Supporters of the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan football clubs shout slogans as they protest condemning the rape and murder of a trainee medic at a government-run hospital, in Kolkata.
Kolkata: The three century-plus old football clubs of Kolkata -- Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting -- came together for the first time on Tuesday to demand justice for the R G Kar Hospital rape and murder victim and also made an appeal to bring back the Durand Cup tournament to the city.
Sunday's Durand Cup derby between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal at Salt Lake Stadium was cancelled fearing "security concerns" in the wake of the widespread protests against the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Despite the "abandonment", thousands of fans from the three clubs came together for the first time as violent protests erupted outside the Salt Lake Stadium, forcing the police to resort to lathicharge before detaining several supporters.
Two days after the incident, the three clubs' secretaries -- Debasish Dutta (Mohun Bagan), Rupak Saha (East Bengal) and Ishtiaq Ahmed (Mohammedan Sporting) -- addressed a joint media conference and hoped that the Durand semifinals and final would be held 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," Saha read out the statement that had 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.
We want capital punishment: Mohammedan Sporting
Mohammedan Sporting's Ishtiah Ahmed 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.
Despite widespread protests by fans on Sunday, officials from the three clubs were notably absent, fuelling accusations of bias towards the state government, which provides them financial support.
"We were not sleeping on that day. I had given my statements to the media and were in talks (with the authorities) so that the match returns to Kolkata," said Dutta on the allegations.
"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," he added.
"We tried our best so that Durand returns to Kolkata. Our matches have been shifted to Jamshedpur and Shillong. We have put this to Durand organising committee. We are hopeful that this will return," Dutta said.
India defender and Mohun Bagan captain Subhasish Bose, accompanied by his wife Kasturi Chetri, and All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey were also part of the protest march.
East Bengal official Debabrata 'Nitu' 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," Sarkar added.
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.
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are in the opposite end of the draw and could meet in the final.