Doctors back to work at Khanauri farmer protest site hours after complaining of harassment
Nine doctors alleged harassment and verbal abuse by hunger striker Jagjit Singh Dallewal, whom they are deputed to take care of by the Punjab Government, other farmer leaders and ‘media personnel’.
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According to the Government, nearly 55 senior and junior doctors have been deputed at the Khanauri border within a 1 km radius of the protest site and they work in three shifts. (File)Hours after complaining to the medical superintendent of Rajindra Medical College and Hospital, Patiala, regarding harassment and verbal abuse they allegedly faced at the hands of protesting farmers at Punjab’s Khanauri border, the doctors resumed their duties at the site on Wednesday.
Nine doctors submitted a letter complaining about persistent harassment and verbal abuse by farmers and “media personnel”. The letter named Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for close to two months, and his supporters as the perpetrators of multiple incidents of verbal abuse.
The doctors also wrote that they could no longer continue their duties at the Khanauri border because of the repeated incidents. Despite their concerns, they returned to duty later in the day.
In the afternoon, Dr Jagpalinder Singh, Civil Surgeon of Patiala, came to Khanauri to interact with Dallewal, other farmer union leaders and the medical team. Dr Singh, while talking to The Indian Express, said, “The matter has been sorted out and now all the doctors have come back to Khanauri. The issues between the doctors and the farmers have been sorted out.”
But farmer union leaders had a different account. Kaka Singh Kotra, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union Sidhupur, said, “On the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, a junior doctor had come to give IV fluid to Dallewalji. The doctor wasn’t even able to locate a vein, and it caused bleeding in the arms of Dallewalji. Hence, we asked Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh if it was possible for the Government to provide medical help. Otherwise, we can arrange private doctors, we told him.”
Kotra added that private doctors had administered IV fluids to Dallewal that midnight.
According to the Government, nearly 55 senior and junior doctors have been deputed at the Khanauri border within a 1 km radius of the protest site and they work in three shifts. About eight-nine doctors remain present near Dallewal’s stage round the clock, in addition to staff at a temporary hospital set up in a restaurant about 1 km away and staff in two acute life-saving ambulances.
Dr Swaiman Singh, a US-based cardiologist whose 5 Rivers Heart Association has provided medical assistance to Dallewal, said, “If the Punjab Government is unable to provide proper care, I am prepared to fly to India myself to support the farmers. Neglecting your responsibilities is unacceptable. The letter written by doctors is a clear violation of medical ethics and simply another tool to defame farmers.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, when his hunger strike entered its 58th day, Dallewal was shifted to a modern, spacious, and well-ventilated trolley-cum-temporary room near the stage to ensure proper light and air. He has been on IV fluids since midnight on January 18.
Farmers have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders since February 13 last year, seeking legally guaranteed minimum support prices for crops, among their 12 demands.
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