Kolkata: It was a collective awakening. At the stroke of midnight, thousands of women transformed the streets of West Bengal into a stage for their defiance. A smouldering ember, long suppressed, burst into flames, igniting a wildfire of protest across the state. The anger and frustration simmering beneath the surface erupted, fuelled by a shared desire to dismantle the ruins of broken lives.
The call to reclaim the night, issued on August 14-15, 2024, was a clarion call answered by the women of West Bengal. The simple yet powerful command to rise, awaken and unite captured the hearts of countless women, far beyond the city’s limits.
“My daughter is a student and stays at a hostel. The doctor who was raped and killed was also like my daughter. What happened to her could have happened to any of our daughters. How can I stay back and allow it to happen?” asked Kasturi Goswami, who attended the protest at Biswa Bangla Gate in New Town.
The main junctions across cities were blocked by thousands of protesters shouting, “We want justice.” There were children, teenagers, youth, the middle-aged and senior citizens. Parents encouraged their daughters to go out at night and joined the protest against the state government. It was not disappointment or frustration anymore. It was fury and distrust.
“The government and the system are protecting the criminal at large. They are making evidence disappear. It is a deliberate attempt to safeguard the criminals, not the citizens,” claimed college student Oinidrila Mondal, who was attending a protest carrying a handwritten poster saying “Protect citizens, not criminals.”
Protests broke out across the state in a fiery response to oppression faced by women. In Dinhata, local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Udayan Guha had brazenly threatened women participating in the ‘Reclaim the Night’ rally. Hundreds of women then defied his intimidation and took to the streets.
Protests in Dinhata. Photo: Facebook
From the rural heartland to urban centres, a wave of defiance swept through West Bengal. Women from Baga in North 24 Parganas to Mekhliganj in Cooch Behar, from the tranquil villages of Purulia to the bustling streets of Jadavpur and Lake Town, rose up as one. Their message was clear: enough is enough.
The angered women not only reclaimed the night but also asserted their independence. In some places, men also stood by their side. The exact number of participants is still emerging, but these figures pale in comparison to the magnitude of this historic moment.
Netaji Nagar Kolkata. Photo: Author provided
Jadavpur 8B Bustand. Photo: Author provided
“The protesters completely blocked the VIP Road at one point,” said Shampa Moitra, a senior citizen who had joined the gathering near Lake Town’s Big Ben. “Their chants of ‘We Want Justice’ drowned out everything else,” Moitra said, adding that she was not aligned with any political party but was driven by deep concern for the safety of working women.
A mob armed with rods and sticks stormed R.G. Kar Medical College, disrupting the state-wide protests. Shocking videos from the scene show the mob arriving in a truck and breaching the hospital premises. Several police officers were injured in the ensuing chaos.
Despite heightened security, how the mob managed to infiltrate the hospital remains unclear. The attackers vandalised the emergency department and destroyed the protesters’ stage. The situation escalated, prompting the deployment of Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, who were forced to use tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.
“They entered through the back gate. Initially, the police seemed hesitant to intervene. The mob arrived and left in a truck, suggesting a well-organised plan. They were looking for doctors. We really feared for our lives. The ENT department is in ruins,” a resident doctor, who witnessed the attack, recounted.
On social media, an anonymous profile, that was posting real time updates, claimed that police initially retreated as the mob vandalised the emergency department and the makeshift protest stage, a fact corroborated by local media who were present on the spot.
Update: In this video,the goons suddenly appear amidst the protesters peacefully protesting in #RGKarHospital.
You can clearly see the police retreating and taking cover in the Gynae ward of the hospital.If they acted swiftly,this whole situation could have been avoided.
State… pic.twitter.com/HSInU5E6n1
— purpleready (@epicnephrin_e) August 14, 2024
Within an hour, TMC MPs, who had initially maintained silence on the rape and murder of the young doctor, started posting well-drafted messages condemning the incident. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) have blamed TMC for orchestrating the mob attack.
Mamata Banerjee has sent her TMC goons to the apolitical Protest Rally near RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
She thinks that she is the most shrewd person in the whole world and people won’t be able to figure out the cunning plan that her goons appearing as protestors would… pic.twitter.com/1CPI2f1KUr— Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) August 14, 2024
দেখুন। মমতা ব্যানার্জী রাতের অন্ধকারে তথ্য প্রমাণ লোপাট করতে আর জি কর হাসপাতাল ভাঙচুর করতে কাদের পাঠিয়েছে? কীভাবে তারা পিছন দিয়ে হাসপাতালে ঢুকছে। pic.twitter.com/yrhicqy4LL
— Minakshi Mukherjee (@MinakshiMukher8) August 14, 2024
Protest in Bagda in North 24 Parganas. Photo: Author provided
Protests in front of RG Kar by SFI, DYFI & AIDWA. Photo: Author provided
