The Gorakhpur doctor was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 in connection with a speech he had delivered

Resident doctors at the Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital on Sunday demanded that the charges slapped against Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act be withdrawn.

Dr. Khan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 in connection with a speech he had delivered during an anti-CAA protest at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 12.

The Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) held a protest march on the hospital campus against the slapping of the NSA against the Gorakhpur doctor after he was granted bail in connection with the alleged hate speech.

RDA president Dr. Hamza Malik said the move was a “blatant attempt to crush dissent and a violation of the Constitution of India”.

He said by targeting the doctor, the U.P. government had done a great disservice to the entire medical community.

‘Direct assault’

The AMU Students’ Coordination Committee also described the decision to charge Dr. Khan under the NSA a “direct assault” on a member of the medical fraternity who is “known for his upright behaviour and a champion of free speech”.

Committee spokesperson and former AMU Students’ Union president Faizul Hasan said by charging Dr. Khan under the NSA even after he got bail was “a direct violation of a Supreme Court ruling on such issues”.

Mr. Hasan said Dr. Khan’s fate should serve as an eye-opener for the rest of the country regarding democratic rights in Uttar Pradesh.

The doctor was earlier arrested for his alleged role in the death of over 60 children within an week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in August 2017. Short supply of oxygen at the children’s ward was blamed at that time for the deaths.

About two years later, a State government probe cleared Dr. Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.