CHATTOGRAM Medical College Hospital Interns Association went on indefinite time work abstention on Friday morning protesting attacks on some of their fellows by a faction of the medical college unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). The association leaders said that they would continue their protests until the perpetrators were punished. They also said the injured are undergoing treatment in the hospital.
Media reports in a national newspaper said the clash occurred as Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury paid a visit to the hospital and provided some medical supplies for Covid-19 patients in the morning. Soon after his return followers of him and those of Chattogram city AL general secretary AJM Nasir Uddin locked into a clash on the hospital premises, leaving at least fifteen activists of both the factions of BCL, five intern doctors and three policemen injured
In CMCH, BCL is divided in two factions — one pledges its loyalty to Chattogram city branch Awami League general secretary AJM Nasir Uddin and another to Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury Nowfel.
CMCH authorities have said that they ran the hospital in Covid-19 crisis without interns, so the strike would not hamper the treatment of Coronavirus patients. The hospital authorities, however, have asked the striking interns to abide by the rules so that general patients in the hospital do not suffer. Chawkbazar police on Friday afternoon arrested 11 students in connection with a case filed by an intern doctor on the previous night. The factions got into clashes on Thursday night and on Friday morning. Police placed all them belonging to Nowfel group to a court that released them on bail.
It is to be noted that clashes and internal feuds in the BCL, student’s wing of ruling Awami League (AL), have become a common phenomenon since the incumbent government took office in early 2009 and they have remained undaunted and often indifferent to the directives of their mentors. They do not subscribe to BCL or AL philosophies. We hope that stern actions against the ‘rowdy BCL elements’ must be taken and implemented.
