End of sit-in: Sigh of relief as junior doctors call off strike

Medics end protest after negotiations with health dept, police crackdown

LAHORE: Residents of Lahore breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday after the protesting doctors announced ending their sit-in on Mall Road that had crippled routine life and businesses for the past five days.

Although the junior doctors called off their protest early afternoon, they threatened to block the road once again and boycott hospital functions if their sacked colleagues were not reinstated.

The Young Doctors Association (YDA) ended their five-day sit-in outside the CM Secretariat after successful negotiations with Mayo Hospital’s chief executive Dr Asad Aslam, who was appointed on Friday in a major decision to steer the Mayo Hospital out of crisis.

But the strike had already died out after the health authorities appointed new medics and terminated several protesters, including nurses, for not coming to hospitals. At least 15 doctors and five nurses were suspended while 30 more nurses were directed to report to the primary health care department.

Simultaneously, police also swooped down on the doctors, forcing them to pack up their makeshift tents and opening the road for traffic.

First the law enforcers asked the doctors to move from the protest site and later pulled down their tents, putting an end to the five-day-long misery of the residents of Lahore. The police also arrested the tent supplier for providing shelter to the doctors on Mall Road, where Section 144 has been imposed on assembly of four or more people.

By noon, the juniors doctors themselves announced calling off their protest with speculations the government had offered them some concessions. They half-heartedly closed down their camps with their faces showing visible signs of unhappiness.

At the press conference, however, YDA Chairman Dr Shehyar Khan Niazi said the doctors were ending their protest on humanitarian basis.

Dr Zafarullah, a spokesman for the protesting YDA faction, claimed the government had reinstated all their colleagues except Dr Niazi and Dr Mazhar Rafique, and if an impartial inquiry was conducted, they also would be reinstated. “The newly appointed Mayo chief executive, Dr Asad Aslam, is our mentor and we hope he will initiate an impartial inquiry,” he added.

An insider at the health department said the doctors’ protest had become a headache for the government. On one hand, the government was being criticised for not acting against the doctors while on the other, the authorities felt helpless on how to handle the situation without going violent, he added.

To avert the situation, the health department appointed Dr Asad, who is a well-known professor at the Mayo Hospital and is well-respected among the junior doctors. The professor played a key role in convincing the doctors to end the sit-in on Saturday as he requested them to go to hospital to carry out operations.

“We are thankful to Prof Asad for coming to us,” Dr Zafarullah said. “We have been assured of security measures, cameras, rapid response units at Mayo under the Safe City project and also that no vindictive action would be taken against doctors and nurses.”

But, he added, there would a repeat episode if their demands go unmet, “There will be another protest, another sit-in and another boycott, if our colleagues are not reinstated.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2016.