By dubailife 
On Sunday, junior doctors across many Indian hospitals continued their strike demanding justice for a colleague who was raped and murdered, even after the end of a 24-hour strike organized by the country’s largest doctors’ association.
In the past week, doctors nationwide have staged protests, candlelight marches, and refused to treat non-emergency patients following the murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate student in chest medicine early on August 9 in Kolkata.
Women activists argue that the incident at the historic R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital underscores the ongoing plight of women in India, despite stronger laws enacted after the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi.
The victim’s father, who cannot be named under Indian law, expressed gratitude for the support, stating, “My daughter is gone but millions of sons and daughters are now with me. This has given me a lot of strength and I feel we will gain something out of it.”
While India has made significant changes to its criminal justice system, including harsher sentences, since the 2012 attack, activists claim that progress has been insufficient in deterring violence against women.
The Indian Medical Association, whose strike ended at 6 a.m. on Sunday, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that hospital staff, who make up 60% of India’s doctors, are protected by security measures similar to those at airports. “All healthcare professionals deserve a safe and secure work environment,” the association wrote in a letter to Modi.
The government has called for doctors to resume work to address rising cases of dengue and malaria while it establishes a committee to enhance protection for healthcare workers.
Most doctors have resumed their duties, though Sunday is typically a day off for non-emergency cases. “Doctors are back to their routine,” said Dr. Madan Mohan Paliwal, head of the Indian Medical Association in Uttar Pradesh. “If the government does not take stringent actions to protect doctors, we might consider halting emergency services.”
However, the All India Residents and Junior Doctors’ Joint Action Forum announced it would continue its “nationwide cease-work” with a 72-hour deadline for a thorough investigation and arrests.
Dr. Prabhas Ranjan Tripathy, additional medical superintendent at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhubaneswar, noted that junior doctors and interns have not resumed their duties, adding, “The demonstrations are ongoing, and the reduced manpower is putting pressure on others.”
R.G. Kar Hospital has been the center of protests for over a week. Police have imposed a ban on gatherings of five or more people around the hospital and have deployed riot gear to maintain order.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal justified the restrictions to prevent “breach of peace and disturbances of public tranquility.” On Sunday, Reuters reporters observed no doctors at their usual protest site near the hospital gates, likely due to rain.
Source : Khaleejtimes