'We want justice': RG Kar protest reaches Ladakh peak

KOLKATA: The 'Justice for RG Kar' campaign reached new heights, quite literally, as mountaineers from a north Kolkata trekkers' association scaled 6,400-plus-metre Kang Yatze peak in Ladakh and unfurled a poster there demanding justice for the trainee doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at the medical hospital on Aug 9.

The mountaineers also raised the Tricolour at Kang Yatze. Climbers regard this peak as one of the toughest mountaineering challenges in the world.

The team of six members comprising leader Pradip Chakraborty, Ranadip Adhikari, Biswajit Biswas, Shampa Oraon, Shyamal Acharya and Ashoke Sarkar from Kamarhati Trekkers' Association, started the expedition from Kolkata on Aug 21. At Ladakh, they set up their base camp number 1 and 2 in Markha Valley on Aug 28 and 29 respectively. They finally summited the first peak of Kang Yatze at 6.30am on Saturday. On Sunday, the team reached the base camp in Leh-Ladakh. "It was sheer joy to reach the top after 8.5 hours of climbing. We were determined to unfurl the banner reading 'We Want Justice' on the snow-clad Himalayan peak. But at the back of our minds, there was apprehension about the descent - 900-odd meters down without food and water," Ranadip Adhikary told TOI from Leh-Ladakh camp. The descent took an additional five hours.

The mountaineers' effort to highlight the cause at such a significant altitude adds a symbolic resonance to the ongoing movement.

"As investigations continue, the demand for 'Justice for RG Kar' grows louder, echoing not only on the streets of Kolkata but now also from the heights of the Himalayas. I couldn't participate in this expedition but encouraged my colleagues after our association decided to dedicate this journey to the RG Kar victim," Arup Saha, member of Kamarhati Trekkers' Association told TOI.


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