Rajshahi doctors withdraw strike until Sunday

The agony of people in Rajshahi and areas nearby for one and a half days has seemingly come to a brief stop as seven organisations of doctors in Rajshahi called off their strike until Sunday noon. Their move came on Friday night after the 'administration assured' them of releasing a physician from jail. Doctors in Rajshahi had begun their strike on Thursday afternoon after Swadhinota Chikitsak Parishad leader Shamil Uddin Ahmed Shimul was sent to jail pending trial in a case of alleged medical negligence that caused death of a patient. President of both Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) and Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad’s Rajshahi unit Dr SR Tarafder announced the break around 9:30pm Friday after a meeting of the organisations. He said, "The administration has promised initiatives to release Shamil Uddin Ahmed Shimul. The strike has been called off until 12noon on Sunday," Tarafder said. He told reporters that the administration officials assured them at a meeting on Friday evening that Shimul would be released by then. He warned of tougher agitation if things panned out differently. On Jan 29, Anwarul Haque Tipu, a businessman, had died while undergoing treatment at local Dolphin Clinic, owned by Dr Shimul, a senior physician of the orthopaedic department at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), according to bdnews24.com.