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Police opens fire on doctors, injuring seven
CM Balochistan says govt won’t be blackmailed but will look into the matter.
CM Balochistan says govt won’t be blackmailed but will look into the matter.
QUETTA:
At least seven protesting doctors were injured, two of whom received multiple bullet wounds, and more than two dozen were arrested when police intervened in an attempt to crush their protest rally. Police officials unleashed tear gas shells and resorted to aerial firing on Tuesday forenoon causing the injuries.
Earlier, doctors took out a procession from the Sandeman Hospital intending to hold a sit-in in front of the Chief Minister Secretariat in order to press the authorities to fulfil their demands of pay raises and benefits equivalent to doctors performing their duties in the federal capital.
Police officials used force when the protesting doctors tried to break the police line preventing them from moving towards the Chief Minister Secretariat where they planned to stage a sit-in. When the protesters ignored the police warnings, the police officials lobbed tear gas shells and tried to disperse the rally.
At least seven doctors sustained injuries in the clash. Some policemen fired blank shots in the air to scare off the protesters and forced them to disperse immediately.
“Dr Bazai received four bullet wounds while Dr Umrani has sustained two bullet injuries,” sources at hospital revealed.
Protesting doctors claimed that police opened straight fire at the procession with orders to kill some of the doctors. “The police’s intentions were quite clear when they shot our colleagues,” said Dr Abdul Rashed Nasir of Young Doctors Association (YDA).
The doctors announced that all the emergency units will remain closed till today (Wednesday) 10:00 am to register their protest with the government.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has said that the government will not be blackmailed by the doctors but promised that he would look into their problems. “I have constituted a committee to look into the doctors’ demands therefore there is no justification for them to prolong the senseless strike,” he said while presiding over a high-level meeting to review the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2011.
Reader Comments (3)
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What an awful state we live in??? The rot is so extensive that Shakespeare’s, “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” quote would need to be buttressed by the awful rot that is the state of Pakistan today.Recommend
They should arrest them all! I thought doctors belonged to a noble profession, letting innocent people die doesn’t seem very noble.Recommend
Yeah. The protest in general cutting off help to people who need it isn’t anything to be proud of. Here they take an oath to help people. Even if the person does not have money they are required to help them and bill them. If they go against that oath they lose their license to practice. Under no circumstances can they refuse service. Even if the injuries show sure signs of a crime such as gunshot wounds they have to help them and report it at the same time. Not wait for one or the other. Their profession makes the morality of even a peaceful protest debatable. It sort of comes with the job, though. They chose the profession. It’s hard to call a protest peaceful when at the same time it causes death through neglect and none of them can be ignorant to the result of that neglect while protesting. It can cause grey areas but, their own morality as humans should prevent that.
Though I suppose it’s almost pointless to say it. I can see endless debate on whether or not it’s justified. But, I won’t be falling into that trap and will just say I’m on the side of the argument against their logic and leave it there.
However, that’s entirely separate from this police reaction. The fact they did it at all, regardless of who made up the group and for what purpose, can’t be justified and is plain wrong.Recommend