Intern doctors observe daylong strike in Sylhet

Intern doctors of all medical college hospitals in Sylhet observed a daylong strike yesterday, seeking punishment for a Bangladesh Chhatra League activist for intimidating a female physician of Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital.

Since morning, intern doctors of Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital, Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College and Hospital, North-East Medical College and Hospital, and Park View Medical College and Hospital abstained from work.

However, emergency and other regular medical services of the medical colleges were not hampered as other doctors were on duty.

Interns at Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital gathered at their premises, holding placards demanding punishment for the BCL activist while other medical college hospitals’ intern doctors joined the protest.

The medical college authorities filed a general diary yesterday with Sylhet Kotwali Police Station about the incident. Dr Muhibur Rahman, registrar of the medical college who filed the GD, said police told him the incident may be recorded as a case after investigation.

According to witnesses, Sarwar Hossain Chowdhury, a former senior vice president of Dakshin Surma upazila unit of Chhatra League in Sylhet, took a patient to the hospital on Thursday evening. He was flanked with some 15 followers.

He asked the female doctor to treat the patient in their presence. However, the physician on duty asked them to wait outside and make room for doctors to facilitate the treatment, which left Sarwar agitated.

Sarwar threatened the duty doctors identifying himself as the president of Sylhet city unit BCL. At present there are no Chhatra League committees in the district and in the city. In a video of the incident, he was seen shouting and threatening to kill and rape the doctor.

Contacted on Friday, Sarwar Hossain Chowdhury said, “It was a misunderstanding with the duty doctors, as I was anxious because of my friend’s illness. They [doctors] rejected to treat him until we were out of the hospital. Hopefully the matter will be resolved through discussion.”

Dr Ferdous Hossain, director of the hospital, said, “They behaved like criminals but we are not… so we continued our services.”