Sikder doctor suspended

The authorities of ZH Sikder Women's Medical College Hospital today suspended its doctor Shafiul Azam on charge of assaulting Prothom Alo Special Correspondent Shishir Morol.

Maj Gen (retd) Bijoy Kumar Sarker, principal of the medical college, confirmed it to The Daily Star.

Asked about the allegation that Shafiul, being a government doctor, is continuing his job at the private hospital, the principal said the authorities were investigating the matter.

The hospital authorities came up with the action a day after Shafiul, head of the cardiology department, and a hospital staff, Sufian, held Shishir captive for hours and assaulted him yesterday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMCD) served a show cause notice asking the hospital to explain how it has recruited a government doctor, Shafiul.
It also sought explanation on how the hospital authorities appointed him as professor when he is an assistant professor at Chittagong Medical College and Hospital, said BMDC president Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin.

The executive and disciplinary committees of the BMDC will sit at 11:00am tomorrow to decide the fate of Shafiul, he said.

Meantime, journalists formed a human chain in front of National Press Club in the capital and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to arrest the two attackers.

The journalists under the banner of Health Reporters Forum also demanded the authorities concerned to cancel the registration of Shafiul.

“If we don’t see any government action within the given time, we will declare tougher movement in consultation with other journalist forums,” said Towfiq Maruf, president of the forum.

After the human chain, they submitted a memorandum containing five demands to the State Minister for Health Zahid Malek and Health Secretary MM Neazuddin at their Secretariat office.

The state minister assured them of taking legal actions against the doctor, Towfiq told The Daily Star after submitting the memorandum.

The other demands include formation of laws banning frequent strikes by the doctors, withdrawal of restrictions on journalists’ entry into the hospitals and punishment to the doctors who denied medical care of a photojournalist at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital recently.

Shafiul and Sufian allegedly slapped and kicked Shishir and confined him to room-101 until 12:45pm from 10:30am yesterday.

Shishir was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University yesterday afternoon.

In a case filed with Hazaribagh Police Station yesterday, Shishir said he had gone to the hospital to investigate an allegation that Shafiul had been working fulltime at Sikder hospital without taking leave from CMCH.  Earlier, when he had sought comments on the matter from Azam over the phone, the doctor asked him to meet him at the hospital.

“Accordingly, I went to interview the doctor,” Shishir told The Daily Star.

Shishir somehow managed to make a call to his colleagues, who informed Hazaribagh police of the matter. Sub-Inspector Shukhen rescued Shishir from the hospital.