Author: Radha Sharma
Publication: The Times of India
Date: April 11, 2002
"All Hindu doctors are warned that
they are not safe practising in Muslim-dominated areas. They are thus requested
to stop practising in such areas and also in minority trust-run hospitals
with immediate effect". This message issued by the Ahmedabad Doctors' Forum,
which has about 100 active members in the city, came as a direct fallout
of the attack on Dr Amit Mehta, who was repeatedly stabbed in his clinic
in Juhapura on Tuesday.
The incident has sent shock waves
through the medical fraternity.
"In the past too, Hindu doctors
practising in Muslim-dominated areas like Jamalpur and Gomtipur have been
fatally attacked. And yesterday's attack on Dr Mehta should serve as a
warning to Hindu doctors to quit practising in Muslim areas," ADF founder-
member Dr Bharat Amin told TNN.
Already, Hindu doctors are reluctant
to go to Muslim areas where their hospitals and clinics are located and
this attack on one of their colleagues has only compounded their fears.
"The uncertainity and insecurity is becoming too much. I have been practising
in Shahpur for the past 30 years, but will I be able to trust my patients
now?" asks Dr KR Sanghvi. Sanghvi had resumed seeing patients only a few
days ago after having stayed away from his clinic for the better part of
the month.
Dr Amit Mehta has understandably
decided to give up his practice of 23 years and shut shop. "I have treated
Muslim patients for more than two decades and this is what I got. I have
escaped once, but my family does not want me to risk my life again," Mehta
told TNN from the hospital bed where he is recuperating.
While Mehta stresses that his case
should not be generalised, an example is already being made of him. "Fear
is looming large that we will be similarly attacked. In such a situation,
we urge the government to provide us security for practising in such sensitive
areas," says president of the 200-member strong Vejalpur-Jivraj Medical
Circle, Naresh Shah.
Shah said more than 50 doctors practising
on the Vejalpur- Juhapura border have been forced to shut shop due to unprecedented
tension.
It needs mention here that it is
Hindu doctors that are mostly practising in Muslim areas what with Muslim
doctors constituting a mere 2-3 per cent of the 5,000-odd medical practitioners
in the city.
"Our job is most difficult. In emergencies
we have to work at nights. If we go, we run the risk of being soft targets
and if we don't, we tend to incur the wrath of locals. The situation is
getting more precarious by the day," says a gynaecologist couple practising
in Dariapur and Shahpur.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Medical
Association too met on Wednesday to discuss the fallout of the attack on
the doctor. "We condemn this communal attack on a doctor who was giving
selfless service to society without discrimating between Hindu and Muslim
patients and stress that government provide security to doctors," said
AMA president Bipin Patel.
To this, health minister Ashok Bhatt
said, "The attack on the doctor should be treated as an attack on humanity.
The respective communities should take responsibility and ensure that doctors,
who have been serving the society without discrimination, are safe. The
request for security by any doctor will be considered by the government
and addressed."
Even doctors from the minority community
have condemned the attack and said this would result in a negative fallout
for the community. "Such assaults may result in a negative impact for a
community that is largely dependent on Hindu doctors for treatment," said
Al Amin Hospital medical superintendent Dr Siddiqi Kazi.
Significantly, there are 82 Hindu
doctors attached to Al Amin, of which only three have continued their services
after the riots broke out. The hospital is reportedly seeking services
of doctors from other states now.
