ISLAMABAD: Representatives of Pakistani doctors requested on Thursday the High Commission of India to give them access to Kashmir occupied with medicines for humanitarian reasons.
“I met the first secretary of the High Commission of India (Economy and Commerce) Ashish Sharma and I gave him a request to issue visas to 21 doctors who want to go to occupied Kashmir to provide medical treatment to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, etc. who have been deprived of medical facilities due to a curfew of more than a month in the busy valley, "said Dr. Javed Akram, vice chancellor of the University of Health Sciences (UHS), professor, while talking with Dawn .
On August 30, the UHS and the Pakistan Internal Medicine Society (PSIM) had signed a statement that a multidisciplinary team of doctors would be sent to the occupied valley to provide medical treatment to the cashmere. It was also decided that the team would take the medications along with him.
Speaking about his meeting with Sharma, Dr. Akram said he had to discuss a number of issues related to mutual cooperation in the health sector.
“I also addressed the issue of the miseries of people in occupied Kashmir and asked Mr. Sharma to play his part in obtaining the visa for a team of 21 doctors led by me. I also told him that we are ready to go without a cell phone, watches and we can even go barefoot, ”he said.
“Initially, Mr. Sharma said there was no humanitarian crisis in occupied Kashmir and that the situation was under control. However, I replied that, in that case, we should be allowed to go there and after returning we will have a press conference to inform the public that the situation in occupied Kashmir was normal, "he said.
“However, the diplomat said it was not possible to provide a safe corridor. I told him that we are willing to go there at our own risk and I will give him in writing that we will be responsible in case of any incident or incident of our team members. Mr. Sharma initially hesitated to receive the letter, but finally received it. We asked you to address the problem with your government and allow us to enter occupied Kashmir through the Control Line. In addition, I told him that, in case of refusal, we will try to go there without a visa, ”he said.
According to the letter, addressed to the deputy commissioner of India and available with Dawn, doctors were concerned about the public health and health situation in the busy Jammu and Kashmir.
Posted in Dawn, September 6, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1503813/doctors-seek-indian-visa-to-go-to-occupied-kashmir
