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Srinagar, April 19, 2013 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, civil society groups held rallies in Srinagar and Islamabad demanding arrest of former Health Minister, Sham Lal Sharma, and sacking of other health department officials for their role in the spurious drug scam in the territory.
Hundreds of protesters including members of Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS), Kashmir Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Kashmir Economic Alliance, Doctors Association of Kashmir, Federation of Commerce and Industries of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Employees Association, Chemist and Pharmacist Association, Doctors, Lawyers, Academicians marched from Municipal Park to press enclave in Srinagar.
They demanded that people responsible for supplying spurious drugs to occupied Kashmir hospitals be given exemplary punishment.
Speaking on the occasion, the KCSDC Chairperson, Professor Hameeda Nayeem said, “A high level committee should probe the drug scandal and it should make its report public within a month. The committee should be monitored by a High Court judge and civil society members should be a part of the probe.”
She said that all the hospital supply should be sent to drug testing laboratories. “A surveillance system should be put in place which could immediately check the flow of spurious drugs to the hospitals. Director Health Kashmir should be sacked,” she added.
Another KCSDC member, Shakeel Qalandar, asked the authorities to sack and hang all those responsible for the supply of spurious drugs to the hospitals across the occupied territory. Senior leader of Employees Union, Khursheed Alam, vowed to expose all those running spurious drug mafia in Kashmir.
Member of Kashmir Bar Association, G N Shaheen, demanded immediate arrest of former Health Minister; Jammu based Central Purchasing Committee members, Director Health Kashmir and approval committee members. “Only World Health Organization approved drugs should be sent to Kashmir hospitals,” he added.
President Doctors Association Kashmir, Nissar-Ul-Hassan, urged people to raise their voice against the scandal and take to streets. Others who participated in the protest included Dr Javid Iqbal, Tufail Bazaz, Farooq Ahmed Trali, Mohiuddin Muntazir, G M Dugg, Muhammad Aslam, Z G Muhammad, Abdul Majid Zargar, Zafar Mehdi, Dr Altaf Hussain, Anwar Ashai, Jan Muhammad Kaul and Dilnawaz Kaul.
Meanwhile, members of civil society also took out a protest rally in Islamabad town against the spurious drugs scandal. The rally started from industrial estate Islamabad and culminated at Deputy Commissioner’s office after passing through various streets of the town. The protesters were carrying placards reading “We want judicial probe into supply of spurious drugs and punish the culprits of the heinous crime”.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Phone: 92-51-4435548, 4435549
Fax: 92-51-4861736