SOMCH hospital intern doctors go on strike
The intern doctors of Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital (SOMCH) went on a work abstention on Thursday without arranging treatment for the injured journalists, bringing medical services to a standstill and causing suffering to hundreds of patients from distant areas following the incident.
Many were seen leaving the hospital without receiving treatment. Rumours spread about the deaths of three patients on the hospital premises during the strike, though their identities could not be confirmed immediately.
Senior hospital officials, including the director and deputy director, did not respond to multiple attempts to reach them
Earlier, two journalists were injured after being attacked by intern doctors while gathering information and taking photographs of an assault on a patient’s relatives at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital.
The injured are Nibendu Talukder, reporter of Sylhet View 24, and Reza Rubel, photojournalist of Shyamal Sylhet.
They were struck on the head with a saline stand during the attack, requiring multiple stitches for both.
In protest against the attack, journalists staged a sit-in at Sylhet city’s Chouhatta point late Wednesday night.
Journalists from various media outlets and leaders of journalist organisations joined the demonstration, demanding the legal action against the attackers, examination of hospital CCTV footage, and safety for journalists during the clashes.
Leaders announced they would hold a joint meeting within 24 hours to decide their next course of action.
Addressing the sit-in at Chouhatta point, former general secretary of Sylhet District Press Club Shah Didar Alam Chowdhury Nobel said two colleagues were attacked while performing professional duties, suffering bleeding injuries that required stitches, sparking anger among local journalists.
Nobel added that assaults on journalists and harassment of patients’ relatives are frequent at Osmani Medical College Hospital, calling for an end to such practices and warning of growing public anger if a fair investigation is not conducted. He also demanded the examination of CCTV footage to ascertain the true picture.
Journalist leaders also expressed concern over the disruption of healthcare services caused by the strike, urging that patients not be deprived of treatment over disputes or protests.
Anis Rahman, general secretary of the Electronic Media Journalists Association (EMJA), said attacking journalists performing their duty to expose mismanagement is unjustifiable and called for a fair probe into the assault on the patient’s relatives.
He added that ordinary patients suffer the most when medical services are suspended, warning against holding patients hostage through protest programmes.
Nasir Uddin Ahmad, general secretary of Sylhet District Press Club, demanded an impartial investigation, identification of the culprits via CCTV footage, and accountability for the disruption of healthcare services. He noted that hospital authorities could not be reached despite repeated attempts.
According to sources, intern doctors assaulted the relatives of a patient in a hospital ward.
When Nibendu Talukder and Reza Rubel went to report and take photographs of the incident, intern doctors attacked them with a saline stand before going on strike.
Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) could not be reached immediately for comment. Hospital authorities were also unavailable for comment.
