The Calcutta High Court has permitted the Joint Platform of Doctors (JPD) to conduct a rally on 1 October in Kolkata. The rally is being held in order to protest against the rape and murder of a trainee medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj gave the directive that the protest should be carried out peacefully between 5 PM to 8 PM. The rally is scheduled to commence from College Square and will end at Rabindra Sadan and will also pass Central Avenue and Esplanade in between. The decision was taken in account of a petition filed by the JPD urging the intervention of the court to hold the event.
Police restrictions cancelled
Earlier, the Kolkata police advised to curtail the number of participants along with shortening the length of the route. However, the court did not impose any such restrictions. The court directed that a sufficient number of police personnel should be deployed to ensure the rally proceeds without any hurdles. The authorities have also been asked to make necessary security arrangements under the management of the joint commissioner of police.
Organizers to be responsible for crowd controlling
To maintain order among the participants, the rally organizers have been asked to arrange sufficient volunteers. The JPD represented by the Association of Health Service Doctors had earlier asked permission to hold a rally with 50,000 participants but the police have restricted the number to 1,000. The JPD challenged this curtailment in the court and defended themselves by stating the restrictions on the number of participants were unfair as they were voluntarily willing to present in the rally.
Given the seriousness of the case, the court gave the verdict in favour of the JPD and also permitted a larger turnout but with the condition that a peaceful demonstration would take place. The horrific incident in which the body of the postgraduate trainee was found with severe injuries in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata sparked widespread protest. The doctor’s rally is planned to bring attention to the safety of healthcare professionals.
(With PTI inputs)
