Prohibitory orders in parts of Kolkata for puja carnival amid doctors’ stir

With the Durga Puja Carnival set to begin on Tuesday, the Kolkata Police has banned any rally or gatherings of more than five people in Red Road and its adjoining areas for one day amid protest calls by the BJP and junior doctors agitating over the trainee doctor’s rape and murder at RG Kar hospital.
According to an order issued by Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, it has been feared that some people and organisations want to hold a protest in the areas around Red Road, where the carnival will be held.
“Due to this, there is a strong possibility of people not being able to attend the Durga Puja Carnival. In view of this, Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) (Power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) has been implemented for one day in the areas around Red Road,” the order said.
About 3,000 policemen have been deployed for the Durga Puja Carnival. Entry of goods vehicles on Red Road has been closed and the roads connected to it will also be shut for today. Watch towers have been set up at various places in Red Road where the entire area will be monitored.
The West Bengal government has been holding the Durga Puja Carnival since 2016 to mark the culmination of the state’s biggest festival. About 100 Durga Puja committees will participate in the carnival and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be present.
Meanwhile, a rally will be taken out by the BJP from College Square to Esplanade under the leadership of Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, with a call for boycotting the carnival.
“It will be without any party flags, and we request people to join us as it is being organised for the safety and security of women in the state,” Adhikari said.
Junior doctors who are holding a hunger strike over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar hospital have announced a peaceful protest by forming human bonds in the areas adjacent to Red Road.
The ‘fast-unto-death’ by junior doctors in West Bengal to press for their demands in the wake of the RG Kar hospital incident entered its 10th day on Monday, even as the health condition of two more medics deteriorated, one of whom has been hospitalised, officials said.
Currently, seven doctors are on a ‘fast-unto-death’, including a junior medic from the North Bengal Medical College’s ENT department, who joined the strike on Monday.
The hunger strike, which began on October 5, followed nearly 50 days of ‘cease work’ in two phases. Their agitation started after the trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.