ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: The tension and a strike call given by the young doctors at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) turned a new turn on Sunday when the non-gazetted employees of the hospital termed it a conspiracy and said they would not join the strike.

The non-gazetted employees include paramedics, male and female nurses, clerks and other staff in the Basic Pay Scale of 1 to 16.

On the other hand, as tension continued in the hospital, its newly-appointed executive director, Prof Dr Riaz Ahmad Warraich, remained on leave, it has been learnt.

It may be recalled that the guards of a bureaucrat allegedly tortured a doctor in front of the VIP ward of the hospital on Thursday. When the Young Doctors Association (YDA) tried to have a patch-up, they were again attacked by the guards. As a result, Dr Ali, Dr Abdul Razzaq and Dr Zahid sustained injuries. Later, the YDA announced its decision to observe a strike against the incident. On Friday, the YDA members scuffled with some of the senior doctors of the hospital when the latter objected to the strike call, leaving Dr Taqi and Dr Ejaz injured.

Saleem Bashir, the vice-president of the non-gazetted employees’ action committee, at a press conference on Sunday claimed that due to ethnic and provincial considerations during the tenure of the previous hospital administration, doctors from a particular province had established their monopoly at Pims.