Kolkata: For the first time since the protests took over the streets of Kolkata after the rape-murder of the trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College & Hospital, protesters from different organisations came together on one platform to call for a ‘relay’ protest from Hiland Park to Shyambazar five-point crossing via Science City at 4 pm on Sept 20.
The symbolic torch will be carried from one nodal point to another, where it will be passed on to another set of protesters who would continue the relay till they reach Shyambazar. According to the protesters, they had wished to go to R G Kar Medical College & Hospital where the incident occurred but considering the legal directives, they decided to refrain from breaking the law. The protesters from various medic organisations, Junior Doctors’ Forum, women from ‘Reclaim the Night’ movement, IT professional associations, supporters of East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan clubs as well as alumni of various city schools came together on Tuesday to announce the ‘relay’ protest. They collectively felt that though the hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday made good progress towards the hope of getting justice.
The protesters would continue with their protests for a larger cause— to bring forth a change in the mindset of the society and make both public, workplace safer for women.“The goal is to not just get justice in one case, but to ensure a systematic reformation of the society at large. It will need a constant collective effort to make sure that the same changes are brought in and not forgotten with time,” said social science researcher Rimjhim Sinha, who gave the call for ‘Reclaim the Night’ on Independence Day eve.
With regards to the alleged detention of protesters, Dr Tamonas Chaudhuri said, “If they (police) try to stifle the protesters, we will slogan louder. We are there for each of the protesters.” He said while adding an incident where a Jadavpur University student was allegedly detained by Jadavpur Police Station and then kept at Lalbazar. He also stated that he is hopeful that the protest on Sept 20 will be peaceful.