KARACHI, April 26: In an unprecedented show of solidarity on Friday, doctors from all the teaching hospitals in Karachi coordinated peaceful demonstrations outside their respective institutions to register their concern at the targeted killings of doctors and lack of government will towards bringing the situation to an end.
At about 11 a.m. doctors wearing black arm-bands held congregations outside their workplaces, where they expressed apprehension at the routine targeted killings of doctors in the city and the apparent lack of inclination on the part of the government to curb the trend.
They stressed that such a situation was immensely detrimental to doctors morale and they were working under great pressure fearing for their lives.
Faculty members, doctors and paramedical staff of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health held a combined rally at the JPMC premises.
The speakers at the rally slammed the city administration for failing to make any headway in tracking down the killers of Dr Amir Muavia and some 70 other doctors who have been killed in the city over a course of two years.
It was strongly felt that mere rhetorics by the government and police functionaries were not enough in easing the growing unrest among the medical professionals, many of whom, disheartened by the prevailing situation, are now opting to work and live in other countries. They also demanded adequate compensations for the families of the slain doctors.
The rally participants blocked one side of the main hospital street for about ten minutes and dispersed after reentering the hospital from the second gate.
At the Dow Medical College and the Civil Hospital, doctors and paramedical staff held a meeting at the Arag Auditorium. The meeting, besides demanding arrest of Dr Amir’s killers, also called for improving the safety situation of doctors. Afterwards, a rally was also taken out, which blocked the main M. A. Jinnah Road for some time before dispersing peacefully.
A rally was also taken out from the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, in which the hospital doctors, paramedical staff and the faculty of the Karachi Medical and Dental College participated in large numbers.
The rally condemned the trend of the targeted killings of doctors and demanded an immediate end to the situation. It also demanded arrest of the killers and exemplary punishments to them. The rally remained at the Nazimabad 7 roundabout for some time.
The doctors at the Aga Khan University Hospital and the Liaquat National Hospital also wore black arm-bands and demanded effective security measures for doctors. They also demanded immediate arrest of the killers of Dr Amir. The faculty members and doctors of Ziauddin Medical University, Hamdard Medical University also participated in the protest.
Peaceful protest demonstrations by the doctors and paramedics were also held at the Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, the Sindh Government Hospital New Karachi, Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases and the Services Hospital, where the members of the MQM Medical Aid Committee also participated in condemning the targeted killings of doctors.