Celebrities join docs in Kolkata rally demanding dialogue

Expressing solidarity with the protesting doctors of West Bengal, a number of film personalities, singers, painters, civil right activists and common people on Friday participated in a 2-kilometre march here alongside medicos of various hospitals.

The participants walked from NRS Medical College and Hospital - the epicentre of the protests - to Calcutta National Medical College carrying placards and banners reading "Enough is Enough", "Stop violence against doctors" and "pashe achi" (we are with you).

There was constant shouting of slogans like "We want Justice" while some hummed "We shall overcome".

Donning her signature sunglasses and a big hat, renowned actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen walked alongside other personalities like painter Samir Aich, musicians Debojyoti Mishra and Anupam Roy, human rights activist Binayak Sen and so on.

"As a citizen of India, I request the Chief Minister to go as a guardian of the junior doctors and listen to them. I request you with folded hands to meet them and facilitate dialogue," Sen said.

She said that the young medicos "are also feeling bad" about depriving the patients of getting treatment.

"But it the administration's responsibility to take care of the situation," she said.

"Apart from condemning the kind of violence visited upon these young doctors, we also feel that the whole of the political economy of ill health in India needs to be addressed for any lasting solution," Binayak Sen, paediatrician cum public health specialist said.

Many senior doctors of state-run and private hospitals were seen walking with a fake bandages on the forehead.

"We want to convey the message that we have been injured and almost brutally assaulted. We are here to treat people," a doctor said.

As the procession moved ahead, more and more participants joined from various points.

Condemning the attack on the junior doctors, singer-songwriter Anupam Roy said: "It is a time of severe crisis and all of us want a quick solution. No doctor wants to participate in such rallies. The administration has to take steps for the betterment of West Bengal."

--IANS

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