Doctors in Kashmir plan to boycott Macleods, Intas Pharma for suspending Kashmiri employees

Doctors in Srinagar have planned to boycott pharma companies that have suspended Kashmiri employees accused of posting “anti-national” comments on social media after Pulwama attack.
The Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a multinational pharmaceutical company, has issued a show-cause cum suspension notices to three Kashmiri sales executives all working from Srinagar.
“It has been reported that you started posting hateful messages on your Twitter handle in the wake of Pulwama attack. Your tweet is insensitive in nature and has brought disrepute to the image of our organisation,” reads one of the notices of suspension.

“We have decided to suspend you with immediate effect and further recourse in this regard will be informed to you separately,” it said.
It issued suspension notice to Rounak Bashir Bhat, Arif Bashir and Sheikh Shabir Ahmad, all were working as sales executives from Srinagar office.
Following the Pulwama attack, Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila has also suspended one of its employees Iqbal Hussain, a marketing executive at the company’s Respicare division in Srinagar for posting a comment on Facebook.

“You have posted your comment on a Facebook post about the attack. After your anti-national comment, the company’s name and image got tarnished and we received furious reactions,” reads the notice.
Another pharma company, Macleods Pharmaceuticals has also suspended a Kashmiri employee Riyaz Ahmad Wani from Srinagar accused of posting an anti-national message on social networking website.
“Since your act is grave and serious in nature. You are hereby suspended with immediate effect pending further action in the manner,” reads the notice issued to him.

The move comes after an outrage over the killing of over 40 CRPF men in a Fidayeen attack in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Reacting to the suspension of five employees, the doctors at Srinagar’s major hospital SMHS have been enraged.
They said they would boycott medicines of three pharma companies if the employees were not reinstated.
“All the employees of Zydus, Macleods, Intas and Sun pharma, kindly make sure you don’t message or call me or visit my room from this day onward,” said a doctor at SMSH hospital.

“I don’t want to write a drug from these hypocritical companies who suspended Kashmiri employees but didn’t take a moral stand at the human rights violations in Kashmir over last three decades,” he said.
Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) headed by Dr Nisar Ul Hassan condemned the action by the pharma companies stating that the association had not yet taken any decision to boycott any pharma companies.
“An employee shouldn’t be removed for a Facebook post whether in private of government sector. At the same time, I should say if there is a life-saving drug from one company only I should not stop prescribing that,” he said.
However, the Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) headed by Dr Suhail Naik refused to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the pharma companies have stated that the employees had posted status message which these companies considered “anti-national”.