New Delhi: Renowned filmmaker Aparna Sen on Friday requested chief minister Mamata Banerjee to talk to junior doctors who are protesting against an attack on an intern.

"Dear Chief Minister, you are our guardian. You are like our mother. You are senior to these young doctors. Please take care of them," said Sen during a visit to NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Sen earlier said that she won’t accept any more state awards as a mark of protest.

The assault on junior doctors following the death of a patient over an issue of alleged negligence at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College in Kolkata left the intern, identified as Paribaha Mukherjee, seriously injured. The strike, which was initiated there, has spread to medical institutions across the country.

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The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on June 12 also directed to all its state branches to stage protests and wear black badges on June 14. The AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association has urged the RDAs across the country to join the token strike.

Patients are also facing a lot of issue due to the protests. “My sister was supposed to go for eye surgery. She has a tumour in one of her eyes. We reached the hospital as per the given time but the room was locked. The staff at the hospital said that the doctors are on strike. I don't know what when this strike would end," said Mohammed Arif, a resident of Delhi.

Santosh Kumar also narrated his ordeal and said due to a strike they are forced to take treatment for his mother from a private hospital and being a poor he cannot afford it.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Thursday, while condemning the "recent incidents of violence", urged patients and their caregivers to exercise restraints. The minister also assured that he will take up the matter with the chief ministers of states so that such incidents can be avoided in the future.