Members of the Pakistani Young Doctors Association (YDA) sit on a hunger strike at their protest camp in Lahore. PHOTO: AFP
LAHORE:
The Punjab government sent the principals of three medical colleges to Services Hospital to persuade the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab to end its hunger strike, which entered its fourth day on Thursday.
Professor Mahmood Shaukat of Allama Iqbal Medical College, Professor Faisal Masud of Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) and Professor Fakhar Imam of Fatima Jinnah Medical College went to the hunger strike camp on Thursday and asked the doctors to resolve their dispute through negotiations.
After their visit, the YDA Punjab called a meeting of its General Council. A delegation of YDA leaders including Patron-in-chief Dr Hamid Butt, spokesman Dr Nasir Bokhari and Dr Usman Ayub later went to Prof Masud’s office at SIMS.
“We have sent our delegation to talk with the principals. For now, we cannot say whether or not the talks will be successful. We don’t know yet what mandate the three principals have been given. We will not call off our strike until our demands are met,” said YDA Media Secretary Dr Khurram Shehzad.
Khawaja Salman Rafique, the chief minister’s special assistant on health, said that the government had not held any negotiations with the protesting doctors because the dispute had started when YDA members had mistreated their seniors.
“We have given the seniors the authority to decide matters. If the young doctors can satisfy their seniors and the seniors believe the issue can be resolved, we would be satisfied too,” he said.
The YDA Punjab’s protests began after seven doctors were arrested for roughing up the medical superintendent of Gujranwala District Headquarters Hospital over a month ago. The association has demanded the release of the doctors and the cancellation of subsequent transfers and terminations of doctors.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2013.
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These doctors should be working like the rest of the people and not drama baazi!
These monsters have no respect for their seniors... The academic degrees of these persons should be got verified because the way they are behaving proves the allegation that most of them failed in Pakistani universities and they studied in Russia.
There is no substitute to respect. the way doctors have been treated by shahbaz sharif govt. in the last five years may have permanently scarred the profession; the bitterness will not go away easily and events will not be forgotten. Doctors have learned through acerbic experience that presenting there demands in a civilized manner does not work; this has lent credence to the hard liners who were largely ignored by majority as an undesirable reactionaries and were kept in check. Unfortunately now whenever a standoff will arise, the hawks will exert more pressure on doves and things could get ugly. In my 27 years of professional life, never have doctors been so cruelly crushed and insulted for legitimate demands. in the past, most grievances were against bureaucracy of delayed processing of cases and misplaced files, no govt. had strong armed medical profession in the past, nor have medical profession dreamt of doing that.
Drama Doctors....