Doctors in Nepal take part in democracy protests

Doctors and allied healthcare professionals have launched protests to demand the restoration of democracy in Nepal. The protests coincide with the current nationwide “people's movement” organised by pro-democracy political parties and other groups.

The doctors' protest began after police attacked doctors on 6 April, the first day of a four day general strike called by political parties to protest against the autocratic rule of King Gyanendra.

One of the doctors, Kedar Narsingh, said, “I made repeated pleas to police that I am a doctor on my way to hospital, but they did not show any mercy. I was forced to get into the police van, though I tried to resist. They kicked me from behind, and I fell onto a big stone, sustaining multiple fractures on [my] right patella.”

Dr Narsingh needed an operation to correct the fractures.

The Nepal Medical Association condemned the police's actions, describing them as brutal, and …