The Indian Medical Association’s Bengal state branch has reiterated its support to the protesting junior doctors at the RG Kar medical college hospital, hours after the Supreme Court directed them to return to work by Tuesday evening.
In a statement issued on Monday, the IMA Bengal unit said they were totally disheartened by the proceedings of the court and the CBI.
“We were even more disheartened to learn that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has asked the junior doctors, who are the forerunners of this protest, to return to work by 5 pm tomorrow,” it said.
Earlier in the day, the apex court directed the CBI to file a fresh status report on the probe by September 16 while ordering the state government to ensure adequate facilities are being provided for the CISF personnel deployed for security at the RG Kar hospital.
A trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the hospital on August 9, sparking widespread protests in West Bengal and across the country. The CBI is investigating the case following an order by the Calcutta High Court.
The IMA, in its statement, noted that no step was taken for a speedy trial to deliver justice to the victim.
“It was also very much shocking to note the way the junior doctors were portrayed as responsible for a few deaths in the hospitals,” it said, adding that in no hospital, the service is completely hampered due to the junior doctors’ protest.
#WATCH | West Bengal: CBI Special Crime Branch team reached RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata today to carry out further investigation into the rape-murder of a doctor here.
— ANI (@ANI) September 9, 2024
Visuals from outside the hospital. pic.twitter.com/f8pXocZIyl
“As we all know, our junior colleagues are protesting for speedy and fair justice for the heinous crime against Abhaya (the pseudonym given to the victim) and also fighting against the health syndicate so that this sort of crime and corruption never happen in the future," the statement read.
The association further alleged that the CBI had not shown any positive move towards ensuring speedy justice while the state government had not taken any drastic step against the health syndicate.
Promising its "unconditional" support to the junior doctors’ protest, the association said: “IMA vows to the entire medical fraternity and the common people that the protest will not die down. In the coming days, it will even become stronger, and we will not keep any stone unturned till we get justice”.
