Latest news with #ReclaimtheNight
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
R G Kar, one year on: How Mamata government got its act together to avoid 2026 Assembly poll fallout
The rape and murder of a junior doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9 last year shook the nation. In the aftermath of this horror, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, ruling West Bengal since 2011, faced one of the most sustained protests that went on for close to two months. In the aftermath of the rape and murder, a section of doctors hit the streets to seek justice for the victim's family. Kolkata Police's alleged mishandling of the case and the alleged corruption nexus in medical colleges in the state also put the TMC government in a spot. What made matters worse was that the principal of R G Kar at the time, Sandip Ghosh, was facing several corruption allegations and while he was forced to step down by the protesters, he was appointed principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours. This and the attack on the protest venue at R G Kar by miscreants alleged to be linked to the ruling party led to a breakdown in trust between the state government and the protesters and worryingly, for the TMC, saw ordinary citizens take to the streets in solidarity marches dubbed 'Reclaim the Night'. As the protesting doctors refused to hold talks with the CM, she rushed to their protest site in an act of damage control and urged them to sit with the administration for a resolution. Their first meeting failed as the state government refused to live-stream the discussions, which the doctors sought. Eventually, the government agreed to their demands and removed Kolkata police commissioner Vinit Goyal, along with the state head of health service doctors and medical education. One year since the R G Kar incident, many people have again taken to the streets of Kolkata, starting their protests on Friday and planning to continue them till August 15. The Opposition, too, is raising its voice, looking to target the Mamata government on the issue of women's safety. The R G Kar episode put the Mamata dispensation on the back foot. The TMC has tried to fend off the attacks from the Opposition as well as the civil society by saying that it has conducted a proper investigation in the case and that the main accused, Sanjay Roy, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Mamata also claimed that the probe was 'forcibly' taken away from Kolkata Police and given to the CBI, asserting that had it been with them, her administration would have ensured a death penalty for the accused. The government even brought in an anti-rape Bill that has a death penalty clause for such cases. Governor C V Ananda Bose has sent the Aparajita Bill back to the state government for consideration of the serious objections the Centre has raised over the proposed changes to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that the legislation seeks. 'All of us had demanded a death sentence, but the court has given a life term until death. The case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he (Sanjay Roy) was served a death sentence,' the CM has said. Since the allegedly shoddy investigation into the rape and murder, and alleged corruption in the state medical colleges were major talking points during the protests, the Mamata administration now seems to be keen to ensure swift action in such sensitive cases. A senior government official said, 'After the R G Kar incident, Mamata Banerjee was rigid on investigation. She accepted the demands of the doctors. Naturally, after the state administration addressed their demands, the movement pacified and Mamata Banerjee and her party were able to overcome the crisis.' In contrast to the R G Kar incident, the government appeared to be trying to be more transparent in the Kolkata law college rape case. Kolkata Police immediately registered an FIR in the incident that occurred in June, cordoned off the scene of crime, sent the victim for medico-legal tests, and arrested the accused, including a TMC student leader who is the main accused, in record time. They also ensured privacy for the victim and her family. The big test now for the government will be how the prosecution in this case proceeds. With Bengal headed to the Assembly polls in less than a year, the BJP has decided to make the issue of women's safety the cornerstone of its strategy — the issue came up last week in Union Home Minister Amit Shah's meeting with the state BJP leadership — while TMC has sought to shift the focus to the issue of the alleged ill-treatment of Bengali migrants in several BJP-ruled states. 'Atrocities against Bengali-speaking people is an issue that is getting a huge response,' said a senior TMC leader. State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim, who is also Kolkata Mayor, said the 'protests against atrocities on Bangla speakers are growing' and the BJP was trying to 'divert attention from this movement' by highlighting the R G Kar issue again.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
One year of RG Kar protest: Activists point to ‘hollowness' of government's promises; say protest emancipated women
At the turn of the year, since the brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital shook the conscience of urban Bengal, stakeholders of protest movements that followed believe that this 19th-century French proverb may hold credence. "There are still no palpable measures that make us feel safe as women in the city's public places at night," said Rimjhim Sinha, social science researcher and activist who initiated the 'Reclaim the Night' mass movement in August last year, which dragged lakhs out of their homes seeking justice for the RG Kar victim. VIDEO | Junior doctors and civil society members took out a torch rally in Kolkata on the eve of the anniversary of the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder. The body of an on-duty doctor was found raped and murdered inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in… — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 8, 2025 'Reclaim the Night' and gender justice Ms. Sinha criticised the "hollowness" of the state government's promises made within hours of agitators hitting the streets at the stroke of midnight on August 14 last year, which included the deployment of 'Rattirer Sathi' on-duty women volunteers at night, safe zones for women with monitored CCTV coverage and launch of a special mobile app with alarm mechanism for working women. "I have never come across a 'Rattirer Sathi' volunteer on the road at night during the past year. I don't know of any other women who have," Ms. Sinha claimed. "I do not know how effective the mobile app has proved to be, but I can bet it is of no use to poor working women who do not use smartphones or carry cell phones," she said. Stressing that the government announcements remained confined "only on pen and paper with hardly any practical implementation", the activist questioned the state's "apathy" in making gender sensitivity and sex education modules compulsory in schools that would have made "the real difference". Mr. Sinha referred to the Mamata Banerjee government's initial response to those agitations for gender justice, where it recommended working women should be spared night duty, wherever possible. "It is a myth that women get assaulted by strangers outside their homes. Statistics confirm that most cases of sexual assaults are perpetrated by known people and in homes, be it in the form of domestic violence or marital rape," she argued. But not all is disappointing in the RG Kar crime aftermath. Mr. Sinha feels that women across Bengal are more emancipated now in overcoming hesitations to raise voices which the "Reclaim the Night" agitations have paved the way for. "I have met pregnant women and women carrying their infants who stood outside state School Service Commission office all night with job reinstatement demands. I have seen school children, girls all of 14-16 years, block roads in Sonarpur demanding that their broken road to school be mended. These, to me, are examples of women finding their own voices," she said. Women here do not wait for anyone to speak on their behalf anymore, they now want a say in decision-making processes, Mr. Sinha said, adding, "That's progress in itself". Corruption in health sector Leaders of the Junior Doctors Front – which spearheaded the agitation of the state's medical fraternity and held an initial 42-day 'cease work' strike in the wake of the RG Kar incident – said that although certain key demands remain unachieved, the protests yielded significant gains. "The resistance ensured that major heads rolled," said Aniket Mahata, one of the Front leaders. "While we believe that the convict Sanjay Roy wasn't the only one involved in the crime and justice for Abhaya is yet to be fully served since the CBI hasn't submitted a supplementary chargesheet naming others, still we could force the state to hold a significant number of people accountable. As many as 11 high-ranking officials in the state's health and police departments were either removed or transferred," Mr. Mahata said. The doctor was referring to the removal of now-jailed ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, and the transfer of top college authorities, health department brass like DME and DHS and then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and DC (North) in the aftermath of the crime. "Ghosh and others currently remain in jail for rampant corruption that prevailed in the health sector. Our sustained agitations helped expose the ongoing medical scam in the state," Mr. Mahata asserted. He said that the movement achieved only partial success in ensuring that a repeat of the horrible crime never happened in the state's institutions in future. "The intensity of measures to tighten campus security has subsided with time. CCTV cameras and rest rooms, which were supposed to be set up under Supreme Court monitoring aren't up to the required mark. The central referral and hospital bed monitoring systems, which worked marvelously for the first two months, seem to have now gone again to the cold store," the doctor said. "After all, the hospital authorities initially wanted to pass it off as 'suicide'. It's the people who held their spine erect and established that this was a crime most foul," he said. 'Protest has political significance' Author and analyst Maidul Islam said that more than the social impact, the protests had greater political significance. "I believe that the evils of patriarchy in Bengal's society exist pretty much in all their 'glory', despite the protests. Sexual assault incidents show no signs of ebbing, the latest crime inside the South Calcutta Law College campus is but an example," Mr. Islam said. "The impact may not lead to a regime change in the state, since this is still largely an urban middle-class phenomenon. But it has certainly revived the disappointment cycle in Bengal's society which has repeatedly popped up during all previous political regimes," he said.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
RG Kar protests yielded some gains amid status quo in women's security in Bengal, say stakeholders
Kolkata, The more things change, the more they stay the same. RG Kar protests yielded some gains amid status quo in women's security in Bengal, say stakeholders At the turn of the year, since the brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital shook the conscience of urban Bengal, stakeholders of protest movements that followed believe that this 19th-century French proverb may hold credence. "There are still no palpable measures that make us feel safe as women in the city's public places at night," said Rimjhim Sinha, social science researcher and activist who initiated the 'Reclaim the Night' mass movement in August last year, which dragged lakhs out of their homes seeking justice for the RG Kar victim. Sinha criticised the "hollowness" of the state government's promises made within hours of agitators hitting the streets at the stroke of midnight on August 14 last year, which included the deployment of 'Rattirer Sathi' on-duty women volunteers at night, safe zones for women with monitored CCTV coverage and launch of a special mobile app with alarm mechanism for working women. "I have never come across a 'Rattirer Sathi' volunteer on the road at night during the past year. I don't know of any other women who have," Sinha claimed. "I do not know how effective the mobile app has proved to be, but I can bet it is of no use to poor working women who do not use smartphones or carry cell phones," she said. Stressing that the government announcements remained confined "only on pen and paper with hardly any practical implementation", the activist questioned the state's "apathy" in making gender sensitivity and sex education modules compulsory in schools that would have made "the real difference". Sinha referred to the Mamata Banerjee government's initial response to those agitations for gender justice, where it recommended working women should be spared night duty, wherever possible. "It is a myth that women get assaulted by strangers outside their homes. Statistics confirm that most cases of sexual assaults are perpetrated by known people and in homes, be it in the form of domestic violence or marital rape," she argued. But not all is disappointing in the RG Kar crime aftermath. Sinha feels that women across Bengal are more emancipated now in overcoming hesitations to raise voices which the "Reclaim the Night" agitations have paved the way for. "I have met pregnant women and women carrying their infants who stood outside state School Service Commission office all night with job reinstatement demands. I have seen school children, girls all of 14-16 years, block roads in Sonarpur demanding that their broken road to school be mended. These, to me, are examples of women finding their own voices," she said. Women here do not wait for anyone to speak on their behalf anymore, they now want a say in decision-making processes, Sinha said, adding, "That's progress in itself". Leaders of the Junior Doctors Front – which spearheaded the agitation of the state's medical fraternity and held an initial 42-day 'cease work' strike in the wake of the RG Kar incident – said that although certain key demands remain unachieved, the protests yielded significant gains. "The resistance ensured that major heads rolled," said Aniket Mahata, one of the Front leaders. "While we believe that the convict Sanjoy Rai wasn't the only one involved in the crime and justice for Abhaya is yet to be fully served since the CBI hasn't submitted a supplementary chargesheet naming others, still we could force the state to hold a significant number of people accountable. As many as 11 high-ranking officials in the state's health and police departments were either removed or transferred," Mahata said. The doctor was referring to the removal of now-jailed ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, and the transfer of top college authorities, health department brass like DME and DHS and then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and DC in the aftermath of the crime. "Ghosh and others currently remain in jail for rampant corruption that prevailed in the health sector. Our sustained agitations helped expose the ongoing medical scam in the state," Mahata asserted. He said that the movement achieved only partial success in ensuring that a repeat of the horrible crime never happened in the state's institutions in future. "The intensity of measures to tighten campus security has subsided with time. CCTV cameras and rest rooms, which were supposed to be set up under Supreme Court monitoring aren't up to the required mark. The central referral and hospital bed monitoring systems, which worked marvelously for the first two months, seem to have now gone again to the cold store," the doctor said. "After all, the hospital authorities initially wanted to pass it off as 'suicide'. It's the people who held their spine erect and established that this was a crime most foul," he said. Author and analyst Maidul Islam said that more than the social impact, the protests had greater political significance. "I believe that the evils of patriarchy in Bengal's society exist pretty much in all their 'glory', despite the protests. Sexual assault incidents show no signs of ebbing, the latest crime inside the South Calcutta Law College campus is but an example," Islam said. "The impact may not lead to a regime change in the state, since this is still largely an urban middle-class phenomenon. But it has certainly revived the disappointment cycle in Bengal's society which has repeatedly popped up during all previous political regimes," he said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Unhappy over probe, R.G. Kar victim's parents meet CBI director; assured all assistance
Parents of the R.G. Medical College rape victim met CBI Director Praveen Sood on Thursday (August 7, 2025) to express their dissatisfaction with the agency's probe in the rape and murder of their daughter, officials said. The parents, who arrived at the agency headquarters in the afternoon, received a patient hearing from Mr. Sood, who assured them "all assistance" in bringing the culprit to justice, they said. This is the second meeting Sood has had with them. It lasted for half an hour. The 26-year-old trainee post-graduate doctor was raped and murdered in the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in the Chest Medicine Department's seminar hall where she was on her night shift duty on August 9 last year. The crime sent shock waves across the country sparking massive protests by doctors and medical students. The CBI's probe nailed civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, who was handed over life imprisonment in January. The CBI has challenged the decision in Calcutta High Court seeking death penalty for Roy. The parents, however, remained convinced that Roy did not act alone and there may be a cover up of the incident. "From day one, we have said there was more than one person. She was a strong girl. There is no way only one man could have done this inside such a secure building. All the early cover-ups point to a bigger nexus," the victim's mother had said Sunday. Her father alleged that attempts were made to destroy evidence. "There were three bodies at the crematorium that day. Yet our daughter's body was cremated first. Why the hurry? Steps were taken to wipe out evidence," he alleged. The parents also plan to meet senior leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah. To mark the first anniversary of the tragic incident, two public events are scheduled in Kolkata in which protesters are expected to march to Kalighat area, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee resides. 'Abhaya Mancha', a forum formed in the wake of the incident, will observe Raksha Bandhan that day. On August 14, it plans a 'Reclaim the Night' march across Kolkata and the suburbs from 9 pm to midnight. Roy was handed life term by Additional District and Sessions Judge in Sealdah, Anirban Das. The court had also ordered Roy to pay a fine of ₹50,000 and directed the state government to pay compensation of ₹17 lakh to the family of the deceased. Judge Das stated that the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category, which justified the decision to not impose the death penalty on the convict. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was found guilty under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death), and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The CBI challenged the order saying the case was indeed a 'rarest of rare' incident in which death penalty would be an appropriate punishment for Roy.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Unhappy over probe, RG Kar victim's parents meet CBI director; assured all assistance
New Delhi, Parents of the RG Medical College rape victim met CBI Director Praveen Sood on Thursday to express their dissatisfaction with the agency's probe in the rape and murder of their daughter, officials said. Unhappy over probe, RG Kar victim's parents meet CBI director; assured all assistance The parents, who arrived at the agency headquarter in the afternoon, received a patient hearing from Sood who assured them "all assistance" in bringing the culprit to justice, they said. This is the second meeting Sood has had with them. It lasted for half an hour. The 26-year old trainee post-graduate doctor was raped and murdered in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in the Chest Medicine Department's seminar hall where she was on her night shift duty on August 9 last year. The crime sent shock waves across the country sparking massive protests by doctors and medical students. The CBI's probe nailed civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, who was handed over life imprisonment in January. The CBI has challenged the decision in Calcutta High Court seeking death penalty for Roy. The parents, however, remained convinced that Roy did not act alone and there may be a cover up of the incident. "From day one, we have said there was more than one person. She was a strong girl. There is no way only one man could have done this inside such a secure building. All the early cover-ups point to a bigger nexus," the victim's mother had said Sunday. Her father alleged that attempts were made to destroy evidence. "There were three bodies at the crematorium that day. Yet our daughter's body was cremated first. Why the hurry? Steps were taken to wipe out evidence," he alleged. The parents also plan to meet senior leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah. To mark the first anniversary of the tragic incident, two public events are scheduled in Kolkata in which protesters are expected to march to Kalighat area, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee resides. 'Abhaya Mancha', a forum formed in the wake of the incident, will observe Raksha Bandhan that day. On August 14, it plans a 'Reclaim the Night' march across Kolkata and the suburbs from 9 pm to midnight. Roy was handed life term by Additional District and Sessions Judge in Sealdah, Anirban Das. The court had also ordered Roy to pay a fine of ₹50,000 and directed the state government to pay compensation of ₹17 lakh to the family of the deceased. Judge Das stated that the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category, which justified the decision to not impose the death penalty on the convict. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was found guilty under Sections 64 , 66 , and 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita . The CBI challenged the order saying the case was indeed a 'rarest of rare' incident in which death penalty would be an appropriate punishment for Roy. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
