Kolkata: Thousands of IT employees raised the ‘We want justice’ slogan at the rally held in Sector V’s IT hub on Tuesday evening to protest against the RG Kar rape and murder incident.
Starting from Webel More around 6pm, the rally moved to College More and the ring road before ending at RDB boulevard. IT employees, both men and women in equal numbers of different age groups and working in different multinational firms, joined in the protest march with candles and mobile phones lit up with banners in their hand which said ‘Sector V office parao dicche dak, Tillottoma Bichar Pak' (Sector V office para is also raising its voice, justice for the rape and murder victim) along with shouting the slogan ‘We want justice’.
Most of the protesters felt that the advisory issued by the govt on minimising late night work hours for women did not make much sense.“There is no logic behind such guidelines. Instead of asking women to avoid working during late hours, the administration should work on tightening safety measures for us to feel safe during any time in the day and night,” said agroup of women protesters. “We as IT employees are secure in our offices, but the same should be with women working in different fields. We have all come to join the protest rally today with our demands that the govt must build up an environment where women would feel secure at any of their workplace during night,” said Suchandra Banerjee, one of the protesters.
“We demand justice for the horrific incident that occurred at RG Kar. There should be more safety and security measures for women,” said Anindya Bhowmik, a resident of Dum Dum.
One flank of the road was blocked for the rally to move on as vehicles moved on using one flank. “It feels more horrible to even think that victim was raped and murdered inside the hospital while on duty. Where is our security? We demand justice,” said Madhurima Basak, a resident of Kankurgachi.
Not only IT employees, there were also people from other fields and professions. “Can’t we work at night? Where is our safety?” asked film maker Mahua Chakravarty, a resident of Salt Lake who has been joining in the protest rallies at different places.
Several policemen were deployed to manage the traffic during the protest rally. The cops who in the front were letting the rally move on from behind. The main rally ended around 8pm as many IT employees who could not join earlier due to their office shifts came in later and held small protest rallies in pockets.