On Monday, September 9, 2024, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called on the public to end their protests and return to Durga Puja celebrations, amid fervent demonstrations against the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. She also asked the protesting doctors to return to their jobs.
Banerjee stated, “People become uneasy at night if protests occur every day. I’ll be pleading with folks to join the Durga Puja celebrations again now that a month has gone.” It’s already been a month since the doctor’s death was discovered on August 9. Protesters have called for “Reclaim the Night” twice, i.e., on August 14 and September 8. The Chief Minister stated that more clubs have asked the government for funding to organise Durga Puja in response to requests from local Durga Puja clubs to decline the honorarium granted by the state government.
The Chief Minister denied having made any financial offers to the victim’s relatives and claimed that misinformation was being circulated in this area. According to Ms. Banerjee, the State government would assist the family in organising a memorial for their daughter.
She stated that one of the demands made by residential doctors is remuneration. The victim’s parents claim that despite their daughter’s remains not being burned, police nevertheless made financial offers to them. Banerjee quoted, “What they want is justice, or they want the matter to stay unresolved in the name of justice.”