Faculty members participate in PIMS protest

Islamabad :Deviating from their plan to assemble at D-Chowk, protesters demanding the separation of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) from the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) continued their protest within the hospital premises on Monday, with the OPD affected by a three-hour token strike, and elective surgeries resuming as usual.

The 8th day of the protest saw faculty members Dr. Iqbal Memon, Dr. Mazhar Badshah, and Dr. Hashim Raza also becoming part of the consultative committee for restoration of PIMS. With the government taking its time to resolve the issue, the determination of the protestors is solidifying with the participation of faculty members who have traditionally remained disassociated with the movement.

The protestors took out a rally from the PIMS administration block to the Nursing College, chanting slogans for restoration of PIMS to its original status, minus SZABMU. Students and paramedics of the Nursing College joined the rally as it returned to the starting point for a sit-in.

Addressing the protesters, the spokesman for the All Employees Movement for Restoration of PIMS Dr. Asfandyar said, “It’s been four years now since we embarked on this struggle. The Federal Ombudsman recommended the separation of PIMS from SZABMU but nothing was done. Similar observations were made by the Higher Education Commission and even the Supreme Court, but the government is adamant in its obstinacy,” he said.

Dr. Asfandyar alleged that the VC of SZABMU spends most of his time in the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) and is involved in hatching a conspiratorial action plan against the protesting medical, paramedical and non-medical staff. “We urge the VC to play a positive role in affecting the separation of PIMS from SZABMU. The time for action plans has lapsed; it is now time for action only,” he stated.

Other speakers reiterated the one-point agenda of the protestors, demanding either passage of the amendment bill in the current session of the National Assembly or the separation of the two entities through an ordinance. “Our struggle in its defining stage; we will not be deceived this time,” they categorically stated.

The speakers said, doctors of PIMS have always given utmost importance to patient care but the government buys time from them each year and then resorts to deception. This tactic is no longer acceptable. “Our strike will get bigger and stronger, and we will inch closer to the National Assembly later this week if the government does not budge,” they expressed.