Junior doctors’ hunger strike: Anik Dutta, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, and others write open letter to govt

In the wake of the RG Kar incidents, junior doctors sat on a hunger strike with ten demands. They seem to have gathered a huge mass support. Some doctors, in fact, fell sick while conducting their hunger strike. Now a host of celebrities, including Anik Dutta, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, and other dignitaries, have written an open letter to the state government. 

People are getting anxious because one after another doctors fell ill due to fasting. A few days back, celebrities like Aparna Sen and Parambrata Chatterjee wrote a letter to the state government and the doctors saying that they could play the role of negotiator between the two if the two parties wanted it. The doctors rejected the call. Now Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Chandan Sen, Anik Dutta, and others wrote a letter to the state government. 

They wrote, “We, the signatories, think that the movement of the junior doctors seeking justice for the heinous rape and crime at the RG Kar Hospital is logical. We stand by the ten demands raised by them and think that the basis of a health system free of corruption and fear can be formed through the fulfillment of these demands. We condemn the dilly-dallying and efforts to shield the truth by the state government and the administrative officers. Not only that–when the junior doctors want to return to work to show their trust in the words of the state government, we think the government is still more proactive to break the movement rather than to fulfill the just demands.” 

They added, “Especially even after the doctors sat on a hunger strike, we condemn the inhuman behavior shown to them. We, like all the citizens, are gravely anxious about the junior doctors’ physical well-being. We call the government, especially the health ministry, to promptly go to the strike place, talk with the junior doctors, and fulfill their justified demands.” 

They also sent a message to the junior doctors. They wrote, “At the same time, we want to tell the junior doctors that their movement is the movement of civil society. This is not to end in one go. We want them to carry the movement with fit bodies. We have a lot of expectations from them. We believe that they will be aware of their grave responsibility and show light to this fight for a healthy health system.” 

Ashok Kumar Ganguly, Doctor Barin Roychoudhury, Dr Apurba Mukherjee, educationist Pabitra Sarkar, Ashok Nath Basu, and Ratnabali Roy are some of the others who signed the letter.