The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has expressed concerns over reports of police personnel allegedly entering hospitals in areas affected by violence during the Citizenship Act protests.
In a statement released on December 22, 2019, the doctors' body has said that such actions are “unacceptable” and demanded that hospitals be declared “safe zones”. “There are disturbing reports from areas of protests and resistance that police have entered hospitals and at least in one case, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This is a new low in civic life of the nation but not entirely unexpected given the impunity which violence is heaped on doctors and hospitals. However the difference this time is that it is the establishment which has lost its restraint,” the statement said.
“The government and its establishment have no right to deny anyone their right of access. Visuals of a policeman violently opening an ICU door by stomping is a clear indication of the new truth and the new standards,” the IMA said in a statement. The doctor’s body said that it stands up for retaining hospitals as safe zones.