DAB suspends Dr Zahid

The Doctors’ Association of Bangladesh (DAB) has suspended the membership of Dr Zahid Hasan over the beating of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Professor Kazi Ahmed Zaki at his office on Wednesday.

The incident took place around 11am at the IEDCR office, where CCTV footage reportedly showed eight to 10 people entering the director’s room, pulling him from his chair and assaulting him.

According to sources in the director’s office, activists of the BNP-leaning DAB formed a mob and carried out the attack.

The Ministry of Health has formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident and directed it to submit a report within five working days. DAB has also issued Dr Zahid a show-cause notice, asking him to respond within 48 hours. The notice informed him of the suspension of his membership.

Dr Zahid Hasan is the joint legal affairs secretary of DAB’s central executive committee, while both he and Professor Zaki are life members of the organisation, DAB Secretary General Zahirul Islam Shakil said earlier.

Calling the incident wrong, Shakil said the organisation would adopt a zero-tolerance policy and take organisational action if the attack had been carried out using DAB’s name or influence.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Dr Shafiqur Rahman condemned the attack in a post on his verified Facebook page around 4pm on Wednesday.

He said entering the director’s office and assaulting him was an act of audacity and a criminal offence that required proper investigation and trial.

“If such a mob can be created so recklessly in broad daylight even within a specialised, highly educated section of society, one can imagine which way the country is heading,” he wrote.

Referring to the recent vandalism and looting at Radda Medical Centre, Shafiqur said the latest incident had added another dark chapter to the history of healthcare in Bangladesh.

He warned that repeated incidents of violence would further undermine the country’s already fragile healthcare system and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

After the attack, Professor Zaki said the incident had taken place inside a government office and called on the government to take action.

“I have been attacked here. This is a government office. Since a government office has been attacked, the government will take action,” he said.