Journos allowed in DMCH at last

Dhaka Medical College Hospital authorities and journalists yesterday submitted applications to withdraw the four cases filed against each other over Wednesday's incident in which interns assaulted at least eight newsmen.
The move was made following a tripartite meeting on Thursday with Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif as the mediator.
Senior officials of the hospital including its director and doctors' association leaders, and journalist leaders around 8:30pm yesterday went to Shahbagh Police Station and separately asked for withdrawal of the cases.
Following Wednesday's incident, journalist leaders filed two cases with Shahbagh police. On Thursday, doctors lodged two cases against journalists over the same incident and with the same police station.
However, even though the hospital authorities at that meeting lifted the restriction that the journalists need to take prior permission before entering the hospital, they were not allowed before 9:00pm yesterday.
Throughout the day, many journalists from different newspapers and television channels were asked by the security guards at the emergency department gate to take permission from the resident physician (RP) of the section. However, as the RP was not at his office, journalists failed to get. They could not enter the hospital through four other gates.
The journalists were allowed in after 9:00pm, Azim Uddin Chowdhury Bulbul, DMCH correspondent of ABC Radio, told The Daily Star. “We entered the hospital without permission shortly after 9:00pm as we asked police for withdrawal of the cases we filed against the doctors over Wednesday's incident,” he added.
Mushfiqur Rahman, deputy director of DMCH, yesterday told The Daily Star that some junior doctors did not accept the authorities' decision. “I hope that we will be able to convince them soon,” he added.
The restriction on journalists was imposed on July 22 following a news item published in national dailies and telecast on television channels about the alleged assault of a patient by a doctor.
Doctors of the hospital also assaulted journalists several times following the news. On Wednesday, interns harassed journalists when the patient, the alleged victim of July 19, went to the journalists' office at the hospital to share his experience.
The doctors also locked the gate of outdoor section of the hospital Thursday morning.
Regarding this, Mushfiqur said, “We will try to resolve the problem through discussion with the doctors and open the outdoor section tomorrow (today) morning.”