West Bengal: Face of R.G. Kar movement resigns from junior doctors’ body

Kolkata, Jan 1 (IANS) Aniket Mahato, one of the prominent faces of the protest movement by junior doctors in West Bengal against the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August 2024, on Thursday tendered his resignation from the post of president of the “board of trustees” of the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), the umbrella body spearheading the movement.

In his resignation letter addressed to the board of trustees, Mahato said that although the decision was painful, he was constrained to step down from the post.

While Mahato did not spell out the exact reasons behind his resignation in the letter, he hinted at his dissatisfaction with certain decisions related to the formation of the executive committee of the front.

According to Mahato, the executive committee was constituted without establishing any defined relationship with the board of trustees and in disregard of legal advice. He described the decisions related to the formation of the committee as “undemocratic” and “inconsistent” with the spirit of the movement seeking justice for the victim.

He also claimed that he had repeatedly raised objections to the manner in which the executive committee was formed, but his concerns were ignored.

Sources said that the executive committee of the WBJDF comprises 37 members and that differences between members of the board of trustees and the executive committee had emerged over the division of responsibilities.

However, Mahato declined to offer detailed comments on his resignation when approached by the media. He said that since he had quit before the formal voting on the new committee, it would not be fair on his part to comment on the internal developments.

Mahato said that the WBJDF had launched the movement on the R.G. Kar issue after receiving spontaneous support from millions of people. “Now it is up to the front to decide on the future course of action,” he said.

src/pgh