As West Bengal saw protests by junior doctors of state-run medical institutions after an assault on doctors at the NRS Medical College and Hospital over the death of a patient, BJP leaders tried to give it a communal colour blaming ‘a certain community’ for it.
PTI reported that an intern, identified as Paribaha Mukhopadhaya, was seriously injured after a clash between junior doctors and relatives of the patient who died late Monday night due to alleged medical negligence.
The Times of India reported that the incident took place after Md Sayeed, a 75-year-old resident of Tangra, died after a heart attack on Monday and relatives of the man begun harassing the doctors.
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The report said that around 200 people came in trucks on Monday at 11 pm and beat up the doctors, including Mukpadhaya and another doctor Yash Tekwani
The agitation at NRS later spread to other medical colleges and hospital leading to disruption of regular services. All departments, including pathological laboratories, out-patient department stopped working following the agitation of the junior doctors.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders in the state blamed the Mamata Banerjee-led government for the incident and called it a planned attack.
BJP leaders Mukul Roy and MP Locket Chatterjee visited the NRS Hospital on Tuesday. Roy, who left TMC and joined the BJP in 2017, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying, “Ekta bishesh sampradayer lokjon hamla chaliyechhe. Tara Trinamool korey… ei hamlay Trinamool jorito. Ar akranto, chikitsak Paribaha Mukherjee (People of a particular community carried out the attack. They belong to Trinamool, which is involved in this attack. And the doctor who has been attacked is Paribaha Mukherjee).”
The protests spilled over to Wednesday with all out-patient departments in state run hospitals being shut between 9 am and 9 pm, reported NDTV.
The report said that while emergency wards are likely to remain open, services are likely to be affected.
This comes after West Bengal Medical Council president and Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Maji told PTI on Tuesday that officials were trying to persuade the doctors to resume work.
“The chief minister has sent MoS Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma, myself and other senior officials to talk to them. We are looking into their demand and hopefully the matter will be solved quickly,” Maji said.
“We have spoken to the junior doctors, but they are yet to come to any decision. They are demanding for enhancement of security for them and I have assured them of that. But still they are continuing with their protests. We have requested them to think from an humanitarian ground and resume work,” Bhattacharya said when contacted.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is yet to say something on the incident.
After the Lok Sabha elections where the BJP managed to win 18 seats in Bengal, the two parties have been engaged in tussle. The BJP and the TMC have been blaming each other for the violence that the state has seen in the aftermath of the poll.
While the BJP has accused Banerjee of appeasing Muslims, the TMC has accused the BJP of inciting violence in the name of religion.