Fight for justice, but keep treating people

The horrendous rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last week, coupled with the reported machinations of the police, and vandalisation of the hospital by unidentified goons over this week, must be condemned in the strongest possible manner. Anger across India's civil society is palpable and understandable.

Public spaces like hospitals have been found to be unsafe for women. What's more, the authorities' ability/willingness to go beyond lip-service and the motions has been brought into question. However, the call for an India-wide day-long strike on Saturday, or on any other days, is not the right response. The strike will disrupt medical services across public and private hospitals, inconveniencing many people in a country where getting reliable and affordable medical care is already a challenge. Many patients and caregivers in Kolkata have already been affected and forced to travel distances to get proper and timely treatment. While they will support the doctors' cause and larger workplace safety issues for women, inconvenience beyond a threshold could actually make the general public less sympathetic towards them. This would be unfortunate.

Strikes, much like tariffs, are, for practical purposes, a levy on the consumer. In most cases, the target - in this incident, the West Bengal administration - gets away relatively unscathed, with countless ordinary citizens ending up as collateral. Rather than disrupt services, agitating doctors should dehyphenate their strike from their very legitimate protests and sensitise the public on why they have been forced to take to the streets. The fight for justice must be pursued, but not at the cost of the well-being of citizens.