The incident took place at Sahiwal Civil Hospital, Punjab. According to Yousaf Masih Gill’s complaint, doctors denied him urgent surgery for religious reasons. One health worker said: “If I had known before that you were a Christian, I wouldn’t have touched your father.” The family protested and the health management apologized.
Sahiwal () – A new incident, with dramatic implications, of religious intolerance at the Sahiwal Civil Hospital, in Punjab, highlights once again the discrimination suffered by minorities in Pakistan. Hospital doctors, who should be entrusted with the task of saving lives, have been guilty of serious clinical negligence, as well as hatred towards other fellow citizens simply because of the faith they practice. The complainant is Yousaf Masih Gill, whose father, seriously ill and fighting for his life, was subjected to “unprofessional and discriminatory” treatment by medical staff.
According to Yousaf Masih’s account of the events that occurred on October 1, a Muslim doctor at the hospital made a chilling statement to the family asking for help: “If I had known before that you are Christians, I would not have touched your father.” This comment, loaded with religious prejudices, reflects a terrible level of discrimination that violates not only professional ethics, but also fundamental human rights.
The son then added that when he and his family entered the doctor’s room, they were shocked to see all their colleagues participating in a game of Parchisi (Ludo) during working hours. Desperate for help, Yousaf Masih ended up asking them to treat his seriously ill father, but they replied with disdain: “We are playing. We’ll see about it later.” This blatant disregard for a patient’s life reveals extreme negligence and a gross abuse of professional responsibility.
Also outside the hospital was Babu Nadeem, a Catholic catechist and brother of Yousaf Masih, who organized a protest along with dozens of people when he learned that his father had been denied the operation. “My father is struggling with death and has to endure immense pain and agony, but the behavior of the doctors is rude to the patients. “We go to hospitals – he continues – to receive medical care and we believe that we can be treated without discrimination, because people of any religion or ethnicity come to hospitals to receive medications, examinations or tests.”
“We have witnessed very disappointing behavior,” he denounces, “from our doctors just because we are Christians. “This is absolutely unacceptable, I ask everyone to join us and raise their voices against this unsatisfactory behavior by doctors, so that they do not dare to treat others as badly as we are doing.” “My father’s operation,” he concludes, “is on hold, but we will continue protesting until our voices are heard and we are treated fairly.”
Following the protest, the hospital’s medical director visited the distraught family yesterday and apologized for the doctors’ manifestly unprofessional behavior, assuring them of better treatment and guaranteeing the father’s operation. The medical examiner asked them to prepare red cells and blood supplies for the father’s operation, which is expected to take place in the coming days.
Ashiknaz Khokhar, human rights activist, told that Christians continue to suffer widespread persecution and discrimination in almost all areas of life. «In schools and universities, Christian students often suffer prejudice and harassment, and are marginalized for their faith. And even in hospitals, the situation is no better and, as some tragic incidents in the recent past reveal, Christians are subject to neglect and biased treatment by medical staff. Finally, even in governmental and semi-governmental institutions, Christians “are often denied equal opportunities, suffering systematic discrimination in hiring, promotion and fundamental rights.” “This general prejudice,” Ashiknaz concludes, “creates an environment of inequality that makes it difficult for Christians to prosper and live with dignity in Pakistan.”
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