BENGALURU: Around 250 doctors and students from Victoria, Bowring hospitals and the Bangalore Medical College (BMC) staged a march on Friday in support of Paribaha Mukharjee, a Kolkata based doctor from NRS Medical college who was attacked by a mob recently.
The attack has sparked nationwide protests and in Bengaluru, the doctors marched from the BMC to National College in Basavanagudi and then to Victoria Hospital demanding justice for doctors who face physical abuse from mobs.
“The incident has raised concerns about doctor safety. We must have a safe environment in which to function and the government must take stern action against those responsible,” said a BMC student. Meanwhile, several passersby, who heard the reason for the march, chose to join in and the crowd swelled to around 700. “How can a doctor be assaulted like this. It is not acceptable.
While this is a serious case, there are daily incidents in which doctors are attacked, even if it is verbal. Doctors must also be treated as humans,” said Dr. Sharon Fredrick, House Surgeon at Victoria Hospital.
However, the doctors said that they would not stop treating emergency patients while continuing to express solidarity with their counterparts in Bengal. The Indian Medical Association had called for a nationwide protest on Friday against rising attacks on the medical fraternity.