Maryam Nawaz fired doctor who had already resigned. ‘TikTok mentality,’ say Pakistani doctors

Maryam Nawaz has been labelled as authoritarian, arrogant and autocratic by Pakistanis. According to a former doctor at the Mayo Hospital, the facility's funds are short of Rs 3.5 billion.

Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, gestures as she speaks during an anti-government protest rally organized by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of political opposition parties, in Peshawar, Pakistan November 22, 2020 | Reuters File Photo

New Delhi: Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz abruptly firing a senior doctor in Lahore’s Mayo College has not gone down well with Pakistanis. They have labelled her as “authoritarian”, “arrogant” and “autocratic”. 

The incident occurred Thursday when Nawaz went on a surprise visit to the hospital. When the patients allegedly complained about poor treatment facilities, she came up with a quick solution— publicly, on video, ordered the Medical Superintendent Dr Faisal Masood and CEO Professor Ahsan Nouman of the hospital to be fired. 

“The guy needs to be fired. Shukar karein main aapko arrest nahi kara rahi (be thankful I didn’t get you arrested),” she said on camera while walking away with her entourage. 

While Nawaz’s supporters cheered for yet another successful crackdown, the dismissal has raised eyebrows in the Pakistan medical community.

“Maryam Nawaz’s actions are not only against the protocol and procedures for dismissing someone but also reflect her authoritarian and arrogant personality. Just like when a joker is made a king, the entire kingdom becomes a circus, same way when a person with an inferiority complex and a TikTok mentality is made the chief minister, the whole province becomes a stage show, a studio where the dignity of people is routinely at risk just for the sake of flashy attention. This is pathetic. This is autocratic. This is bullshit. This is garbage,” Dr Waqas Nawaz, a former doctor at Mayo Hospital wrote on X. 

He also highlighted other concerns. Mayo Hospital had been facing a shortage of funds and the MS who was fired publicly had already resigned a month ago. He had extended his stay due to repeated requests.

“Right now, Mayo Hospital’s fund is short by 3.5 billion rupees—how will pharmaceutical companies provide medicines in such a situation? How can the MS (Medical Superintendent) make up for this shortage? MS Dr. Masood had submitted his resignation to the Health Secretary a month ago, but he was requested to continue for some time. Today, he was not only publicly humiliated but also threatened with arrest,” the doctor wrote. 

Other doctors agreed with him. “Her attitude towards the MS was very humiliating, regardless of the underlying reason,” another doctor Farhan Ahmad wrote on X. 

 

PR stunt over governance

Pakistanis are angry at Maryam Nawaz. They want ‘Daadi’ (grandmother) Maryam Nawaz to be fired. 

“Awam: this Daadi needs to be fired. We can have you arrested for stealing our votes,” an X user wrote. 

Meanwhile, Imran Khan led PTI took it as an opportune moment to call out the ‘Thief Minister’ who passed a ‘pharaonic’ order. 

“Mayo Hospital has a financial liability of Rs 4 billion, and until this is paid, medicines cannot be delivered. The payment of this amount is the responsibility of the incompetent Maryam Nawaz’s government, not MS. There is no money to pay salaries to the sanitation staff here, but Maryam Nawaz, who is suffering from the disease of egotism, is wasting billions of rupees on her personal publicity, while funds are not available for hospitals,” the party wrote on its official X account. 

One concerned X user summed up the general sentiment: “Instead of firing one doctor, how about real policies to fix Punjab’s hospitals? But again, that doesn’t make for a great PR stunt.”