Kolkata rape-murder: Pre-dawn National Anthem breaks doctor-cop ice
Times of India | 4 September 2024
KOLKATA: In the dead of the night at 3.45 am on Tuesday, doctors who were at a sit-in demonstration on BB Ganguly Street stood up and began singing the National Anthem. Some 300 policemen who were also present stood up as well and joined them. Though everyone stands whenever 'Jana Gana Mana' is sung, the sight of protesters and cops joining the chorus was nevertheless unique.In hindsight, it could have even been the watershed moment that broke the ice between the two adversarial groups.
During the 24-hour protest, a 9-ft high steel barricade separated the cops and the protesting doctors. But they did exchange pleasantries with the doctors repeatedly assuring the police that this was their fight for justice and not a personal "us vs them" battle.
Half an hour after the National Anthem was sung, the police got busy taking photographs of a boy aged around 10-12 who joined the protest with a poster that stated, "My didi is yet to get justice". Cops also offered goodies to the kid when he reached out to "police uncles" through the iron grilles.
What initially started with occasional jibes aimed at cops including one to "get a backbone" subtly changed by daybreak.
The reaching out process on behalf of the junior doctors numbering around 800-1,000 with 180 odd protesters staying right near the barricade began as early as 2 am when several doctors enquired if the cops needed water and refreshments. The cops said they had their stocks and instead offered food packets and water to the juniors. The doctors declined but the ice was broken.
All through the interactions between cops and the junior doctors - the cops mostly represented by Rupesh Kumar, joint CP (Traffic) - the language remained courteous. "I was surprised when they kept using the word 'request' for every demand they made," said a cop present at the protest site all through the night.
The mutual understanding was even more evident on Tuesday morning when they opened up Bentinck Street for traffic movement for several hours. The Dalhousie routes too were reopened to traffic with only BB Ganguly Street being stuck for traffic.
"We had put up the barricades fearing outside interference and as expected students from Jadavpur University and RBU joined in. But once it became clear that they would not be breaching the barricade, we decided to think about moving the barricade and also start traffic flow around Lalbazar," said an officer.