Doda medical college forms panel after burqa dispute protest

Students at Government Medical College in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir, protested on Wednesday after alleging that a professor objected to interns wearing burqas in the labour room. The protesters, most of them hospital interns, boycotted work and gathered outside the medical college. They said a female professor had asked interns wearing burqas to leave the labour room on two consecutive days.

One student, identified as Iqra, said the interns wanted an apology and questioned why the burqa had been singled out. Another student alleged that interns wearing burqas were also denied access to the professor’s room. The students’ statements were reported as allegations; the professor’s response was not included in the source material.

The hospital administration has formed a committee to investigate the matter. Officials are expected to examine the events and determine whether the professor’s actions were consistent with the applicable protocol. A senior police officer held talks with the protesting students.

The officer said the allegations needed to be examined first and that officials would determine whether there was a need to register a first information report. Doda legislator Mehraj Malik said he had raised the issue with Health Minister Sakina Itoo. “The administration must act swiftly,” Malik said, according to the report.

The source material did not state the committee’s membership, the relevant labour-room rules or whether the professor had been asked to respond. It also did not report any arrests or disciplinary action.