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LAHORE, Sept 22: Doctors and paramedical staff of the Jinnah Hospital called off their strike on Friday after the arrest of the three people who had allegedly thrashed a lady doctor and an apology tendered by their master — a ruling party MPA.
MPA Sardar Pervaiz Hasan Nakai’s men Ejaz alias Jaji, Tanveer and Abid Husain had allegedly tortured Dr Noor Fatima on Thursday afternoon when Ejaz’s brother Allah Ditta, 25, expired in the hospital.
Allah Ditta was the son of MPA Nakai’s driver and was admitted to the hospital three days ago. He suffered from brain haemorrhage.
After the incident, the doctors and staff had stopped working for several hours and held a demonstration to protest against the thrashing of the lady doctor.
The strike caused a great deal of inconvenience to the admitted and outdoor patients. The doctors started treating the patients on Friday. However, Dr Noor Fatima did not turn up in the hospital.
“Mr Nakai has tendered an apology before the hospital administration on Friday and the attackers have been arrested by the Garden Town police so we have decided to start work,” said medical superintendent Zahid Pervaiz.
However, police sources told Dawn that as the MPA was not present on the spot so he should not have tendered the apology.
“All the three culprits have been arrested and this is enough for the hospital administration to defuse anger. But the undue protest of the house officers and students of Allama Iqbal Medical College has made the MPA to tender the apology,” they said.
It is learnt that Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, sensing the gravity of the situation, had directed Mr Nakai to tender the apology.
HEALTH MINISTER: Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed has condemned the incident and assured the Jinnah Hospital doctors that protection would be extended to them.
Presiding over a meeting in the hospital on the chief minister’s direction, he said the number of security guards had been increased in the hospitals besides deployment of police guards there to check recurrence of such incidents.
The minister said the closed-circuit television system would be installed in the hospitals immediately.
SERVICES HOSPITAL: The fate of the two injured security guards and the ward boy of Services Hospital still hangs in balance as the hospital administration is forcing them not to lodge an FIR against the five police officials who had beaten them up three days ago.
Khurram Mansha and four unidentified constables had allegedly thrashed and injured guards Resham Khan and Hafizul Amin and ward boy Jafar for not allowing their vehicle to cross the barriers. —Reporter
