As protests rage, RG Kar case may become Mamata's hour of reckoning

Like an avalanche that starts small and then picks up volume and terrifying speed as it thunders down, it was a small Facebook post by research student Rimjhim Sinha that has now triggered widespread protests against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rule in West Bengal.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

The innocuous post had given the call to "reclaim the night" in response to the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar College and Hospital on the night of 9 August.

"When we celebrate the independence of the country, I would like to celebrate my independence as a woman and reclaim what is ours the city, night, public space that patriarchal forces would rather throw us out of," Sinha wrote in her post.

The gatherings at 11:55 pm on 14 August, originally planned at three Kolkata locations-College Street, the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Jadavpur 8B Bus Standexpanded by the evening to other parts of Kolkata and towns such as Siliguri in the north and semi-rural Canning in the south.

A striking poster depicting a red hand holding a crescent moon against a night sky went viral on social media and galvanised people across the globe.

Lakhs of women, and men, participated in numerous demonstrations across Kolkata, Salt Lake, other districts, cities and countries, including Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Patna, Silchar, Poland, Scotland, Munich, London, Leeds and Atlanta, vociferously seeking justice for the victim of the heinous crime at RG Kar.

In Kolkata, the mood was electric.

The rallies reverberated with slogans like "the night is ours" and "meyera, raat dokhol koro (girls, take control of the night)," as women united to reclaim their right to safety and security during the night and sought freedom from fear with demands like secure all-night transport system for women and marginalized gender and safe resting rooms for professionals working at night.

Even the midnight rain on the marching women and men failed to dampen their spirits.