The Hindu : Front Page : Political twist to Niloufer tangle

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Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007
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Political twist to Niloufer tangle

City Bureau

Demand for registration of attempt-to-murder case against MIM legislator

Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Anxiety writ large: Vijayashanti carrying a sick child at Niloufer Hospital on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: The Niloufer junior doctors’ stir demanding action against MIM legislator Afsar Khan appeared to be taking a political turn on Tuesday with politicians of different parties rushing to the hospital, even as the two-day agitation headed for a stalemate with both the sides remaining stubborn on their stands.

While the Telugu Desam Party supported the cause of doctors and criticised the government for what it termed as “total insensitivity” to people’s sufferings, actress-turned politician Vijayashanti of Talli Telangana party staged an impromptu demonstration against the doctors and entered into heated arguments with hospital authorities questioning their rationale in continuing the strike.

Vijayashanti made a dramatic entry into the hospital and sat on dharna holding a sick child in her lap. Shouting at the top of her voice, the actress charged into the hospital and began arguing with the authorities alleging that injustice was being meted out to Telangana. She demanded payment of Rs. 2 lakh ex-gratia to parents of children who died during the strike period. TDP legislators Payyavula Keshav, E. Dayakar Rao and others demanded that a non-bailable warrant be issued against Mr. Khan and security stepped up at hospitals.

The Niloufer agitation found support from resident doctors of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences and the A.P. Government Doctors’ Association (APGDA). Though the two bodies did not announce a strike, there was enough indication that they would not hesitate to call for a strike, if the Government failed to concede the demands of Niloufer junior doctors. The nursing staff of Government Hospitals too threatened to strike work and wore black badges. The central issue to the agitation continued to be registration of an attempt-to-murder case against Mr. Khan and his supporters. However, the police maintained that neither the complaint with them nor the three statements recorded by police had components that would attract the provisions of Section 307 of the IPC. “We are investigating the case. If the probe reveals any such component, we shall certainly alter the section of law,” Central Zone DCP Md. Iqbal told reporters on hospital premises. It was a day of hectic activity on Niloufer campus, where mediamen were barred entry. Disputing the media reports on spate of deaths of children, district Collector R.V. Chandravadan maintained that “only” seven children died from Monday morning to Tuesday morning. “From 9 a.m to 4 p.m on Tuesday, five children died,” hospital authorities maintained.

Effigy burnt

Earlier, the junior doctors in Gandhi and Osmania hospitals staged protest meetings in support of their colleagues in Niloufer. They marched to the office of the A.P. Vaidya Vidhana Parishad at Koti and burnt an effigy before staging a brief demonstration there.

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