By IANS
Hyderabad : Intensifying their protest against the alleged assault by a legislator, the junior doctors here Monday took out a massive rally demanding a legislation to provide protection to them.
About 3,000 junior doctors from different parts of the state took out a rally to press their demands, including for action against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislator Afsar Khan, who allegedly attacked them at the Niloufer Children’s Hospital here.
Under the banner of Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJDA), the doctors staged the rally from Sundaraiah Park to Indira Park.
The APJDA leaders demanded that the government immediately bring an ordinance to provide security to the doctors at all government-run hospitals.
Meanwhile, the strike by the junior doctors, who are demanding the arrest of the legislator and his disqualification from the assembly, entered its ninth day Monday, as the medical services at the Niloufer Hospital remained paralysed.
The strike is said to have resulted in the death of 29 children at the hospital since Dec 2. The hospital authorities, however, claimed that the deaths were normal and that the senior doctors were providing medical services.
The legislator, who represents Karwan constituency in the state capital and was also involved in the attack on controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen here in August, was said to have assaulted doctors during an argument over the alleged negligence in treatment of an MIM worker’s daughter Dec 2.
Afsar Khan was arrested on charges of assaulting the doctors but was released on the same day.
The state government had rejected the doctors’ demand for booking a case of attempt to murder against Khan. However, on a petition by a doctor, a lower court Dec 6 directed the police to book the legislator and 29 others for attempt to murder.
The junior doctors are continuing their strike despite a warning by the High Court that it would recommend cancellation of their registrations if they failed to resume their duties.
The court said the doctors’ strike was unjustified as it resulted in loss of several lives. Agreeing that the attack on the doctors by the MIM cadre was also improper, the bench told the doctors to approach it for justice.