Patients suffer as clinics call 14-hr strike without notice

Patients in Joypurhat suffered a lot because of a 14-hour-long hartal observed yesterday.

The hartal was called by the owners of clinics and diagnostic centres in the district, protesting  arrest of a clinic owner for storing drugs without having a licence.

The 6:00am to 8:00pm hartal was called by the Joypurhat Clinic and Diagnostic Centres Owners' Association without serving any prior notice, patients and their relatives said.

Sirajul Islam, inspector of the Department of Narcotics in Joypurhat, said they seized some addictive drugs from Imu General Hospital, a private clinic in Joypurhat town, on Saturday night. The drugs had been stored without licence.

Police arrested Mukul Hossain, 40, owner of the clinic, as he failed to show licence for storing addictive drugs, and sent him to Joypurhat jail after filing a case.

Protesting the arrest, the owners held an emergency meeting on Sunday and decided to observe a 14-hour-long hartal yesterday. During hartal hours, patients were left without treatment. Most of the clinics and diagnostic centres were found under lock and key.

"Clinics and diagnostic centres deal with the lives of people, so they must follow the rules," said a doctor of a clinic.

Jashim Uddin, civil surgeon of Joypurhat, said he was unaware about the sudden strike, which caused suffering to patients of 55 clinics and diagnostic centres in the district.