Supporters of arch-rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan gathered near the Salt Lake stadium, the venue of the cancelled Kolkata Derby, on Sunday evening in a rare show of camaraderie to protest the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Over a hundred supporters of the two clubs initially gathered outside the stadium with placards and posters even as a Durand Cup match between the two most-followed football clubs of the country was cancelled with police citing concerns over the law and order situation.
Supporters of the two clubs held each other’s flags and raised slogans demanding justice for the victim’s family, with a huge contingent of the police keeping a vigil on the situation. Supporters of the Mohammedan SC, another major football club, also joined the protests a while later.
Actor Usashi Chakraborty and theatre personality Sourav Palodhi were among the protesters wearing the jerseys of the clubs they support.
As the protests spilled onto the busy EM Bypass and blocked the traffic, police chased the agitators with canes in hand in a high-voltage drama and detained some of them. Even though the police were somewhat successful in breaking the gathering at first, the protesters regrouped in small numbers and continued raising slogans.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey also reached the site a while later and met the angry fans of the three clubs.
“It is very shameful. Law and order have completely collapsed in West Bengal. A football match could not happen… and look at police deployment, it looks like a riot is going on,” Chaubey, also a BJP leader, told PTI-Video.
The arterial road connecting the city’s northern end to the south was eventually blocked at different locations, including Kadapara and Beleghata Connector crossings, disrupting the flow of traffic to and from the airport.
“We want justice for the sister who was gang-raped and murdered. Together, we Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan fans have assembled here peacefully. Why so many policemen have been deployed here? Why the match had to be cancelled? Don’t we have the right to demand justice for the victim,” asked Bittu Senapati, a Mohun Bagan supporter.
Police said prohibitory orders under section 163 of the BNSS were imposed in the area from 4 pm till midnight to prevent any disruption of peace.
For defying the prohibitory orders, some of those who gathered here were detained, they said.
As the police tried to whisk away those detained, the football fans tried to block the way of the vans.
Palodhi said, “We only want to air our anger over the shocking incident. Everything cannot run smoothly, normally when the security of women is at stake.” As the sun went down and darkness set in, more supporters of the three clubs poured in to join the protests.
Screaming at the police, a woman dressed in Mohun Bagan’s maroon-green colours said, “Where were you when the vandals took siege of the RG Kar Hospital, and doctors, nurses and common people ran for their lives? Where were you when costly medical equipment at the hospital was being vandalised?” Waving the Tricolour along with the flags of the three clubs, a group of football lovers also sang the national anthem amid chants of “We want justice”.
“We only have one demand, we want justice for the doctor and her family,” an East Bengal supporter said, holding a festoon that said, “Two clubs but one voice, justice for RG Kar.” Police said there were intelligence inputs that attempts would be made to trigger violence during the match, because of which it was cancelled.
“We had specific information that some groups and organisations would attempt to create disturbance in the stadium,” a senior police officer said, adding that 63,000 spectators were expected for the match.
“Keeping in view the safety and security of the football lovers, we took up the matter with the Derby committee and decided to cancel today’s match,” he said.
The postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the RG Kar MCH. When a demonstration was underway against the gruesome incident in the early hours of August 15, a mob ransacked parts of the hospital.
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