SWAT: The local chapters of the associations of senior and young doctors here on Thursday demanded immediate recovery of their colleague abducted in North Waziristan tribal district recently.

Addressing a crowded news conference at Swat Press Conference, they demanded immediate recovery of Dr Zeeshan, a resident of Swat, and threatened to boycott anti-polio campaign and launch protest if their demand was not met.

Dr Abdul Wasay, Dr Gulshan Farooqi, Dr Karim, Dr Aftab, Dr Farzand, Dr Javed, Dr Imran Khan, Dr Naeemullah, Dr Mohammad Riaz, Dr Zia and others were present on the occasion.

They said that Dr Zeeshan was performing duty in connection with anti-polio programme in Mirali when he was kidnapped by unidentified persons on Tuesday.

“The mysterious abduction of Dr Zeeshan has caused unrest not only among his family members but also among the healthcare providers. Dr Zeeshan has not been traced so far. It is a matter of great concern,” they said.

They demanded of the government to recover the abducted doctor without further delay.

The doctors said that effective measures should be taken to provide protection to health professionals.

“If government cannot provide protection to the doctors, who are serving the suffering humanity, then what steps it will take for the welfare of the people,” they questioned.

They said that Pakistan was already a sensitive country in terms of polio. They said that doctors and other health workers were working hard to eradicate polio from the country.

“At present, three cases of polio have been reported in Pakistan while only one case has been registered in Afghanistan. The abduction of the doctor working for polio eradication will convey a negative message to the world,” they added.

The doctors said that government should take concrete steps to recover their abducted colleague and take the kidnappers to justice otherwise health workers would boycott the anti-polo campaign.

They also threatened to launch protest in the country if government failed to recover the kidnapped doctor.

They said that they would soon chalk out plan for launching protest.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2022