This comes amid protests in West Bengal over allegations that the Indian flag was desecrated in Bangladesh, and strained ties between the two countries over the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Dhaka.
In recent days, several doctors in West Bengal, and a hospital in Kolkata, have announced that they will not treat patients from Bangladesh.
Sekhar Bandopdhyay, the doctor in Siliguri who demands that patients offer pranam to the national flag before getting treatment at his private chambers, told The Indian Express: “It pained me to see that our national flag was disrespected and desecrated in Bangladesh. As a doctor, I do not want to refuse patients. But those who come to my country should respect our flag, our motherland. It seems Bangladesh has gone under the Talibani mindset.”
Bandopdhyay is a senior ENT specialist working as the Special Medical Officer at the ENT department in the North Bengal Medical College Hospital.
“I cannot refuse treatment at the government hospital where I work. But in the private chamber in Siliguri, I have put out our national flag with the message. Those who cannot respect my motherland cannot expect to be treated by me,” he said over the phone.
The message near the flag reads: “Bharatborsher Jatiya Pataka Amader Matrisomo. Ayi Pataka Ke Pranam Kore Chamber e Prabesh Korben. Bisheshoto Bangladesh Theke Agoto Rogita Pranam Na Korle Ekhane Rogi Dekha Hobe Na (India’s national flag is like our mother. Please offer pranam to the flag before entering the chamber. Especially Bangladeshi patients, if they do not offer pranam, they will not be allowed to enter).”
Many patients from Bangladesh visit Siliguri in North Bengal, which shares a border with the neighbouring country and houses International Border check posts like Hilli, Changrabanda and Phulbari.
Another doctor, general surgeon and paediatrician Chandranath Adhikary, has announced that he will not treat any Bangladeshi patients in his private chambers.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from Bolpur in Birbhum, Adhikary said: “I am attached to a government hospital in Bolpur. There, I cannot refuse any patient. But I have the freedom to do so in my private chambers. I have decided that I will not see patients from Bangladesh.”
“My country comes first. It hurts to see people, including college and university students, insulting our national flag in Bangladesh… I love my country and cannot provide service to those who insult my country’s national flag. What is happening in Bangladesh is of grave concern to all of us,” said Adhikary, who has shared his decision on social media.
On Friday, a 141-bed hospital in Kolkata announced a ban on Bangladeshi patients as a sign of protest because of allegations that “the national flag of India has been desecrated in various places” in the neighbouring country.
Renowned gynaecologist Indranil Saha had also said on social media that he stopped seeing Bangladeshi patients. On Thursday night, Saha posted a picture on social media, purportedly showing the desecration of the Indian flag in Bangladesh. “The Indian national flag is lying at the entrance of BUET University! I am stopping seeing Bangladeshi patients in the chamber for now. Country first, income later. I hope other doctors will do the same until the relationship is normal,” Saha had said.
Protests broke out in various parts of Bengal over the arrest last week of ISKCON-linked Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh and allegations of atrocities against minorities in the country. India has pressed for a fair and transparent trial of Das, who was arrested over allegations of treason. He had organised multiple rallies in Bangladesh to condemn the alleged atrocities against minorities.
On Thursday, the Bangladesh High Court refused to pass an order banning ISKCON a day after a petitioner appealed for such a ban and the imposition of a state of emergency in the cities of Chittagong and Rangpur.