Doctors call for reclaim the night march on 8 August
The Statesman | 9 July 2025
Junior doctors on Tuesday called for The reclaim the Night march in Kolkata on 8 August in protest against the brutal rape and murder of their woman post graduate trainee (PGT) colleague at her workplace R G Medical College on 9 August, last year.
Responding to calls for ‘reclaim the night’ on social media, women from all walks of life and other members of the civil society had marched across the city and throughout West Bengal on a rainy 14 August night one year ago and raised their voice demanding justice for the gruelling incident that had rocked the country triggering people’s outrage.
Today, doctors under West Bengal Junior Doctors Front (WBJDF), a platform formed by junior medics attached with government healthcare facilities across the state after the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital case, announced their protest programme The Reclaim the Night from 12 on 8 August night to 4 a.m. on 9 August in the city.
While announcing the schedules of the protest march Dr Debashis Halder, a prominent face among the protesting junior doctors since R G Kar Medical College and Hospital told reporters during a press conference today, “Besides the protest march on 8 August night we have also decided to organise several programmes next day 9 August – the day when our woman colleague was brutally raped and murdered at her workplace.”
“We will assemble at Shyambazar at 12 on 8 August night first and then a protest march carrying torches in hands will head for College Square on 9 August night. A rally will be organised in front of the ‘Cry of Hour’ statue inside the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital complex during the afternoon on 9 August. A ‘Rakhi Bandhan’ programme will also be organised during morning hours the same day,” Dr Halder said.
“We are inviting people from all walks of life to join the night-long protest programme on and from 12 on 8 August night to 4 am on 9 August. We will also raise our voices against ‘threat culture’ in colleges across the state. No one has forgotten the R G Kar incident on 9 August night. We will never forget it,” he added.
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has, on the other hand, called for ‘March to Nabanna’ programme on 9 August in protest against the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital incident.
Mr Adhikari has appealed to all people cutting across their political lines to join the march without any party flags. The bereaved parents of the R G Kar Hospital victim may join the protest march.
The junior doctors today said they won’t take part in the ‘March to Nabanna’ programme.
“We think it’s a political programme though he claims it’s non-political,” they said.
Last year, thousands of women in the state had marched through the streets on 14 August night in protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor.