NAROWAL: Doctors and paramedics of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Shakargarh held a protest on Thursday against the assault on the medical superintendent by influential persons for not providing them with protocol. They blocked the road and demanded the arrest of the suspects.

MS Dr Mujtaba Ali said that at the end of his morning shift on Wednesday, when he went home but at 6:30pm, he received a phone call from the chief executive officer health Narowal and was told to check a patient in the emergency ward.

He went back to check the patient, accompanied by one Adil, a man having political backing as well as connections with security institutions.

The doctor prescribed medicines and tests for the patient. When he was leaving for home, Adil asked him to open a special room for him. When he was told that there was no special room at the hospital and that he should sit in the waiting area or next to the patient, Adil started abusing him.

Later, Adil and the unidentified persons who were accompanying him started slapping and punching the MS who was rescued by doctors, paramedics and other patients’ attendants. The MS called the police helpline but the suspects fled the spot before the police arrived.

Shakargarh City Police Station registered a case against seven people, including Adil, on the complaint of Dr Mujtaba.

On Thursday, the hospital’s doctors and nurses held a demonstration against the incident and blocked the road by parking an ambulance on it. They raised slogans for immediate arrest of the suspects. Long queues of traffic were formed on both sides of the road due to the double road blockade. Police reached the spot on information about the road blockade.

The deputy superintendent of police assured the protestors of the arrest of the suspects and convinced the protesters to end the protest. After the protest, the doctors and paramedics resumed work at the hospital.

Later, a meeting, held under the chairmanship of Dr Muhammad Riaz, the president of Shakargarh chapter of Pakistan Medical Association, condemned the incident and demanded the CM and IGP take notice of it.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025