Madani forced to leave hospital

Islamist leader Abdul Nasser Madani on Wednesday afternoon left the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram after his admission there on Sunday night became a controversy with the doctor who recommended it being accused of breaking the rules. Madani was admitted in the surgical pay ward of the hospital in the context of reports that the Karnataka Police had decided to list him as an accused in the Bangalore blasts case.

The Medical Board of the college concluded that Madani had no emergency health complications which necessitated his urgent admission in the hospital as an in-patient. The board found that Dr Shajahan of the Department of Orthopedics had violated rules to admit the PDP leader and sought an explanation from him for this. He was also asked to submit Madani’s medical report. Critics had said that Madani had got admitted in the hospital to avoid arrest.

Sources said that the Medical Board had come to the conclusion that Madani had no health problem that required his continued stay in the hospital bed. However, coming out of the hospital after getting discharged, Madani told the media that the doctors attending on him had advised absolute bed rest for some more time but he had opted to leave as the doctor who recommended his admission had been caught in a controversy.

“There were several doctors attending on me, not just one. All of them have given their advices and prescriptions. There were attempts to single out a particular doctor for some peculiar reasons. Anyway, I have decided to leave the hospital,” he said. But doctors said he was discharged as there was no need for him to continue in the hospital as an in-patient.

The Medical Board could meet only on Wednesday morning though it tried to meet twice on Tuesday but had to disperse due to lack of quorum. There were allegations that some doctors had stayed away from the meeting due to pressure from higher-ups. A member of the Hospital Development Council alleged that the board could not meet on Tuesday because of the efforts of some people to protect those who had helped Madani to get admission in the hospital.

Dr Shajahan had got Madani admitted in the hospital on Sunday night without the required permissions from the doctor in charge of the Casualty unit and head of the Department of Orthopedics. The PDP leader was allotted space in the surgical pay ward, allegedly in violation of the rules. The meeting of the Medical Board was convened urgently in this context.

Officials from the Karnataka Police had questioned Madani and his wife Sufiya on last Friday and Saturday in connection with the Bangalore blasts on the basis of the revelations by LeT’s South India commander Thadiyantavide Nazeer, first accused in the case, and the terror group’s funds-manager Sarfaraz Nawaz. After this, reports had appeared that the Karnataka Police had decided to name Madani as 31st accused in the blasts case.

However, Madani reiterated that he had no role in the Bangalore blasts or the terror strikes anywhere. “I am being targeted. There are several people working with varied intentions and interests,” he said. He also said he had got no information regarding the police’s decision to name him as an accused.

The Islamist leader said he was not worried over whether he would be named an accused or not. “If something like that happens I will fight it legally… I have full faith in the Judiciary. For me, Judiciary is the biggest power in the universe after God,” he added.

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