As midnight struck and India stepped into its 78th Independence Day, males, ladies, political leaders, and celebrities poured onto the streets, crossings and thoroughfares throughout West Bengal searching for justice and speedy investigation into the alleged rape and homicide of a lady physician at R G Kar Medical School and Hospital in Kolkata.
The individuals who hit the streets holding candles had responded to a name for protest on social media, described as ‘For ladies’s independence on the midnight of Independence’. The sound of conch shells reverberated amid the sombre temper of those that “reclaimed the night time.”
Variations have been washed away, communities amalgamated and even members of TMC pledged their assist to the protest. Slogans like “Justice for R G Kar”, “The Evening is Ours”, “Reclaim the Evening”, “Meyera Raat er Dhokhol Koro (Girls seize the night time)”, “Meyera Raat er Dokhol Nao… Sankha Dhonite Bhoriye Dao (Girls seize the night time… fill it with the sound of conch shells) have been circulated on WhatsApp.
Initially, three places have been named for the gathering — School Avenue, Academy of Effective Arts, and Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand in Kolkata, however when the second arrived, aside from these places, individuals got here out of their properties and bolstered the protests in Garia crossing, Park Circus Maidan, Naktala Nabapally, Behala Sakher Bazar, Shyambazar 5 Level Crossing, amongst others.
Whereas younger college students and juniors had sparked the protest at RG Kar Medical School and Hospital, senior residents felt the identical despondency and joined the ocean of younger with candles and placards. Political social gathering flags have been banned.
Rimjhim Sinha, the motion’s initiator, described the occasion as a “new freedom battle for girls”, symbolised by a viral poster of a pink hand holding a crescent moon.
As night time descended, the town was awake and alive to the unprecedented protest as individuals provided water to protesters and a trip residence. The cry for justice additionally resonated within the metropolis’s neighbourhood until Siliguri within the north and Canning within the south.
At Biswa Bangla Gate in New City, individuals may hardly confine themselves of their properties, and created a sea of sunshine and willpower. The scenes beamed a sense that the town was prepared to make sure that justice was achieved to one in all them. Related scenes unfolded in Serampore, Chunchura, Santiniketan, Krishnanagar, Bardhaman, Siliguri, Barasat, Barrackpore, Rajarhat-Newtown, Cooch Behar, and Jalpaiguri. At Sealdah station, the protest noticed an surprising however heartening addition – pavement dwellers joined in, with some ladies blowing conch shells as a strong image of resistance.
Amidst the ocean of protestors, Lilly Banerjee, an aged lady from Patuli, expressed her deep concern for her daughter’s security and her disbelief at having to take part in such a midnight protest on the eve of Independence Day.
“I couldn’t sleep after listening to in regards to the horrific assault on the younger medic. My daughter is about the identical age and works in Pune. I fear for her security day by day,” she mentioned. In Diamond Harbour, 1000’s of girls sang Tagore’s “Aguner Parashmani”, holding cellular torches excessive.
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