KOLKATA: The 16-month-long protest movement against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9, 2024 suffered a setback on Thursday after Dr Aniket Mahato, one of the movement’s leading figures, resigned from the Board of Trustees of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front (WBJDF).
The WBJDF, comprising hundreds of junior doctors from government and private healthcare facilities, including teaching and non-teaching hospitals across West Bengal, was formed within hours of the incident, which had rocked the country and sparked widespread public outrage and demands for justice.
Dr Mahato, an anaesthesiologist attached to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, conveyed his decision to resign from both the WBJDF trust and the post of its president in a letter on Thursday. Describing the decision as “painful”, he wrote: “With deep sorrow, I would like to inform you that I am finally resigning from both the WBJDF trust and the post of its president.”
Explaining the reasons for his resignation, Dr Mahato said differences of opinion between him and other trustees over the formation of the WBJDF executive committee had forced him to quit. He alleged that the process of constituting the committee was undemocratic, as no legal opinion had been sought before the initiative was taken and all members of the trust were not properly consulted. He also claimed that the move was “undemocratic” and “improper” in the context of an ongoing protest movement demanding justice for the victim PGT doctor.
According to sources within the WBJDF, the crisis erupted after the formation of a 37-member executive committee of the junior doctors’ platform.
Along with Dr Mahato, two other junior doctors, Debashis Halder and Asfaqulla Naiya, had emerged as prominent leaders of the movement following the R G Kar Hospital incident. Their protests, including sit-in demonstrations and fast-unto-death programmes, had drawn large numbers of citizens in Kolkata to the streets.
The country witnessed spontaneous protests by thousands of people in Kolkata and other cities, with slogans such as “Justice for R G Kar” raised during the “Reclaim the Night” movement on the night of Independence Day in 2024.
The Mamata Banerjee-led state government later transferred several junior doctors who had led the protests to remote district hospitals, citing administrative reasons. While Dr Halder and Dr Naiya accepted their transfers, Dr Mahato challenged his transfer order in the Calcutta High Court and subsequently in the Supreme Court. The state government suffered a setback when the apex court directed that he be allowed to remain at R G Kar Hospital.
Sources in the medical community also said Dr Mahato had expressed concerns over alleged irregularities related to WBJDF funds received from various organisations, including overseas medical professionals who had extended solidarity with the movement.
