MDCAT issue: Doctors protest spreads across country

ISLAMABAD: Doctors held protest demonstrations across the country on Wednesday against MDCAT policy and government intervention in the working of Pakistan Medical Commission.

At Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, OPDs were shut and all operations were suspended due to the protest.

The patients and people had to face extreme hardships due to strike of doctors. The young doctors association said that the policy of NLE and MDCAT is not suitable, while the lawyers are running the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) affairs which is unacceptable to doctors.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Medical Association has announced that the protest would be extended across the country if the government did not release over 200 detained doctors. It said that state violence and oppression had become intolerable and the destructive agenda of this, what they called, fascist government would not be acceptable at any cost.

Meanwhile, Young Doctors Association Punjab held a protest demonstration by closing OPD in Services Hospital Lahore on Wednesday against arrest of doctors, use of tear gas, lathi charge and police torture outside office of the PMC on behalf government against protesting doctors in Islamabad.

The traffic on Jail Road blocked, while the patients had to face extreme agony due to closure of OPD in hospital. The doctors said that the examination of NLE would not be acceptable at any shape. They said that the PMC could not get implemented its policies by using nefarious designs. They said that state torture was used against innocent doctors in Islamabad who were protesting for acceptance of their demands. They said that PMC on the issue of examination of NLE is humiliating medical students.

The doctors threatened to expand protest demonstration across the country if the government did not stop using nefarious designs and did not release arrested doctors. The protesters held agitating march on Jail Road and strongly raised slogans against government and PMC.