PHOTO: REUTERS
RAWALPINDI: Patients at Rawalpindi’s allied hospitals suffered on Sunday as a strike by doctors, in response to the clash between the doctors and lawyers at the Pakistan Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore last week, continued for the fourth day.
Similarly, the lawyers are boycotting court hearings, creating difficulties for litigants.
The strike by medical practitioners has created difficulties for the patients including three allied hospitals of Rawalpindi.
More than 200 operations in different state-run hospitals across Rawalpindi have been delayed over the past four days as doctors continue to strike. The patients who could not afford any delays in their treatments were compelled to seek medical attention at expensive private medical facilities.
Dr Ayaz, representing a body of doctors, lamented how lawyers had walked several kilometres (km) before storming the PIC as per a set plan. “It was a conspiracy against doctors,” he said.
Asked about how long will their strike last, Dr Ayaz said that senior doctors continue to work even if the young doctors boycott duties in hospitals so that patients do not face difficulties.
Dr Ayaz said that even the chief justice of Pakistan and judges of Lahore High Court (LHC) had condemned the PIC rampage which only endorsed their stance.
Litigants who come to courts hopeful for the resolution of their problems had to turn back disappointed.
Official court figures disclosed that proceedings in some 10,000 cases, including heinous crimes such as rape, robbery, kidnapping could not be conducted owing to the lawyers’ strike.
Rawalpindi District Bar Association (DBA) Secretary-General Shehzad Mir told The Express Tribune that they are not passionate about observing strikes.
However, he went on to accuse the doctors, the district administration, the police, and the government of being unjust with them.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2019.
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