As protests continue in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday offered to resign “for the sake of people”. The protests are ongoing, demanding justice for the rape-murder of a junior lady doctor at the state run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, located in Kolkata, the state capital.
Banerjee, the TMC supremo, said she also wants justice for the murdered doctor.
“I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected an end to the RG Kar impasse today. They (junior doctors) came to Nabanna but did not sit for the meeting. I request them to go back to work,” Banerjee told a press conference.
“I am ready to resign for the sake of the people as, despite my best intentions and efforts in the last three days, the medics declined to hold talks,” the chief minister said.
Junior doctors are holding protests in Kolkata.
Also read: RG Kar rape-murder: Clamour for justice grows louder in Kolkata with second night vigil
Meanwhile, the agitating junior doctors on Thursday blamed the West Bengal administration for its rigidness in not allowing live streaming of the meeting to resolve the RG Kar stalemate and asserted that they never sought the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as offered by her.
Dubbing Banerjee’s remarks blaming the medics for the impasse as unfortunate, the doctors said their ‘cease work’ and agitation would continue until their demands are met.
“The chief minister’s remarks are unfortunate. We wanted the talks to take place. However, the state administration was adamant about not allowing live streaming of the meeting. Our demands are justified. We wanted live streaming for the transparency of the meeting,” one of the agitating doctors told reporters.
#RGKar Rape & Murder | "Ready to resign if that means…" – #MamataBanerjee's explosive remarks at the press conference after a stalemate meeting between junior doctors & health officials at the #Nabanna. The CM earlier tweeted that she waited for the doctors for 2 hours. pic.twitter.com/eTyNsu6JQr
— Mojo Story (@themojostory) September 12, 2024
The agitators refused to hold talks with the West Bengal government unless their demand for live streaming of the meeting was met. The talks were scheduled for 5 pm in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as demanded by the protesters.
The CM waited for more than two hours to meet the agitating junior doctors. However, the meeting did not take place as scheduled.
Also read: Kolkata doctor rape and murder: Former Principal of RG Kar Medical College arrested
“We had never asked for her resignation and are neither here to press for it. We are here with our demands for the sake of justice for the murdered doctor of RG Kar Hospital. We wanted to resolve this issue. We are extremely unhappy that the talks did not take place. But we will still wait for a response from the administration,” the agitating doctor said.
Another medic said the protestors never sought the resignation of Banerjee.
“This is not our aim at all, our aim is justice (for the murdered RG Kar hospital doctor). Nowhere in our five demands have we demanded her resignation. Our demand is clear. We want those creating hurdles in the path of justice to be brought under the purview of law. Not even the parents of the victim have demanded her resignation,” she said.
