Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday retracted from his “chopping hands of doctors” comment saying he had used a hindi proverb to convey his feeling on doctors not sincerely serving poor.
“I had used a Hindi proverb to express my feeling against doctors not serving poor sincerely,” Manjhi told reporters when asked about his comments in East Champaran district on Friday.
“Proverbs like ‘kad chhota kar denge’ (cutting to size) or ‘haath kaat denge’ (chopping hands) are used in Hindi... But this does not mean actually chopping hands of somebody,” he said on the sidelines of a function at AN Sinha Institute here.
With his remarks on doctors at Pakri Dayal in East Champaran district used by Opposition to attack him and the JD(U), Manjhi said he respect doctors. “90 per cent doctors are good and honest in delivery of services but 10 per cent are not sincere in serving poor... My displeasure is at those 10 per cent,” he added.
Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a 70-bed sub-divisional hospital at Pakri Dayal in Bihar’s East Champaran district on Friday, Manjhi gave a warning to doctors that “those found playing with the (lives of) poor will not be spared... Jitan Ram Manjhi will chop off their hands.”
Reacting to the statement, Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that such statement of the Chief Minister reflected ‘Adim yug’ (primitive period) when there was no rule of law.