–PML-N’s jailed leader’s daughter accuses BBH MS Dr Tariq Niazi of victimising her due to his PTI affiliation
–PM Imran takes notice of Raja Basharat’s threatening phone call to Dr Niazi, seeks report from health minister
RAWALPINDI: Daughter of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) jailed leader Hanif Abbasi, Dr Areeba Abbasi resigned from her post as a medical officer at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) over “political victimisation”.
In her resignation to the Punjab health secretary, Dr Areeba stated that she has been working as a medical officer in BBH Rawalpindi since September 2017. As of the last five months, she was being “transferred from one ward to another continuously”. Moreover, when she requested Medical Superintendent Dr Tariq Niazi to transfer her to Dermatology ward, he refused.
She stated that her resignation is due to a toxic work environment created by Dr Tariq, adding that her father is a PML-N leader whereas the MS is an active member of the ruling party and was targeting her for “political revenge”.
“I cannot work in the same facility as him [Dr Niazi] so I’ve had to resign,” she said. She added that the superintendent has acknowledged his links to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) numerous times.
Dr Abbasi, who was hired in 2017, said she was assigned to the emergency department for two months, following which she was posted to pathology, where she worked for three months.
Thereafter, she was transferred to the skin (dermatology) department.
Earlier, Punjab Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat threatened BBH MS Dr Tariq Niazi over the alleged disregard of his orders of the transfer of a female medical officer.
In a telephonic conversation that went viral on Sunday, the law minister telephoned the medical superintendent and threatened him for disobeying his order.
It was revealed that the minister had called the superintendent to transfer Dr Abbasi from emergency to skin department again, with threats made if he did not pay heed to his demands.
Raja had reportedly warned Dr Niazi that he wouldn’t be able to stay in the hospital if he didn’t adhere to his demands.
On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of Raja’s leaked phone call and sought a report on the issue from Federal Minister for Health Amir Kiyani.
