Demanding protection: Swat hospitals remain shut as doctors protest

Demonstrators urge Dr Taqweem be recovered within a day.

SWAT:

Around 100 members of the Provincial Doctors Association (PDA), paramedic staff and class-IV employees protested against the kidnapping of doctors and closed outpatient departments along with all private clinics in Swat valley on Saturday.

The protest, which lasted from around 10:45am to 11:30am, was led by PDA Swat President Dr Liaqat, president of paramedic staff Riaz Ali Shah, and president of class-IV employees association Rahimullah. The march started from Saidu Teaching Hospital towards District Headquarters Hospital Mingora, with demonstrators chanting slogans against the government for not taking measures for security of doctors.

Addressing the protesters, Dr Liaqat said the government has failed to provide security to doctors in particular and health department employees in general.

Dr Liaqat rejected the government’s idea to allow them to carry weapons, saying, “Are doctors going to serve humanity or walk around with guns to protect themselves from kidnappers?”

Dr Liaqat, along with other protesters, demanded the government to take practical steps to provide security to them. They said if the government fails to recover Dr Amjad Taqweem within 24 hours, they would launch a massive protest in which they would close all hospitals in the district. They also said no health department official would attend duties, and that private clinics and medical units would remain shut.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2013.