Following the attacks on doctors in West Bengal, lakhs of doctors across the country have decided to boycott work for a day to express solidarity with their protesting colleagues in West Bengal.
The India Medical Association has declared “All India Protest Day” on Friday against the incident and expressed solidarity with the striking doctors.
Junior doctors have been agitating since Tuesday as their colleagues are being attacked in the state. The doctors had also decided to reject the Chief Minister’ ultimatum and continue their strike until their demands are met.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had displayed her insensitivity when she ordered the doctors to resume work within 4 hours or face action. Reportedly, even the supporters of the TMC are unhappy about the incident and are protesting against Mamata Banerjee for violencce against the doctors.
A video has gone viral, where it can be seen that Chief Minister’s nephew, Dr Abesh leading a protest rally showing solidarity the agitating doctors of the Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital (NRS). Abesh Banerjee, who is the son of Mamata’s brother Kartick Banerjee, is a doctor with KPC Medical College and Hospital. Reportedly, Abesh led a protest rally on Wednesday from KPC hospital to the NRS hospital.
Watch: Mamata Banerjee’s nephew leading a protest rally against the government. Dr. Abesh Banerjee who himself is a junior doctor with government run KPC hospital can be seen in a video protesting and showing solidarity with junior doctors of NRS @dna @ZeeNews @WIONews pic.twitter.com/21SyXlgMAI
— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_zeenews) June 13, 2019
In a similar display of dissent against Mamata Banerjee, Shabba Hakim, daughter of Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, has sharply criticized the Mamata Banerjee government’s handling of the junior doctors’ strike. In a Facebook post, Shabba Hakim wrote that the doctors have a right to “peaceful protest” and “safety at work”.
“As a TMC supporter, I am deeply ashamed at the inaction and the silence of our leader,” her post read.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Safdarjung Hospital have also decided to join the protest with over 3,500 resident doctors from the two hospitals striking work in support of the doctors who were allegedly beaten up in West Bengal. All out-patient clinics and routine services will remain suspended on Friday.
Similarly, the resident doctors across Maharashtra will also join other doctors across the nation on one-day strike tomorrow in the backdrop of violence with resident doctors in West Bengal. In Maharashtra, resident doctors will not be attending OPD and routine work, but emergency services will be provided to the patients, read a statement released by Maharastra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD).
On Thursday, Professor Saibal Kumar Mukherjee and Professor Saurabh Chattopadhyay had also resigned as the Principal and Vice-Principal respectively of NRS Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata after violence against doctors at the hospital on June 10th. The senior doctors have resigned as a protest against Mamata Banerjee government for not taking against the mob who had attacked the junior doctors.
It began as a small protest by a group of junior doctors at the state-run SSKM Hospital after doctors and interns at the NRS Hospital were brutally attacked by a mob on the premises of the hospital after a patient named Mohammed Sayeed reportedly died of natural causes.
As the protest began attacks against doctors further escalated and mobs attacked students and interns at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital as well. The matter, as expected, did not remain confined to Burdwan and the NRS Hospital alone. On Wednesday night, Calcutta National Medical College was attacked by unidentified goons and two rooms in one of the hostels were burnt down allegedly, with the help of kerosene bombs.
West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee has mired in violence since TMC faced humiliating losses in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Mamata Banerjee, who has been under tremendous pressure after her loss, seems to be back to her usual policy of minority appeasement and violence against her opponents to retain her power in the state of West Bengal.
