Rampant interferences and muscle-flexing by politically influential leaders have made the country’s health sector an extremely risky place to be working in at the moment.
Constant threats and intimidations from leaders belonging to political parties or doctors’ organisations have caused panic to spread among health officials, whose work performances have also been on the decline as a result.
Seeking anonymity, several directors and programme managers of different operational plans under the health sector told the Dhaka Tribune that they had not felt such levels of insecurity over the past decade, adding that their bosses were failing to ensure proper security.
They claimed that Awami League-backed leaders and activists were issuing death threats and carrying out physical assaults if health officials refused to illegally approve work order for tenders or provide other facilities.
On Sunday, the director of Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), Dr Hedayetul Islam, was assaulted and his office vandalised by some thugs allegedly led by Aslam Hossain, general secretary of Awami League’s ward number 20 unit, who initiated the violence after failing to secure a work order.
Health directorate DG Dr Din Mohammed Nurul Hoque personally requested the DMP commissioner to take immediate actions against the culprits, to which the commissioner gave assurances for making arrests soon.
However, a senior DGHS official quoted the police as later claiming that they were unable to arrest Aslam as he went into hiding; although the leader was reportedly seen on the DGHS premises after law enforcers made the claim.
Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said Dr Hedayet had requested to be transferred following the attack as he was feeling a lack of security. Top officials were being demoralised by incidents such as this, he added.
Following allegations that ruling party-backed goons were regularly hanging out at the DGHS office in the capital’s Mohakhali, Dr Shah Newaz recently issued a circular directing everyone to leave the DGHS building after office hours.
A former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League had also allegedly threatened DGHS Director (primary health care) Dr Abu Jafar Md Musa, after the former’s requests were not entertained recently.
DGHS Director (medical education) Dr ABM Abdul Hannan, who was also threatened by a top leader of the incumbent BCL committee a couple of months ago, however told the Dhaka Tribune that the dispute had been resolved.
Preferring to stay unnamed, a DGHS director said he had not experienced such a fearful situation in many years.
Many people were coming to the DGHS office everyday and demanding that work orders be given in their favour as they were “leaders” of different ruling party wings, the director said, adding that those “leaders” said they needed to gather as much money as they could, as they would later end up in jail during the tenure of the opposition.
The state of panic had intensified following recent attacks allegedly by BCL activists in different medical college hospitals. In the latest violence, the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital was vandalised yesterday by students of Dhaka University.
DMCH Director Brig Gen Mustafizur Rahman recently told the Dhaka Tribune that most of the violence was being triggered by trivial issues, adding that Dhaka University authority had failed to respond to a letter requesting them to address the matter.
Another DMCH official said a lot of the troubles were instigated by the intern doctors who were involved with the ruling party’s politics. Sheltered by doctor leaders, those interns behave like goons, the official added.