By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI- Terming the alleged involvement of the incumbent president of PMDC (Pakistan Medical and Dental Council) Prof Masood Hameed and three others in the murder case of Dr Zubair Khan `a serious blot on their character’, PMA has demanded a transparent probe against all the accused nominated in the FIR lodged on a court order.
Moreover, the PMDC chief, who is also a vice chancellor of a public sector medical university, should voluntarily quit his posts until investigation was completed, the PMA secretary general, Dr Mirza Ali Azhar stated at a news conference along with a former PMDC member Dr Shershah Syed at Karachi Press Club.
Accusing the federal minister for health services of trying to protect `murderers’ of Dr Zubair, they demanded her resignation.
They also appealed to Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif and Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt-Gen Rizwan Akhtar to save the PMDC from vested interests and treat those who were destroying this important national institution as `enemies of the state’.
At the outset, they urged the Interior Ministry to put the names of all those nominated in the FIR registered against the PMDC officials in the murder case on the Exit Control List (ECL) and try the case in military court.
Voicing concern over the alleged killing of Dr Zubair, both the PMA leader and former PMDC member said: “Up till now PMA was fighting targeted killing of the doctors on sectarian basis or by the criminals involved in extortion and kidnapping, but very recently a case of murder of a young innocent doctor was reported in the media.”
Divulging into details, they said that Dr Zubair Khan, who did his graduation from China, came back to Pakistan last year and wanted to get a practising licence by appearing in a test conducted by PMDC. He was contacted by one Mr Ajmal who asked him to pay Rs1.5 million and assured him that he will be successful in the exam and get the practising licence.
Quoting from a statement of Dr Zubair’s father (distributed among newsmen at the press conference), Dr Azhar said that the doctor’s father told the police that he along with two of his sons met some PMDC officials and paid them the money they had asked for. “But a few days later a group of PMDC officials met Dr Zubair and demanded Rs400,000 more and threatened him of dire consequence if he informed about this exchange of money to anyone, ” the PMA leader quoted from the statement.
Elaborating, Dr Azhar said that Dr Zubair was somehow taken out to hospital where he was injected some drug. The doctor lost his life. Now the FIR is registered on the court order against Masood Hameed, Amjad, Ajmal and Iqbal Khattak, while two more names - Dr Imdad Khushk and Dr Shaista – are also allegedly involved in the case,” he added.
The PMA leader further stated that in the past the people were concerned about stories of financial corruption and mismanagement in the PMDC affairs. “Now a murder case is registered against the sitting president of PMDC and his front men.
“Enough is enough”, Dr Shershah Syed remarked, saying the fraternity did not trust the ministry of health services and the federal government has miserably failed in addressing the issues plaguing the PMDC since long.
“It looks like that the ministry of health services is not trying to solve this mystery, instead it is protecting the criminals and suggesting to have a dialogue with them to settle the long standing issues of PMDC,” he said, adding dozens of cases pending in the apex court are yet to be heard and decided.
Elaborating, Dr Syed said that although PMA has always demanded PMDC’s restructuring in accordance with the rules and regulations, the people ruling the roost didn’t care for anything. They are flouting the rulings of Supreme Court with impunity, not paying any attention to the recommendations of the National Assembly Standing Committee as well as that of Ministry of Health, he added.