Kidnapped doctor: PMA Balochistan boycotts all hospitals

Hundreds of doctors took out a rally from Civil Hospital Quetta and gathered at Zarghoon Road.

QUETTA: Pakistan Medical Association’s (PMA) Balochistan chapter has announced a full boycott of all hospitals on Monday to put further pressure on the government for the immediate recovery of kidnapped eye specialist Dr Saeed Khan and other missing doctors. Dr Khan was kidnapped on October 16 from Quetta’s Sariab Road. Since his kidnapping, PMA has declared a strike in all state-run hospitals throughout the province. Hundreds of doctors, led by PMA Balochistan President Dr Sultan Tareen, took out a rally from Civil Hospital Quetta and gathered at Zarghoon Road which leads to the Governor House and the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. Police shelled the protesting doctors with teargas when they tried to stage a sit-in outside the Governor house. Several doctors were arrested following the clash with police as well. Subsequently, notable doctors in the city called a press conference condemning the shelling and arrest of doctors who they maintained were protesting peacefully.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2012.