Police, Grand Health Alliance activists clash over entry to ‘high security zone’ in Lahore

LAHORE: The police and employees of the government hospitals clashed on The Mall on Monday when the former tried to stop the latter from entering the high security zone where the international cricket players and other VIP guests were staying.

The clash left some protesters as well as the policemen injured.

The protesters, including the young doctors, had announced on Sunday to take out the rally under the banner of the Grand Health Alliance (GHA) and stage a sit-in outside the Chief Minister House.

The young doctors alleged that the police used force, tortured the protesters, including women, and arrested some of them. The police high-ups claimed that the protesters used syringes and knives they had brought from the hospitals, and injured some law enforcers. They said the employees were asked to avoid using the road leading to the high security zone, which led to the physical clash.

YDA stops entry of policemen to all public hospitals

The eyewitnesses said a part of The Mall from Charing Cross to the Alhamra Hall remained the battleground as both sides clashed, throwing the traffic out of gear even on the smaller adjoining arteries. The motorists and the traders faced a great deal of inconvenience in the day-long tense situation. However, a group of the charged protesters managed to reach the Club Chowk where they staged a sit in.

There were reports that the Young Doctors Association Punjab led the Monday’s rally and intensified agitation when the health department terminated and transferred many young medics for instigating the employees of the state-run hospitals for the strike in the outpatient departments (OPDs). YDA Punjab chairman Dr Salman Haseeb and president Dr Shoaib Niazi were also among them who faced terminations and transfers made by the health department.

Following Monday’s tense situation, the YDA Punjab banned the entry of the police personnel to all the government hospitals across the province. It also announced to postpone all kinds of surgeries of the patients and warned to go on strike in the indoor wards of the public hospitals of Punjab.

There were reports that the GHA postponed the agitation at the Club Chowk and reached back to the Charing Cross after Monday evening.

The YDA Punjab president has given a 48 hours deadline to the government to start negotiations with the employees protesting against outsourcing of the state-run hospitals. If the negotiations do not start, the employees would close down all the indoor wards of the public sector hospitals across the province.

Talking to the media persons late on Monday, Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique alleged that the employees of the government hospitals took the law into their hands, used knives and sharp surgical equipment to attack the police.

He said that the young doctors turned violent rather than being peaceful and used the women employees of the hospitals as shields to reach the high-security zone area, which was declared sensitive by the law enforcement agencies following the movement of the international cricketers playing the PSL in Lahore.

After the threats of the YDA, the health minister announced that the professors would run the OPDs from today (Tuesday) as the government would not tolerate interruption of healthcare services to the poor patients.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2025