The crumbling state of Bangladeshโs public healthcare system reached a new low on December 6, when the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), Professor Md Abu Jafor, publicly berated, threatened, and effectively orchestrated the immediate suspension of Dr. Dhanadeb Barman, a respected Assistant Professor of Surgery at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
The incidentโcaptured on multiple mobile phones and TV cameras now viral across the countryโhas ignited nationwide outrage and laid bare the toxic culture of intimidation that has gripped the health sector since the political upheaval of August 2024.
What Really Happened Inside the Casualty OT
At approximately 10:30am, DG Prof Abu Jafor made an unscheduled stop at the hospital en route to a seminar. Entering the casualty complexโs minor operation theatre, he fixated on an ordinary table and chair placed beside the OT tableโa makeshift workstation used by doctors because the department has no separate duty room.
When Dr. Barman calmly explained the acute space shortage and the tableโs practical purpose, the DG exploded.
Witnesses and video footage confirm the following exchange:
DG (shouting): โDo you even realise who you are talking to? Mind your words!โ
He then ordered his entourage: โRecord everything. Take videos and photos.โ
Dr. Barman (remaining composed): โI treat patients with utmost respect, but I do not feel obliged to show the same courtesy to those who merely hold positions.โ
DG: โIf this is how you speak to me, how do you treat patients?โ
Dr Barman: โI behave very well with patients. Everyone here knows that.โ
At one point, the DG sneered: โYou still havenโt learned how to behave.โย
Dr. Barman retorted: โI completed the three-day behavioural training in Dhaka. You were supposed to attend for two days, but never showed up even once.โ
In a moment of utter despair, Dr Barman declared: โSuspend me. I have no problem. I donโt want to continue in this service.โ
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Despite junior colleagues pleading with Dr. Barman to apologiseโand him eventually doing soโthe DG rejected it outright, declaring in front of the hospital director, Brig. Gen. Md. Golam Ferdous: โHe doesnโt need to apologise. He is completely unfit for this hospital.โ
By evening, hospital authorities had โtemporarily relievedโ Dr. Barman of all duties and issued a 24-hour show-cause noticeโa mere formality before the inevitable full suspension that was confirmed the following day.
A Blatant and Vindictive Abuse of Power
Prof Abu Jaforโs behaviour was not the reaction of a concerned administrator discovering genuine malpractice; it was a premeditated public execution of a senior doctorโs dignity.
Key facts make the DGโs actions indefensible:
– He deliberately ordered the entire confrontation to be filmed, turning a routine inspection into a staged spectacle of humiliation.
– He ignored the hospital directorโs testimony that Dr. Barman โalways speaks to us in a low voiceโ and has an impeccable professional reputation.
– He overruled an apology on the spot and branded a doctor with decades of exemplary service as โtotally โunfitโโeffectively dictating the punishment before any inquiry.
– This fits a disturbing pattern since August 2024: senior officials using viral videos, instant suspensions, and character assassination to silence or punish doctors perceived as โdisloyalโ or unwilling to toe the new political line.
The audacity is breathtaking: a DG who cannot ensure basic equipment, anaesthesia machines, or even sitting space for doctors in one of the countryโs busiest emergency departments instead chooses to scream about furniture and destroy a colleagueโs career in front of juniors and patients.
Dr Dhanadeb Barman: The Man They Tried to Break
Far from the โrudeโ or โunfitโ caricature being circulated by DGHS-aligned circles, Dr Barmanโs record speaks for itself:
– MS (General Surgery) 2013, yet never allowed to operate even once in the hospital due to politically motivated postings and resource denial.
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– Only one promotion in 12 years; months away from retirement at essentially entry-level rank.
– Universally praised by patients and colleagues for courteous, dedicated serviceโoften rushing to the hospital at 3-4 am for emergencies.
– Repeatedly highlighted systemic failures (corruption in transfers, absent equipment, and bribe-driven training postings) only to be ignored.
In his post-incident statement, he laid bare the despair of an entire generation of doctors: โThe whole healthcare system is running on the back of a bizarre camelโฆ I no longer have the mental strength for it.โ
The Bigger Picture: A Health Sector Being Deliberately Dismantled
This ugly episode cannot be viewed in isolation. Since the Yunus-led interim government took power:
– All 38 five-year Operational Plans have been cancelled, leaving the sector without direction for 18 months.
– Over 25,000 health workers remain unpaid; essential drugs and contraceptives have vanished from the grassroots.
– Corruption scandals involving hundreds of crores in bribes for postings implicate the health adviserโs own private secretaries.
– A landmark reform report by National Professor A.K. Azad Khan gathers dust while genuine change is blocked.
Against this backdrop, the DGโs obsession with a writing table while real patients suffer without medicine or staff exposes the administrationโs perverse priorities.
Across social media and medical circles, Dr. Barman has become a symbol of resistance against bureaucratic tyranny. Thousands of doctors, students, and citizens have praised his bravery.
I demand immediate revocation of the suspension and reinstatement with full honours, a public apology from DG Prof Abu Jafor, an independent inquiry into the pattern of vindictive suspensions since August 2024, and urgent implementation of the Azad Khan Commission reforms.
Until those in power stop weaponising authority to crush dedicated doctors and start fixing the broken system they inherited and worsened, incidents like Mymensingh will keep repeatingโeach one driving more talented physicians out of public service and pushing Bangladeshโs once-admired healthcare system closer to total collapse.
Dr. Dhanadeb Barman may have been silenced temporarily, but his courage has given voice to tens of thousands who can no longer endure the arrogance, corruption, and abuse that now define Bangladeshโs health leadership.
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