Patients, litigants in Multan suffer as doctors, lawyers observe strike

MULTAN: Patients and litigants on Thursday faced numerous problems as doctors and lawyers observed strike against each other following the Lahore incident.

On the call of the Pakistan Medical Association, doctors observed strike against lawyers’ aggression at Nishtar Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital, Mian Shahbaz Sharif Hospital, Children Complex and rural health centers. Hundreds of patients faced problems due to the strike.

The PMA office-bearers said that the Lahore incident showed that there was no writ of the government. They demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan remove the police officials for their failure to handle the situation and protect the lives of innocent patients.

Meanwhile, the PMA held a protest meeting, which was chaired by association district president Prof Dr Masoodur Rauf Haraj. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rauf said that the Lahore incident was highly condemnable. He said that the incident had raised questions over the alleged poor performance of the Punjab government.

He said that the government remained failed in analysing the gravity of the situation. He demanded the government immediate promulgate the security bill to prevent the occurrence of such incidents in the future.

He demanded strict security measure at Nishtar Hospital, Nishtar Institute of Dentistry, Multan Institute of Cardiology, Children Complex and tehsil headquarters hospitals. Dr Abbas Naqvi, PMA Punjab vice-president Rana Khawar Ali, Prof Dr Amjad Bari, Prof Dr Abid Kanju, Dr Khurram Leghari, Dr Ali Waqas, Dr Zubair, Dr Sheikh Abdul Khaliq, Dr Imran Rafiq and Dr Zulqarnain Haider also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, lawyers observed complete strike in Multan against the arrest of their colleagues in Lahore on the call of the Punjab Bar Council. The lawyers boycotted the courts, creating problems for the litigants.

Senior lawyers were of the view the roots of the Lahore incident linked to an incident which took place in November when some doctors allegedly tortured a lawyer. The matter between the lawyers and the doctors was moving towards reconciliation peacefully but all of a sudden the situation went deteriorated after the Young Doctors Association allegedly posted a controversial video on social media.

Meanwhile, the District Bar Association held a protest meeting which was chaired by its president Nazim Khan. The meeting strongly condemned the arrest of lawyers and demanded their immediate release.

Senior members of the DBA, including Habibullah Shakir, Naveed Hashmi, Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig, Malik Irshad Rasool, Malik Tariq Saeed and Asim Pervez Khan, also spoke on the occasion.