Kolkata's Big-3 demand restoration of Durand Cup semifinals, final in city

In an unprecedented event, Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting set aside their rivalry to demand justice for the 31-year-old trainee postgraduate doctor who was rapped and murdered at the city's RG Kar Hospital.

While addressing a joint press conference at the Calcutta Sports Journalist Club at Maidan, the three clubs also appealed on Monday for the restoration of Durand Cup matches in the city.

The Durand Cup organising committee cancelled last Sunday's derby between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal after the West Bengal government and the police raised 'security concerns' in the wake of widespread protest and rumours that fans of both clubs would launch a massive protest against the horrific incident.

Mohun Bagan and East Bengal were awarded one point each and as per the revised quarterfinal fixtures, the two teams will play their knockout matches in Jamshedpur and Shillong respectively.

On Sunday, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan fans assembled at the Salt Lake Stadium premises and staged massive demonstrations. The police had lathi-charged and detained many fans but released them later, with fans protesting before the prison van.

Mohun Bagan captain Subhasish Bose and AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey were among the notable names who had joined the protest.

A day after the protest by the fans, the secretaries of the three clubs - Debasish Dutta of Mohun Bagan, Rupak Saha of East Bengal and Ishtiaq Ahmed of Mohammedan Sporting - addressed the joint media conference and expressed their hope that the Durand semifinals and final would take place in Kolkata as per the original schedule.

“It’s indeed a historical day for Kolkata Maidan, the Big Three clubs are speaking together for the first time. The derby is past now. We are now requesting the administration that the Durand Cup semifinals and final should be held in Kolkata,” Rupak read a statement, that has the signs of the three top officials.

“We will request our all fans to fully cooperate with the administration so that the match is conducted peacefully. As responsible football clubs of India, we also request CBI and all other investigative agencies that our sister ‘Tillotama’ (RG Kar victim) get justice soon and culprits get severe punishment. We also extend our sympathies to the family of the RG Kar victim. In this fight, we are together without any political influence,” it added.

Capital punishment for the culprit: Ahmed

Ahmed of Mohammedan Sporting said, “Not only justice, we want capital punishment for the culprit.” The postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the RG Kar MCH on August 9. The incident has since snowballed into a national movement."

“First and foremost, we all want justice. Durand Cup was shifted from here, but we want to say that you cannot abolish sport from Kolkata. We have conveyed the same to the sports minister (Arup Biswas). We all want to see match and our fans will peacefully watch the match,” said Dutta.

East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar said: “Lathicharge on our fans should not have happened. We will always stand by our fans. We are not here to judge the state administration. Club is our identity. The AIFF is our mother organisation and the head (Kalyan Chaubey) was there at the protest, representing all of us."