The Doctors' Association of Bangladesh (DAB) has temporarily suspended the primary membership of Dr Zahid Hasan over the assault on the director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) inside the institute's office, bdnews24.com reports. The organisation, which is aligned with the BNP, also issued him a show-cause notice. DAB president Professor Harun Al Rashid confirmed the decision on Wednesday afternoon.
Dr Zahid Hasan had been serving as co-law affairs secretary on DAB's central executive committee.
Why it matters
The incident has put a spotlight on tensions inside one of Bangladesh's most prominent public health institutions and on how professional bodies handle disputes among their own members. Both the accused and the person assaulted belong to DAB, according to its president, meaning the organisation is now under pressure to act against one of its own office-bearers while the facts of the case are still being established.
The suspension is described as preliminary. Professor Harun Al Rashid said further steps would follow quickly once the incident has been investigated, signalling that the organisation intends to keep the matter under review rather than treat the membership freeze as a final penalty.
Notice demands a reply within 48 hours
The show-cause notice, signed by DAB general secretary Dr Zahirul Islam Shakil, states that Dr Zahid's primary membership was suspended on the basis of allegations that he was involved in the unpleasant incident in the IEDCR director's room on Wednesday morning. He has been asked to submit a suitable reply to the DAB president and general secretary within the next 48 hours, explaining why organisational measures should not be taken against him.
The notice does not set out further detail on the allegations themselves. bdnews24.com reports that the assault took place after the accused entered the director's office at the IEDCR.
DAB chief links accused to ended IEDCR project role
Asked about the background to the incident, Professor Harun Al Rashid said the accused had been working on an IEDCR project and had recently lost that job. He said it was not known whether that circumstance, or some other matter involving competing interests, lay behind what happened.
He added that the organisation had taken the assault seriously and had acted first by suspending the accused's membership at this stage. The remaining measures will be decided once the incident has been investigated, he said.
The DAB president's remarks stop short of offering a motive. He framed the loss of the project role as one possible line of inquiry rather than an explanation, and said the organisation does not yet have information on what prompted the confrontation.
What to watch
The 48-hour window for Dr Zahid's reply, and whether DAB moves to further organisational measures once its review of the incident is complete.
