THE strike of young doctors in Balochistan has reached a deadlock. Despite many rounds of discussions, the negotiations between the government and young doctors ended in a stalemate. The ultimate sufferers are the people and the underprivileged class of society.

The reasons for this deadlock are not difficult to fathom. On the one hand, it shows the provincial government’s lack of technical and administrative skills to negotiate and, on the other hand, it is the obduracy of the young doctors to stick to their demands.

Protest is a democratic right but not at the cost of people’s suffering. More distressing is the fact that the supporters of this strike have been found on their private clinics and medical centres for lucrative reasons, ignoring the ethics of medical profession, ie, service to humanity.

Although the forcible closure of OPDs by young doctors has been criticised by everyone, the doctors’ indifferent attitude bordered on blackmailing. This behaviour on the part of doctors is contradictory to the the call of their profession. It is time the deadlock was broken for the greater good of people.

Aziz Siyal
Dera Murad Jamali

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2016