Indian doctors fear backlash after British bomb plot
05 Jul 2007 10:25:29 GMT Source: Reuters
By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI, July 5 (Reuters) - Indian doctors seeking better job opportunities in the West fear they may be unfairly targeted after the British government said it would review how it recruited foreign doctors following last week's bomb plot. Eight people who are doctors or have medical links have so far been arrested for involvement in an attack on an airport in Scotland and an attempt to explode two car bombs targeting a crowded nightclub in London. Two Indian doctors are among the eight. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown subsequently ordered a review of recruitment to the country's state-run health service, where nearly 40 percent of registered doctors are foreign trained. Indians account for the largest share of these recruits. Australian police were questioning 27-year-old Mohamed Haneef, one of the Indians being held. He was detained while trying to leave Australia on Monday. Haneef's detention and Brown's decision have sparked frontpage headlines in Indian newspapers. Many quoted Haneef's relatives in India as saying he was innocent. "This is like tarnishing all Indian doctors as being terrorists," said Ashish Jain, a 30-year-old paediatrician in New Delhi. "Just because two Indian doctors may be involved in the attacks, they can't punish all of us. I believe it will affect our chances of going overseas." "The announcement by the UK government will definitely pose a problem," said a first year junior resident doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). "Many young doctors want to go to countries like Britain and the U.S. because the working conditions there are better, the pay is better and research opportunities are better," said the 25-year-old doctor, who did not want to give her name. Many young doctors at AIIMS, one of India's top medical colleges, said Britain was becoming an increasingly difficult place to get jobs due to tough immigration rules. SOLE BREADWINNER Haneef studied medicine at the private Ambedkar Medical College in the IT hub of Bangalore. His family said he is innocent. "It is not true. My brother will come out with more respect and honour," said Sumaiyaa, Haneef's younger sister. Sumaiyaa said Haneef was heading to India to see his newborn daughter when he was arrested. "He is like a father to me. It is such a shock," she said, adding that he was a "fine person who prayed five times a day." Haneef is the sole breadwinner in the family, having lost his father in a road accident 10 years ago, his family said. The principal of Ambedkar Medical College was sceptical of the bomb plot investigation. "The UK has been targeting Indian doctors. They want them out of the national health scheme," B.R. Ramesh was quoted as saying in local newspapers. (Additional reporting by a Reuters reporter in Bangalore)
