Several junior doctors vowed to continue with their cease-work and intensify the protest in the coming days while some others betrayed discomfiture about the toll of a renewed strike on common people going to government medical colleges and hospitals for treatment.

Divergent voices emerged from a mass rally and demonstration called by junior doctors in the heart of Calcutta on Mahalaya, seeking justice in the rape and murder of the 31-year old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

Thousands of people, junior and senior doctors and citizens, walked in the rally from College Square to Esplanade on Wednesday.

“If need be, we will go to Delhi and raise our voice. We have given an ultimatum to the state government. But the pressure must also be kept on the CBI. If we have to lift the cease-work, it will only be because of the common people,” Debashis Halder, senior resident at Medical College Kolkata and one of the faces of the protest, told the demonstration from a dais on Rani Rashmoni Avenue.

Barely an hour earlier, an intern at RG Kar told Metro: “There is no question of ending the protest unless our demands are met. We will intensify the protest in the coming days.” He received a loud applause from fellow protesters around him.

The rally started from College Square and culminated with the demonstration at Esplanade, which saw speeches and songs of protest.

From Esplanade, a large section of the protesters went to Babughat where they lit diyas as a mark of protest.

The call for the “mega rally” was given by the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front. But the participants came from different walks of life. The rally saw a turnout of over 5,000 people, police sources said.

Amrita Bhattacharya, a junior resident in the ENT department of Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan, is nursing a fractured left foot. Surrounded by comrades, she was walking with a stick.

“Cease-work seems to be the only way to make our voices heard. It is unfortunate but true. We had returned to work. But look what happened after that. From Rampurhat to Diamond Harbour to Sagar Dutta to RG Kar, there is no end to attacks on junior doctors. How can we return to work in an unsafe workplace,” she said.

Junior doctors across all government medical colleges and hospitals in the state went on a complete cease-work from Tuesday morning, nine days after they had resumed work in essential services after a 42-day strike.

A day ago, quoting the lawyer representing the junior doctors, the Supreme Court had put on record that “… all doctors have resumed duties and shall perform essential services including IPD and OPD”.

At a convention at Jadavpur University on Wednesday, several prominent citizens urged the protesting junior medics to return to work.

“No matter juniors or seniors, we doctors have a sense of responsibility. They (protesting junior doctors) have this sense. That made themstand with folded hands, braving the showers, in front of the chief minister’s home... So, today... I would tell them, ‘please think, your movement is not against people’.This threat culture... it is a problem by the doctors because of the doctors on the doctors,” said cardiothoracic surgeon and public speaker Kunal Sarkar.

Jawhar Sircar, who recently left Trinamool as a mark of protest, said: “If the junior doctors go for a complete cease-work, they must think over it. A complete cease-work will take a toll on people. There can be several forms of protest. I am not for once saying that the protest should end, but its impact on common people must be considered.”

The Indian Medical Association (National), the biggest body of doctors, has also said that junior doctors should go back to work.

Going into the cease-work again, the junior doctors had iterated a set of demands. Justice without delay in the form of a protracted judicial process tops the list.

In the rally, the protesting doctors had different opinions on what justice meant for them.

Aniket Mahato, a postgraduate trainee of anaesthesiology at RG Kar and one of the faces of the protest, said he was “well aware that the judicial process would take time”.

For now, justice was linked to a speedy probe, he said.

“We want an update on the probe. Fifty-five days have passed since the horrific incident. We know nothing on the motive of the crime as of now. Or the number of persons directly involved in it. The CBI is silent. If the agency has proof that more than one person was involved, then they should make more arrests. Otherwise, the agency should clearly say that only one person was involved,” said Mahato.

Parichay Panda, postgraduate trainee at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan, said: “The probe is now in the hands of the CBI and the Supreme Court. But what is stopping the state government from meeting the rest of our demands? It can be done in a single order. We will end the cease-work the next moment.”

Poulomi Sarkar, a doctor at a private hospital off EM Bypass, said justice would, in the immediate future, mean the state government delivering on the promises it made to make government hospitals safer.

“The government made several promises, following which the junior doctors returned to work. But as it turned out, the government has failed to deliver, forcing us to hit the streets again,” said Poulomi, an alumnus of RG Kar.

A paediatrician at a private hospital in Alipore said the cease-work should be called off immediately.

“I am fully supporting the cause of the protesting doctors. But another long cease-work is not the solution. Their movement has so far received widespread public support. But if the cease-work continues, they might lose public support. They should go back to work and continue the protest in other forms,” said the doctor, who joined the rally on Central Avenue.

For much of Wednesday afternoon, the south-bound flank of Central Avenue was taken over by a sea of black heads and giant protest banners.

When the head of the rally was near the intersection of BB Ganguly Street and Central Avenue, the tail was near Mahajati Sadan, almost 1.5km away.

“Ei micchile haantche kara, ami tumi abar kara (Who is walking in the rally. Me and you, who else),” thundered one pocket of the rally. “Jobab tomay ditei hobe, noile godi chharte hobe (Either give answers or leave the seat of power),” roared another.