Kerala Expat Doctor Allegedly Forced To Resign For Supporting CAA After Threats From Indians In Qatar

A Kerala expat doctor in Qatar said he was allegedly forced to resign from his job for showing his support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in a Facebook post, The News Minute reported.

Dr Ajith Sreedharan had been working as an orthopaedic specialist at Naseem Healthcare LLC in Qatar for past 10 years. He alleged that he had to resign after the hospital management started receiving threats from a few members of the Indian community.

Dr Sreedharan had written a Facebook post on Wednesday saying that the agitations against the CAA were an attempt to bring down the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi. Dr Sreedharan said the post got controversial among the Indian community, mainly the Malayali people where he worked.

Speaking to TNM, Dr Sreedharan said, “Though I did not personally receive any threats from anyone, the management of the hospital was receiving threats on a daily basis after I wrote the FB post. They were threatening the hospital management that Indian community there will boycott the hospital. I personally witnessed the management officials receiving such threat calls. I decided to voluntarily resign.”

He went on to clarify that his post was not inciting to communal disharmony. “I did not write anything which shows any religion in a bad light. I just expressed my opinion on why I support the legislation. But it was twisted and propagated in such a way, saying that I was trying to incite communal disharmony. I consider what happened to me as more like a warning to others,” he added.

The hospital administration in an official statement also clarified that Dr Sreedharan’s remarks per his own and did not reflect those of the hospital’s, adding that the management was an apolitical organisation that does not side with the ideas of any groups.

The fresh amendments to Indian citizenship laws ease the provisions of getting citizenship through naturalisation to the refugees who came to India before 31 December, 2014 from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities.