NEW DELHI: For doctors from AIIMS and Safdarjung, the path to the protest on Friday was anything but smooth. Delhi Police had a field day in stopping the protesters moving to Nirman Bhavan in the day and towards India Gate in the evening.
The police had set-up barricades at INA, stopping every auto and cab near Delhi Haat to check if passengers were heading to the demonstration at Nirman Bhavan at noon.
“We are in a democracy. Don’t we have the right here to demonstrate our anger with the events unfolding in Kolkata's RG Kar and place our demands to the government peacefully?” asked Dr Survrankar Dutta, General secretary, AIIMS Delhi RDA.
After minutes of hiatus, the undeterred doctors turned to the metro and buses, evading the roadblocks to reach the protest site where thousands of doctors from different parts of the city were assembling gradually. A quick message was sent to the doctors’ groups to arrive at Nirman Bhavan in small packs so that authorities don’t suspect.
However, as the gathering started swelling up, police officials were seen outside the Udyog Bhawan Metro station scanning the potential protesters. Officials clicked photographs and jotted down the names of many medicos.
“It’s a routine exercise for agitations whose permission has not been granted,” said an official.
As the doctors kept arriving, the police found themselves overwhelmed with managing the crowd. The whole stretch of 500 meters outside Nirman Bhavan was filled with medical professionals who brought the area to a standstill. The traffic was halted.
The scene was charged with anger and determination as doctors vowed not to leave until they received a written assurance from the ministry. The doctors held posters and banners chanting slogans—‘We want justice', 'No safety, no duty' and 'Awaz do, hum ek hain'—to express the seething anger and concerns about their safety, with women doctors taking the lead.
The humidity made everyone around get drenched in sweat. Women constables, deployed there to manage the crowd, were seen taking turns to take rest.
Local shopkeepers and authorities, stunned by the unprecedented turnout, said they never witnessed such a large gathering there even during several previous protests. Shopkeepers noted that pantries emptied within two hours—an amount of sales typically seen over two days.
“I’m running the shop here for 15 years now. This area has registered protests from doctors earlier as well, but never at such a scale,” said Tribhuvan Dayal, a shopkeeper selling snacks and soft-drinks outside Nirman Bhavan.
However, the evening event—a candle march from Safdarjung to India gate—was halted as the procession was again stopped by the police. Despite requests and demonstrations, the police did not allow the medicos to march till India Gate.
