Kidnapped employee: Doctor’s association to strike today

“The government has failed to provide us security,” says PDA Spokesperson.

PESHAWAR: The Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) is set to hold a strike today (Saturday), asking for the release of their kidnapped colleague. Dr Abdul Aziz, a senior registrar and neurosurgeon at Ayub Medical Complex, was kidnapped with his driver on October 24. The strike aiming to pressurise the government to take immediate action will be held at the Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex. Justifying the strike, PDA Spokesperson Dr Amir Taj told The Express Tribune that judges and lawyers would protest in the same way if their colleagues had been kidnapped. “The government has failed to provide us security,” he added. PDA President Dr Abdul Qadir Khan also said that it was their constitutional right to protest. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Special Secretary for Health Prof Noorul Iman said that it was unreasonable for doctors to ask for security outside hospitals and showed concern about the disruption of medical facilities due to the strike.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2012.