Police officer assaults doc, SMHS staff threaten indefinite strike

Doctors at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar have threatened to go on an indefinite strike after a police officer assaulted one of their colleagues on the hospital premises on Tuesday.
Dr Owais Ahmad, a resident in the Medicine Department of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) Hospital, was beaten up by a police officer and his guards around 9.30 pm on Tuesday.
The incident triggered day-long protests at Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, and one of its associated hospitals, SMHS Hospital, today.
“Doctors, interns and medical students have decided to go on an indefinite strike till the accused police officer is suspended and an FIR lodged against all those who involved in the beating of the doctor,” said a statement issued by the Resident Doctors Association (RDA).
The strike shall be extended to involve all heads of the departments and the casualty if the demands of the doctors were not met within 48 hours, the RDA said.
Eyewitnesses said the police officer’s mother, who is running high fever, is admitted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of the hospital.
The police officer, Dr Owais said, wanted him to sit by the bedside of the patient despite repeated check-ups.
“I checked the vitals of the patient and prescribed the medication from time to time. But, the police officer wanted me to ignore other patients and sit by the bedside of his mother,” said Dr Owais, who is admitted to the Triage Ward of the hospital.
Eyewitnesses said the doctor refused to toe the line of the police officer, who later barged into the MICU along with his guards and beat him up. “They had thrashed him with gun butts for nearly 20 minutes. Dr Owais developed focal seizures, which occur when the electrical activity remains in a limited area of the brain,” said a RDA spokesperson.
Doctors alleged that they had informed the local police station, where the officers refused to register a complaint against the accused police officer.
“We are negotiating with the police and doctors. Let us hope we resolve the issue amicably,” said a GMC official.