Activists of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) forced brief closure of the outpatient departments of three hospitals in Lahore on Monday in a protest against the arrest of doctors and the violence against their families in Balochistan.

A two-hour token strike was observed in the OPDs of Services, Jinnah, and General hospitals. They held placards to express their demands.

They called for the “immediate release” of their colleagues detained in Balochistan. They have warned that if the doctors were not released soon, they would expand the scope of their protests.

In a statement released on January 12, the Grand Health Alliance claimed that its chairman Dr Bahar Shah and former chairman Dr Hafeez Mandokhail were apprehended based on a “false” FIR.

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Young doctors stop work at OPDs across Punjab

According to the YDA, the two doctors were “apprehended” from the Civil Hospital in Quetta late Saturday night.

The association leader was arrested on allegations of assaulting and attacking the Balochistan Health Director General Dr Ameen Mandokhail.

The alliance’s statement noted that the CCTV footage depicting a physical confrontation between the two has circulated on social media.