Doctors’ strike enters Day 4, spreads to other cities

Three days after Kolkata doctors began their agitation on mob attacks, the protests spread to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Raipur interrupting medical services provided at some of the premium hospitals in those metropolises.

Resident doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi are on a token strike for the day disrupting the out-patient and diagnostic services. They were joined by their counterparts in Maulana Azad Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital.

Doctors at Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad; Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Raipur and North Bengal Medical College, Siliguri too are on protest in solidarity with the junior doctors at NRS Medical College in Kolkata.

The NRS doctors went on strike since Tuesday after a 200-plus mob attacked the doctors on duty following the death of a 75-year-old patient. The mob broke the skull of one of the doctors who underwent surgery at a nearby hospital. A second doctor was also injured.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has not spoken anything so far against the mob attack but threatened the agitating doctors with consequences if they didn’t resume duty. Her warning, however, fell on deaf ears as the doctors not only refused to kowtow but also sought an apology from the Chief Minister for her comments.

While the deceased individual happened to be a Muslim, BJP leader Mukul Roy alleged that the principal reason behind the administrative inaction and Banerjee’s silence stemmed from the fact that the majority of the members of the mob were Muslims – a recognized vote bank of Trinamool Congress.

Banerjee, on the other hand, blamed BJP for choreographing the agitation and accused the saffron party of playing Hindu-Muslim politics. But much to her discomfort children of two TMC leaders came out in the open in support of the NRS doctors.

Even before the Kolkata incident, attack on doctors following the death of a patient was commonplace in Indian hospitals.

That’s why the agitation at NRS Medical College in central Kolkata appears to have struck a chord with doctors not only in the eastern state but also in other cities across the country.

Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors observes a one-day strike in solidarity. “We are shutting down our OPD, ward and academic services from 8 am to 5 pm on Friday. Emergency services will not be hampered,” it said in a statement.

Indian Medical Association too supported the doctors. It asked its state branches to wear black badges and organize protests in support of Bengal doctors. It also demanded a central law against such violence.