What impact could the RG Kar protests have on Bengal politics?
Even as Mamata Banerjee’s image took a hit, the movement is unlikely to hurt the Trinamool Congress as it failed to resonate with rural Bengal.
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Jhelum Roy was ebullient as she described the scene at Swashthya Bhaban, the office of health department of the West Bengal government. For over a month, hundreds of junior doctors had gathered outside the office to protest against the rape and murder of a medical student at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College on August 9. On Saturday, they ended their sit-in.
“It was not just the doctors’ protest,” Roy said. “Everyone contributed in their own way. A cucumber seller used to give away cucumbers for free every day at the protest site, a sweet seller did the same, people who live nearby gave us food and water.”
Roy was among the organisers of the “Reclaim the Night” campaign held across the state at midnight on August 14, when thousands of women marched through the streets in protest. Since then, many like Roy had collaborated with the doctors to organise demonstrations to press for their demands for a speedy investigation in the crime and that the state’s healthcare facilities be equipped with adequate security.
Roy said she was encouraged at the fact that demonstrations were even held at Sector 5 of Kolkata’s Salt Lake, the city’s information technology hub that has rarely seen agitations. But the RG rape...
