On the back foot: Doctors decry spike in kidnapping cases
Demand provincial government to ensure their security.
Dr Kamran Amir and Dr Mujahid Bangash were kidnapped at gunpoint within the last three months and are still missing. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
A doctors association in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday criticised the provincial government over the recent increase in kidnapping cases involving doctors, who frequently receive threatening letters.
In a meeting organised by Malgari Doctors Forum at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), participants condemned the failed kidnapping attempt on senior doctor Professor Dr Abdul Hamid. The kidnappers tried abducting Hamid from Dabgari Garden late Monday night, but were not successful.
During the meeting, doctors said the government had failed to protect doctors. As a result, those serving in K-P and the tribal areas felt insecure, they added. Participants demanded immediate steps be taken for the protection of their lives.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Malgari Doctors Forum President Adil Shah Roghani said the attack on Dr Abdul Hamid, who works at Amman Hospital in Dabgari Garden, was not the first one. He said two doctors – Dr Kamran Amir and Dr Mujahid Bangash – were kidnapped at gunpoint within the last three months and are still missing, with no clue as to their whereabouts. Dr Amir was serving at North West Hospital while Dr Bangash was the Agency Surgeon for Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar.
Another meeting of the Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) was held in this regard at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) under the chair of PDA Chairman Dr Shah Sarwar. Dr Sarwar said most of the senior doctors were receiving threatening letters from kidnappers. Due to this, many were on leave or had left the country, he added.
Dr Sarwar said a “grand meeting” would be held in the first week of November wherein a future plan would be discussed and an ultimatum would be given to the government to recover the abducted doctors within a stipulated timeframe.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2013.
A doctors association in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday criticised the provincial government over the recent increase in kidnapping cases involving doctors, who frequently receive threatening letters.
In a meeting organised by Malgari Doctors Forum at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), participants condemned the failed kidnapping attempt on senior doctor Professor Dr Abdul Hamid. The kidnappers tried abducting Hamid from Dabgari Garden late Monday night, but were not successful.
During the meeting, doctors said the government had failed to protect doctors. As a result, those serving in K-P and the tribal areas felt insecure, they added. Participants demanded immediate steps be taken for the protection of their lives.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Malgari Doctors Forum President Adil Shah Roghani said the attack on Dr Abdul Hamid, who works at Amman Hospital in Dabgari Garden, was not the first one. He said two doctors – Dr Kamran Amir and Dr Mujahid Bangash – were kidnapped at gunpoint within the last three months and are still missing, with no clue as to their whereabouts. Dr Amir was serving at North West Hospital while Dr Bangash was the Agency Surgeon for Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar.
Another meeting of the Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) was held in this regard at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) under the chair of PDA Chairman Dr Shah Sarwar. Dr Sarwar said most of the senior doctors were receiving threatening letters from kidnappers. Due to this, many were on leave or had left the country, he added.
Dr Sarwar said a “grand meeting” would be held in the first week of November wherein a future plan would be discussed and an ultimatum would be given to the government to recover the abducted doctors within a stipulated timeframe.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2013.