Kolkara rape-murder case: Protesting junior doctors call off hunger strike in response to public support

Hours after meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, protesting junior doctors officially ended their weeks-long hunger strike on Oct 21 night over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The junior doctors, however, said that they decided to call off the strike in response to the request of the general public and the parents of the trainee doctor who was found dead on Aug 9 rather than the meeting.

Additionally, the doctors canceled their planned shutdown from Oct 22 to the indefinite-term of the West Bengal health sector.

“In today's meeting (with the CM), we did get the assurance of some directives, but the body language of the state government was not positive. The common people have wholeheartedly supported us,” one of the junior doctors, Debashish Halder, said.

“They, as well as the parents of our deceased sister (RG Kar hospital victim), have been requesting us to call off the hunger strike, keeping in mind our deteriorating health,” he added.

He continued, “We are, therefore, withdrawing our ‘fast unto death’ and also Tuesday's total shutdown in the health sector, but this is not a result of today's meeting but because the request came from the common people and the parents of Abhaya.”

According to Halder, the doctors' protest has not stopped; they will conduct it in a vigorous manner in the coming days.

"The junior doctors would have a mass assembly on Oct 26 to discuss their demands. Following a general body meeting of the doctors, the decision was made," said Halder.

“We had demanded live streaming of our meeting with the CM for the sake of transparency, which was turned down. But today's meeting was held live,” he added.

“We have repeatedly placed 10 demands. But on the issue of threat culture, the CM got angry, asking why she was not informed. There has been an attempt to silence us when the issue of threat culture cropped up. Student polls will be held in medical colleges in March next year, which is a victory for us,” Halder said.

The doctors' 17-member delegation visited Banerjee at the state secretariat earlier in the day to discuss a number of topics, such as the systemic changes in the state's healthcare infrastructure, justice for their fallen comrade, and the prevalent "threat culture" in hospitals.

Mamata Banerjee asked the junior medics to break their fast during the discussions, which were held on the 17th day of the "fast unto death" by some agitated doctors.

While there was agreement on the dominant threat culture, there was disagreement over the fundamental causes and contextual factors that support it.

"At RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, several junior doctors and medical students were suspended without following proper procedures and rules. How can these students or resident doctors be suspended just on the basis of complaints? Who gave the college authorities the right to take such a step without informing the state government? Isn't this a threat culture?" Banerjee said.

Aniket Mahato, who had to be admitted to the hospital after a five-day fast, responded to Mamata Banerjee by claiming that the suspended individuals "have been very much part of the threat culture and don't deserve to be doctors."

"The atmosphere of the medical college campus has been vitiated by these goons under the guise of students. If you recheck their answer sheets, you will see these students don't deserve to get even pass marks," he said.

Banerjee argued against calling health secretary NS Nigam "accused of supporting the threat culture" without providing any concrete evidence, referring to the demand for his dismissal that she has so far rejected.

Kinjal Nanda, a disappointed doctor, told Banerjee that they had written to the state health department three times in the last three years to express their concerns about the "toxic" atmosphere at RG Kar hospital.

"Woman medics were subjected to inappropriate advances by a group of their male counterparts, and those who faced sexual harassment had no proper channel to file their complaints," Nanda said.

“If you start an agitation, you should know how to end it. It is not right to assume that all your demands will be accepted. You are free to present your demands, but we also have the right to assess whether they are justified or not,” Banerjee said.

She asked the junior doctors to persuade their colleagues to break their fast and return to work, promising to look into their demands.

"We want all of you to remain fit and healthy and prosper in your lives. I am also a product of a mass movement. I am really disturbed that some of your colleagues are on a fast. I would request you all to withdraw the fast," she said at the conclusion of the meeting.

Manoj Pant, the chief secretary, promised to provide formal instructions for the creation of task forces and grievance committees as well as a schedule for carrying out the doctors' demands by 3 pm on Oct 22.

Following the alleged rape and murder of a colleague at RG Kar Hospital, the junior doctors started a "cease-work" on Aug 9. After over 50 days of "cease-work" divided into two periods, the hunger strike started on Oct 5.

On Aug 9, the body of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor with numerous injuries was found semi-naked in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata.