Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: Tensions prevailed in the West Bengal administrations over the call for a ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ or march to Nabanna (state secretariat) in Kolkata on Tuesday, August 27, demanding the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
While students’ organisation ‘Paschimbanga Chhatro Samaj’ insisted that its August 27 ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ rally will be peaceful and focused on demanding the resignation of Mamata Banerjee and the arrest of those responsible for the rape-murder case, additional commissioner of police Kolkata Supratim Sarkar on Monday said it has rejected an application by the group to hold the march.
The call for Nabanna Abhijan was separately given by an unregistered students’ body Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students Community) and the Sangrami Joutha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), an organisation of state government employees who have been agitating since long demanding their DA to be made at par with their central government counterparts.
- The West Bengal Police has called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as “illegal” and “unauthorised”, and said it has taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.
- Chatra Samaj spokesperson Sayan Lahiri claimed that the march to state secretariat Nabanna would not inconvenience candidates of UGC-NET as the examination would be held in two shifts. The UGC-NET, which is used to determine eligibility for appointment as assistant professors in colleges and universities as well as junior research fellowship (JRF), will be held in two sessions – from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 3pm to 6pm.
- Addressing reporters at Nabanna, ADG (law and order) Manoj Verma said police have received credible intelligence suggesting attempts would be made by miscreants to mix among protestors and incite large-scale violence and chaos during the rally, news agency PTI reported. The state government has already imposed prohibitory orders near Nabanna under Section 163 of BNSS preventing the assembly of five or more persons, it added.
- The Times of India reported that around 4,500 police personnel are set to form barricades at seven locations in Kolkata and Howrah to prevent the protesters from reaching Nabanna.
- Riot-control vehicles at multiple points in Kolkata, multiple water cannons, tear gas shells and hundreds of guard rails, aluminium alloy walls and drones will also be deployed prevent the protesters, the report added.
- Calling the rally a “conspiracy” to cause chaos on the streets, the Trinamool Congress released a couple of purported videos of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district planning to incite violence at the rally. Both leaders were detained for questioning by the police.
- The Bengal BJP on Monday officially said it would not join the Nabanna Abhijan but added that it was ready to support any protest movement, cutting across party lines, demanding justice for the RG Kar hospital rape-murder victim. Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said “doctored” videos were being circulated to tarnish a non-political movement.
- Meanwhile, in a video message released by the Raj Bhavan late Monday evening, Governor CV Ananda Bose urged the state government not to use power to stop the students from organising the rally.
- The brutal rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor on the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital premises triggered outrage all over the country. The incident shook the entire nation, and since then several protests have been staged demanding justice for the victim.
