Kolkata citizens’ collective write open letter to Mamata demanding women’s safety in the State

The collective, Nagorik Chetona, has written an open letter to several high ranking members of West Bengal administration asking for policy and structural changes to ensure better safety for women

A collective of citizens comprising filmmaker Aparna Sen and organisers of Reclaim the Night protests during R.G. Kar movement have written an open letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the security of women in the State. The collective, Nagorik Chetona, asked for policy and structural changes within the system to ensure better safety in light of the rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor four months ago. 

Thousands of protest marches had erupted across West Bengal after the brutal crime came to light. The protests have slowly fizzled out over the last two months even as the verdict against the prime accused in the case Sanjay Ray remains to be delivered. The citizens collective in Kolkata refused to let the issue die down as they highlighted that the doctors’ death pointed towards a lacuna in the system. 

Veteran filmmaker and actor Aparna Sen and founder of Nagorik Chetona said that the National Crime Records Bureau recognised Kolkata as a safe city but the number of domestic violence cases, acid attacks, and dowry deaths is still surprisingly high. She added, “We think that the West Bengal is safe State for women, but there is a gap between reality and the perception. We are not demanding that anyone resign. This is a charter of demands to the Chief Minister and other heads of administration asking for changes in the system.” 

“We demand some structural changes and, from this collective, we have sent a set of demands to Chief Minister,” Rimjhim Sinha, of the leaders in the Reclaim the Night initiative, said at the press conference. 

Together, the citizens collective which consisted of representatives from various walks of society like artists, filmmakers, musicians, social workers, activists, lawyers, doctors, and others shared multiple suggestions to help improve the system. 

Some of the primary suggestions included the demand to start complete implementation of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, comprehensive police reforms, awareness campaigns, improving legal awareness and gender sensitisation in schools, and safe public transport for women. 

The open letter addressed to the Chief Minister was signed by 50 people including filmmaker Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, social scientist Partha Chatterjee, former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar, actor Konkona Sen Sharma, and many more.