Supporters of arch-rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan gathered near the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata on Sunday evening in an unprecedented show of camaraderie to protest the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The supporters gathered outside the stadium even as a Durand Cup match between the two major Indian football clubs was cancelled amid concerns over the law and order situation.
In a rare sight, 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 in a high-voltage drama and detained some of them. Even though the police were somewhat successful in breaking the gathering initially, the protesters regrouped in small numbers a while later and continued raising slogans.
“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? 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 12 am 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 supporters of the two clubs 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.”
A senior police officer 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,” he 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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