Doctors protest over alleged harassment of healthcare professionals by police

Inquiry ordered into Hawal incident, police facilitating movement of thousands of medicos every day: SSP Srinagar

Doctors at Super Specialty Hospital (SSH) here on Tuesday held a token protest against alleged harassment of healthcare professionals by police.

Holding placards which read, “They may stop us, beat us, strip us, arrest us, but we will always be there for you,” the doctors stood in the hospital premises to protest against the harassment of Dr Syed Maqbool, interventional cardiologist and DrShabir, a resident at hospital’s Urology department.

DrMaqbool, , who was allegedly assaulted and detained, said the protest was to “express resentment over the unruly behavior”.

The doctor said he faced misbehavior in Hawal area on 23 May while he was on his to hospital. “We leave home for essential service, sans which many people may die,” he said, adding he expects police to understand it.

The cardiologist said he was on-call duty and expected to attend to heart-attack patients and those with other cardiac complaints.

“When I later reached the hospital, there were three patients who needed immediate cardiac procedures,” he said, adding that he performed those procedures, helping save their lives.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Haseeb Mughal said an inquiry has been initiated into allegations leveled by the doctor of SSH against the police personnel manning the post.

“Our job is to filter people based on their category – essential, emergencies, permitted and violators,” he said.

He said police was ‘facilitating movement of thousands of medical professionals every day and at the same time augmenting the prevention of spread of COVID19 by ensuring lockdown’. “Without both, hospitals would collapse,” he said.

Meanwhile, a video of Chief Medical Officer Bandipora went viral on social media in which he is seen arguing with police personnel on a road after being allegedly stopped from proceeding ahead. “We risk our lives to stop COVID19,” the CMO is heard saying.

Many doctors’ bodies expressed anguish over the ‘misbehavior’ meted out to the doctor amidst COVID19 pandemic.

Faculty Forum SKIMS Medical College Hospital termed the behavior of “some policemen” as “irrational and distressing”. Medical Faculty Association (MFA) of Government Medical College, Srinagar also condemning the incident.

“Despite directions by the government to ensure smooth and unhindered movement of medical professionals during lockdown period, such incidents are taking place,” the Association said and called these incidents as “intolerable”.

Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of GMC called the scenario detrimental to “morale of whole fraternity, which in these testing times is working selflessly in the service of humanity”.

Doctors Association Kashmir “deplored” the incidents where “three doctors who were on duty, were harassed and manhandled by police” while announcing “black band protest” across J&K on Wednesday.