On Wednesday evening, tens of thousands of women from West Bengal marched through the streets to express their outrage over the rape and killing of a trainee physician at a government-run hospital in Kolkata last week.A week-long flurry of protests sparked by the violent rape and killing of a 31-year-old female trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College last Friday culminated in the Reclaim the Night march.
On a wet Wednesday night, women from all walks of life marched through Kolkata and the state of West Bengal in response to calls made on social media.The majority of the protests were peaceful, but there were some violent incidents involving the police and a few unknown men who broke into the RG Kar Hospital, where the doctor was killed, and looted the emergency room.
“Protests during the night in Kolkata following the rape and killing of a doctor”
Tear gas was fired by police to scatter the rowdy crowd. Additionally, some police cars sustained damage.
Numerous other Indian cities, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune, also witnessed smaller-scale protests.In other parts of the city, women walked with determination, carrying protest signs and their faces lit by torches, candles, and cell phones. A few had flags representing their countries. There were men there, young and old alike.
They stood together, holding hands, during the marches and at numerous gatherings close to a university, theatre, and bus stop. The muggy air was filled with the loud, insistent chants, “we want justice.” Conch shells were blown by protestors; the sound is lucky.
As India celebrated 77 years of independence at midnight, the tone of protest shifted.
A spontaneous chorus of the national anthem filled the air. Then it started to rain, but the demonstrators continued to walk while donning umbrellas over their heads.A news network reporter remarked, “We have never seen anything like this in the city—such a huge gathering of women marching at night.”
It was a night of almost unbearable frustration and rage.
Allow her to see if a large-scale demonstration can make things right, said a woman who arrived at the march well past midnight with her 13-year-old daughter. Let her know what rights she has.Another said, “Women are not respected at all.” “Goats and cows are worth more than we are.”
When will we be able to live freely? How much longer must we wait before we can work fearlessly? Another fifty years?” enquired a pupil.Sanchari Mukherjee claimed that despite the rain, she marched from a Jadavpur bus terminal alongside thousands of other protestors.”People of all ages, from all classes, the wealthy, the middle class, and the poor,” is what she encountered.She reported, “I saw an elderly couple, the husband was helping the woman walk.”
“Perhaps in order to imprint in her mind the memory of this occasion—how her parents defied injustice and how she, too, can protest one day—one family brought their young daughter along.”According to Ms. Mukherjee, as the marchers passed by illuminated homes, people were swarming verandahs and peeping out of windows to watch, giving the impression that the entire city was awake.She remarked, “They may not have joined us in person, but they were here in spirit.””‘We want justice’ had evolved into the march’s anthem and stopped feeling like a catchphrase,” Ms. Mukherjee stated.”Every young woman seemed to be incredibly hurt, resolute, and annoyed that they are still dealing with these problems in 2024.”Ms. Mukherjee continued, stating that due to traffic congestion late at night, she had to walk a few miles in order to participate in the march.
“I was quickly engulfed in a sea of people making their way to the protest location. There was only a stoic resolve to organise an occasion that would serve as a symbol for future times—there was no excitement.
Anger at how the local government handled the rape and killing of the young trainee doctor has fuelled the protests.Last Thursday, after working a 36-hour shift, she dozed off in a seminar room because there wasn’t a designated rest area.Her coworkers found her partially nude and with multiple injuries on the podium the following morning.A hospital volunteer was later taken into custody by police in connection with an alleged rape and murder case.
However, there have been claims of carelessness and a cover-up. Since then, the local police have turned over the case to the federal Central Bureau of Investigation.Kolkata’s Reclaim the Night march looked to have been well-planned despite limited resources. The march’s organisers extended a warm invitation to women and individuals with marginalised sexual and gender identities.The advisory also stated that men are welcome as observers and allies.
Additionally, they made it clear that politicians were not welcome and asked that party flags not be brought to the demonstration.In India, there had previously been other Reclaim the Night marches.In 1978, a protest march against street rape of women took place in Bombay (now Mumbai), inspired by similar global marches by women demanding their right to walk in public places fearlessly.An activist collective and community-based art project called Blank Noise has arranged multiple midnight walks in Delhi to support women in asserting their right to walk around freely at night.
However, the march in Kolkata, which was followed by smaller ones in other cities, was the biggest in terms of scope to date.”We took the night by storm. This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the city. This has never happened before. A protester named Chaitali Sen stated, “I hope it wakes up the authorities.”
[BBC]
