HYDERABAD, March 21: The Pakistan Medical Association has decided to observe a strike throughout the country on Friday to protest against the killings of doctors.

It has warned the government that if the murderers were not arrested and the doctors were not provided protection, a strike will also be observed on March 30 and April 6.

However, the doctors will attend emergency cases.

This was stated by the president-elect, PMA, and general secretary, PMA, Sindh, Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi, while speaking at a news conference here on Wednesday.

Briefing the newsmen about the decisions of the central executive committee, taken at its meeting held in Peshawar on Tuesday, Dr Jatoi said that during the last five years, one hundred doctors were killed while 300 doctors were either kidnapped or had fallen victims at the hands of criminals.

He said that during two moths, 13 doctors were killed in Karachi, including some specialists.

Dr Jatoi pointed out that the Sindh governor and IG, Police, had offered to provide official guard to each government doctor but, he said, this was no solution to the problem.

He said that it was the fundamental duty of the government to provide protection of life and property to the people.

He said that whenever the law and order situation deteriorated during a political regime, the army was called out to provide protection to the people. He, however, deplored that the doctors were not provided protection when the army itself was ruling over the country.

Dr Jatoi appealed to the government doctors and private practitioners to take part in the strike as decided by the central executive committee of the PMA.

He made it clear that the doctors were not against the government and that the PMA had never been involved in politics and added that all the PMA desired was that the doctors and the citizens should be protected.

He said that when doctors were being kidnapped and killed in the cities, how could they perform their duties in interior Sindh where the situation was even worse.

He said that doctors were not involved in sectarianism and they always served the ailing humanity regardless of caste, colour, creed and religion.

He appealed to the sectarian groups not to target the doctors.

Answering a question, the former director general, health, Sindh, said that the doctors could not be divided into groups and appealed to the religious groups, politicians and the people at large not to give a sectarian or ethnic colour to the killings of doctors.

He lashed out at the Sindh health secretary for transferring the doctors to far-flung areas and added that 67 posts of grade 20 had been abolished.

He demanded that the 67 posts and the old system of promotions should be restored.