'We Would Have Tea If...': How Doctors On Protest In Kolkata Reacted To CM Mamata's Offer

Rejecting Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s offer of tea, junior doctors in Kolkata continued their protest at Swasthya Bhawan on Sunday, demanding justice for a colleague who was raped and murdered. “We were asked to come for an official dialogue at Kalighat, we went there.  When we went there, we even compromised with our demand that the meeting be live,” Dr. Aqeeb, a spokesperson for the protesters, said.

‘A meeting over tea’

“The CM came outside and requested us to have a meeting over tea – but the junior doctors said that we would have tea only if justice would be delivered. We later gave up on the demand of recording as well and just asked for the minutes of the meeting but it was told to us that there had been a delay and nothing could be done now,” he added.

‘What Sandip Ghosh has done’

The spokesperson stressed the need for accountability, following the arrest of Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of Tala police station. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Ghosh and Mondal on Saturday amid allegations of delays in filing the FIR and tampering with evidence related to the murder of the trainee doctor. The CBI’s investigation revealed inconsistencies in the timeline provided by the police, raising suspicions of a cover-up.

Dr. Aqeeb expressed that the arrest of Ghosh validates their demands, saying, “What Sandip Ghosh has done is an institutional crime. We want all such people involved in it to resign.” He recounted a frustrating meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which ended without a resolution. The junior doctors had requested that the meeting be recorded, but the government declined, leading to their decision to leave without an agreement.

Meanwhile, Banerjee had offered to record the meeting but insisted that the government would manage the recording, a proposal the doctors rejected. Amid demand for live-streaming of the discussions, the Bengal CM appealed to the agitating doctors, who had arrived at her residence for talks, to join the meeting.

‘I would request you’

“I would request you all to come inside and attend the meeting. As the matter is before the court, we cannot allow live streaming. I will video-record the meeting and will provide you with a copy only after permission from the Supreme Court,” she said while appealing to students to come inside and not to get drenched in rain. “I assure you that whatever recording will be done, it will be given to you. Accept my request and join the meeting. If you people do not want to come to the meeting, then please come inside the residence, have tea and then proceed to leave,” she added.