Police on Wednesday baton-charged young doctors protesting in Quetta and arrested more than a dozen after they marched towards the city’s Red Zone where staging rallies and protest sit-ins is banned.
They were demanding an improvement in the conditions of government hospitals, provision of medicines for patients as well as the installation of modern medical equipment. The protesters also criticized what they called a government’s attempt to privatise government healthcare facilities by introducing health cards.
Members of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Balochistan chapter, joined by paramedical and nursing staff associations, took out a rally from Sandeman Provincial Hospital towards Red Zone. However, police stopped the protesters on Anscomb Road and a clash erupted between the two sides. Talking to a private television channel, SSP Operations Quetta Abdul Haq said that around 20 to 25 protesters had been taken into custody for “violating” law and order.
He said that the arrested doctors had been moved to a nearby police station and legal action would be initiated against them. Haq said that Anscomb Road had been cordoned off due to the protest, adding that traffic police diverted motorists to alternatives routes to prevent gridlocks. Meanwhile, Dr Rahim Khan – a spokesperson for YDA Balochistan – said that at least 10 doctors had sustained injuries during the incident while more than 50 had been arrested.
He said that the doctors injured during the clash with police officials had been shifted to the Trauma and Emergency Centre of the Quetta Civil Hospital. The YDA has been protesting since last year against what it has called the government’s plan to privatise public hospitals under the guise of health cards. In October, the association had boycotted outpatient departments at government hospitals and called the government’s move to introduce health cards a “conspiracy”.
In November, 19 people, including several doctors, were arrested for staging a protest sit-in and blocking roads linking the city’s Red Zone with its other areas. However, the FIR against them was later withdrawn by the Balochistan government.
Last month, the YDA had warned that it would boycott emergency services in all government hospitals across the province if its demands were not accepted within 48 hours.
