The Asha Debate

Next Applicant for the F1 posts in
North Staffordshire NHS Trust.

My views on Dr Mohammed Asha is well known. Following my post yesterday, a interesting comment floated in. Actually, there have been a number of interesting comments but this one didn't contain the word " bitch" so I thought I would feature it in the interest of debate [see below]. I should make a few issues clear

I believe Mohammed Asha should be given the same treatment that I or other doctors facing the GMC have been given. That treatment is as follows

a. An assassination of references from North Staffordshire NHS Trust
b. Lack of support from the Sentinel newspapers
c. He should be investigated by the GMC. I have been investigated a total of 3 times in the last 10 years. Each issue has been regarding material I have written. So, there is no reason he should not be investigated for extremist material he possessed.
d. He should be considered possibly guilty despite being proven innocent in court. In fact, I have lived with that accusation by North Staffordshire NHS Trust for the last 10 years.
e. He should be a pariah because all whistleblowers become pariahs.
f. He should have the feeling of desertion from the medical profession because both Steve Bolsin and I have had the same treatment.
g. Steve Bolsin has had to leave to work in Australia. Mr Asha therefore should go back to Jordan or wherever he comes from.

This is what I term equality.

I see no reason he should be given special treatment by any party at any time. Some of us work hard to clear our names, he thinks that just because he tells the world that " he loves the NHS" that we should all think he is " wonderful". Just because he obtained legal representation on legal aid which is more than any doctor facing the GMC gets, we should be grateful that his case was won on a " technicality". The email below accuses me of many issues but we should remember that despite the gratitude that has wallowed through it, there remains few people who will publicly stand by a whistleblower. It is clear that MPs, health campaign groups and doctors are prepared to speak out for Dr Asha but few have ever spoken out in favour of me. Not that I require it because I am fairly self sufficient but I merely observe the inequality in our society. The muslim religions has nothing to do with Dr Asha. I simply think he comes across as a "smug git". I have always thought that. I find his effusive references describing him as a "brilliant neurologist" to be rather sickening because in the end, he is just a junior doctor.

Finally, Dr Mohammed Asha would never in his entire life stand by a whistleblower. He cannot expect a whistleblower to stand by him. I don't think he deserves any favoritism, I often think some people in the world need to get a taste of reality and need to work hard like the rest of us to clear his name - not only in the court but publicly.

Had the prosecution's case not disintegrated due to the unforgivable behaviour of Paddington Police Station, and had the verdict been based on the entire evidence, I would have believed Asha. At present, we are in a state were we have no idea whether he is guilty or innocent on the basis of the evidence. To make my point in this issue, many rapists and child abusers are let off the court system on the basis of a technicality. There are many innocent and wrongly accused men in the world whose cases we can believe. I simply don't believe that of Mohammed Asha at all. There are many good doctors to shed tears for - thousands of them. Dr Asha is not one of them and he certainly has not succeeded in persuading me.

Finally, I really don't give a damn whether people like or hate my opinion. It is my opinion and I am allowed to hold it. This emailer writes "You have earned my trust and confidence and I am hoping you will keep it". Just to make a final point, I write because I like writing, I don't write to earn anyones respect or confidence - because I actually don't need to win brownie points within the public forum. If people want to read this blog - fine. If they don't want to read it, that's fine too. This blog is written daily because I attempt to preserve my intellect on analysis and debate. It is also written because I practise writing every evening or every morning on a daily basis. It is not written for any other reason or for anyone else.

As for people who email me, I assist where I can, and that is where it ends.

Comment Left Today in response to this piece.

Dear Rita,

I am indebted and grateful to you for the help you have given me (like so many other doctors are). I have therefore refrained from commenting on the anti-Mohammad Asha articles you have uploaded so far. But I will request you to please temper your anger at the poor guy. Nowadays Muslims frequently get accused of terrorism ( and Dr Asha is no more even an alleged terrorist) when the establishment including the GMC when the rest of the charges against them fail. On behalf of all Muslim doctors in the UK ( in fact on the part of the whole Muslim ummah!), I would like to express my support for your fight against Staffordshire NHS trust. I may also humbly make the following submissions about Asha's immigration status

1. He has not violated any immigration law. His visa ran out during detention and he could not renew it. As an exonerated man he is entitled to continue to live in this country.

2. He is not working for the Staffordshire Trust any more

3. He is not Jordanian, he is a Palestinian refugee living in Jordan. His family are amongst the millions who were forced to migrate across the river Jordan as a result of the creation of the Zionist state. They do not have the same rights as natives and have been persecuted since the Battle of Karameh in 1970.

4. Jordan itself a temporary buffer state created by the British after the first world war to protect Greater Israel and ruled over by their puppet, the descendants of the Sharif of Makkah (a "friend" of Lawrence of Arabia) in a "Mukhabirat" state that punishes dissent in an inhumane way.

5. You can imagine the sensitivity surrounding the Jordanian monarchy that when King Hussein had to be replaced in 1999, he was first forced to change his will and disinherit his (reformist) brother Hassan and then was sent to America's Mayo Clinic where the doctors promptly killed him (Mayo Clinic exposed?). Google it if you do not believe me. This unbelievable medieval drama is happening today just like the Iraq war to protect Israeli interests. Nor is anyone prepared to "whistle-blow" on it.

6. Dr Asha was not convicted of terrorism. But if you click on this link http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/19/uksecurity-terrorism, you can see the wrenched finger-nails of a man who was. Mr Ahmed was tortured in this way by Pakistani intelligence on the orders of MI-5 simply to extract confessions palatable to a UK court of justice. 7. I only write here because you are a friend who has treated me with fairness and mutual respect. You have earned my trust and confidence and I am hoping you will keep it. I do not usually preach nor engage with anyone whom I perceive has no respect for me.

I hope you do not mind.

yours sincerely