the new association has been formed with the active backing of the ruling party to malign the agitation which has received massive mass support since the beginning. “We had withdrawn our fast-unto-death considering the larger public interest and because of the request from the parents of the victim junior doctor. But that does not mean that we will be withdrawing the agitation in support of our demands on this issue. Rather we will be extending the ambit of our protest beyond metros, urban, suburban and district headquarters to rural West Bengal,” a WBJDF representative said. The WBJDF has already announced that it will be organising a protest march to the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata on Wednesday, a day before the Kali Puja, demanding a speedy and logical conclusion of the central agency’s probe in the rape and murder case.